Opinion: Why Gov. Yahaya Bello Should Re-jig His Media Team Now Before It Is Too Late

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For starters, this is the most unpleasant decision I have taken in recent time. Today, I have decided to break one of the rules of engagement in journalism profession which states that “dogs don’t eat dogs in journalism.” I am one of those people who have insisted vehemently that Governor Yahaya Bello have not failed woefully in the discharge of his constitutional duties

My position which is against the grain in public domain is hinged on the what I have seen so far in other states in the federation in terms of infrastructural development and human capital development. As a well traveled journalist who has visited over thirty states in the country today, I will always maintain that the greatest problem of Yahaya Bello is that he is not well projected by his media team in the public domain and I stand to be faulted on this position.

It goes without saying that the current media team of Governor Yahaya Bello have not performed creditably well in the discharge of their official duties since they came into office in last two half years. This is my candid judgment and that of the generality of the people who have shown more than a cursory look in the affairs of Kogi State under the able leadership of Governor Yahaya Bello.

This position was also shared by respected senator Adeyemi Smart, a renowned journalist during a solidity visit to the state Governor, in Lokoja recently, when he was conducted round some going projects in state and the policies of Governor Yahaya Bello, and he posited that the governor was grossly under reported by the media in the state.

To me, I don’t need to be told this was a direct indictment of the whole media team of our youthful governor. But if you expected this media team to see this as wake up call, you are dead wrong. Instead, they all went into deeper slumber and continue to display gross incompetence. My candid impression about these appointees is that they have shown individually and collectively that they can’t give what they don’t have.

The level of their unmitigated incompetence sticks to high heaven. True, they have not been able to launder the image of their principal positively in the eye of the general public.

What I have notices so far is that governor Yahaya Bello can be better packaged and marketed to the outside world if professional image makers are put in charge as his media team.

Today vital official information concerning his administration are not easily made available in public domain and this has caused a lot of misconception, misinformation and negative perception in the minds of Kogites and others members of the public.

It is true that the governor and his media team are working at cross purposes in the area of information management as I have seen so far. What I notice from a far distance is that the governor Yahaya Bello led administration, would have enjoyed the sympathy and the understanding of Kogites if the challenges surrounding his activities and policies are properly packaged by tested professionals in charge of image making. Please note that I am talking about propagandists

Today, Kogites are left quandary and confusion because other necessary and vital information are absent in the public domain.

Nobody can convince me that governor Yahaya Bello is the worst performing  governor in the country today when we have the likes of Rauf Aregbeshola, Samuel Ortom and others who are owing unpaid salaries and pensions in their respective state for months, but are getting the necessary support and understanding of their citizens because their image makers are up to their billings in discharge of their duties.

Nobody can convince me too that Kogi State is among the league of highly indebted states today, when we have the likes of Ogun, Bayelsa, Plateau, Cross Rivers, Ekiti and Osun who were recently adjudged the top six states who need to buckle up and think outside the box in trying to solve their economic challenges.

As stated in my earlier write up, kkogi state is not the only state lagging behind in the prompt payment of his salaries and pensions.

The good news is that the governor have shown the willingness and determination to tackle this salary debacle within the available resources.

I wish to state categorically without mincing words that this junction that the governor is fully aware that a lot of people in the state are daily ravaged by the monster of huger and penury as a result of his non payment salaries and pensions as at when due.

That is why he has taken loans in recent time to argument the dwindling allocations from the federation account. The governor is not happy that he is currently having a running battle with civil servants and pensioners due to non payment of their dues. If anything else the governor as trained accountant has done wonderfully well in the key elements of economic management to the admiration of financial experts and opinion molders around the country who visited the state in recent time to see things for themselves.

These group of people include the US Ambassador to Nigeria, the vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and the inspector general of police.

In conclusion  therefore I want call on our amiable governor, to sack with immediate effect the current members of his media team, because in my opinion they have failed woefully in their official duties which they are been paid their salaries and other perks office from tax payer to perform.

In their replacement the governor, should look in the direction of under listed Kogi bright minds who have carved a niche for themselves in the field of journalism and mass communications, namely Prof. Peter Jimoh, who is the Head of Mass Communications Department Lagos State University, Alhaji Ishaq Ajibola former MD Daily Trust who incidentally was chairman media and protocol committee during Yahaya Bello’s inauguration in 2016, Chief Eniola Bello the current MD of Thisday newspaper, Mr. James Oyewole, a veteran Journalist with the graphic newspaper and Alhaji Timothy Yusuf  of NTA.

I wish to state here that since information management is big business, the governor should offer what it’s takes him to bring this people on board because I want the best for Yahaya Bello and Kogi State.

 

– Otori Ozigi is a retired Public Servant, Journalist/PR Consultant


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