The Yobe State Commissioner for Information, Abdullahi Bego, has said Governor Mai Mala Buni is poised to reposition the state’s information sector in order to ensure that the people of the state are kept abreast of all developments.
Bego, however, said the government, through his ministry, will engage with the people “In an honest and respectful way so that the bond of trust between the government and the people is rebuilt and strengthened”.
Bego spoke yesterday when he resumed office as commissioner for information in the state.
The commissioner observed that the state’s information sector has to catch up with the evolving and rapidly changing media landscape for it to make progress.
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“The global media space, that is the landscape in which the media operates – the physical and virtual spaces, mindsets, technologies, equipment etc. – has continued to evolve. To stay relevant and justify our existence, we have to constantly evolve too.
“Right now, we have so much work to do for our state TV and Radio services and the State Printing Corporation – organisations that are currently largely living in the past, with technologies and equipment that seem from antiquity. This is truer, of course, for YTV and the printing press,” he said.
The commissioner said he will make efforts to train and retrain workers in the sector to make them more effective in their work of disseminating information. “We will train and re-train information sector personnel – from basic news writing skills and basic grammar and style tips to how they can create rich media contents that could draw, engage, and retain large media audiences,” he said.
Bego also spoke about the need to make proper use of social media in the state and train young people who use social media a lot to understand and avoid fake news, misinformation and disinformation.
