Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello, Friday, inaugurated the Kogi state Council of Information and charged members to disseminate right and accurate information about the state.
Represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG, Dr Folashade Ayoade, the governor noted that Kogi state was the first state in the federation to domesticate the information council at the state level.
He stressed that Kogi had been in the forefront of domesticating every policy of the federal government at the state level.
The governor urged the council to project Kogi in the right way as information officers in the state.
”Information officers are the people that project the state in the right way. We must be able to disseminate the right information to the public at all times.
”It is mandatory for information officers to disseminate the right and accurate information about the state to the public”, he said.
He therefore charged the information officers to show capacity in their assignment as Public Relations Officers, while commending the state’s Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, for being proactive and always on top of his job.
”There is need to project the state very well, to let the world know our achievements as a state. You must ask questions before you pass out any information to the public.
”Don’t pass out wrong information; you must be inquisitive in your assignment. You must be at alert to give the right information and defend the image of the state at all times”, the governor said.
In his vote of thanks, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr Fanwo, thanked the governor for making the Ministry full fledge, and for always supporting it to carry out its mandate without interference.
Fanwo, who doubles as the Council of Information Chairman, commended the SSG for her immense effort and for always giving the right advice to the ministry which had ensured the inauguration of the Council.
”We are the first state to domesticate the council, because we have the Governor and SSG that understand the value of information.
”I assure the governor, the SSG and the good people of Kogi state, that the council will not fail in its mandate to projecting the good image of the state and all its achievements.
”We are doing a lot in the state, but a lot of people around the country and the world are yet to be aware of all the giant strides of His Excellency.
”I assure the governor that the council shall work together, collaborate and ensure that we deliver on our mandates”, Fanwo restated.
He appealed to the SSG to impress it on all the local government Chairmen in the state to ensure that all the offices of PROs at that level are well funded.
Fanwo emphasised that the proper funding of information offices at local government level, would enable the officers to function effectively in projecting the good work of the governor at the grassroots.
He, therefore congratulated the council members for being privileged to be committee members and urged them to be proactive in their assignment.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Mr Peter Stephen, will serve as the Secretary of the Council, while all the Ministry’s Directors and PROs of all the local governments are members.
