Governor Bala and effective media utilisation in governance

The watchdog function of mass media or journalism has over the years been acknowledged by every progressive minded government and the society as a whole and that was why its information and monitoring roles are often considered as essential ingredients for democracy and good governance.

Therefore a successful governmentsor considered the media as an instrument for meeting the yearnings and aspirations of the people, hence all necessary support and level playing ground are being accorded for the smooth operations of the media and general welfare of journalists.

This further justifies the position of the media as the fourth estate of the realm, considering its obvious roles in promoting peace, unity and good governance through agenda setting.

It is obvious that a government that recognises the importance of the media often provides quality leadership which meets the needs of its teeming citizens through formulation and implementation of policies and programmes characterised as result-oriented.

For example, in Bauchi state, the Governor Bala Mohammed administration is transforming the state with provision of physical infrastructure across all the 20 local government areas. Some public affairs commentators have attributed the development to the governor’s ability to engage the media in most of his administration’s policy formulation, implementation and providing a conducive atmosphere for the practice of journalism.

The governor’s media friendly nature, according to them, may not be unconnected with his experience as a veteran journalist, having began his career as a journalist and rose to the position of news editor of the Mirage Newspapers Jos, news reporter with the News Agency of Nigeria, from where he moved to the Democrat Newspapers Kaduna where he worked as the newspaper’s state editor in Benue state from 1983 to 1984. He later joined the civil service as an administrative officer in the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, Abuja.

These, among others, provided an added advantage to Bauchi based-media stations, leadership of the state Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), members of the Correspondents Chapel, other media related unions including social media activists associated with the polical movement of the governor to actively take part during award of contacts, projects monitoring and commissioning ceremonies.

To strengthen the spirit of togetherness and esteem desire for effective service delivery, Governor Bala Mohammed appointed a seasoned journalist and immediate past National Deputy President of NUJ Comrade Mukhtar Gidado as his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity where the journey for media engagement in the government’s activities started.

This development paved the way for the media to access some of the government’s corporate interventions including provision of operational vehicles particularly to the NUJ, National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Correspondent Chapel as well as the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).

More importantly, arrangements are in advanced stage for digitalization of the state owned media stations following the governor’s approval for award of the multi billion naira contract. This will enable the stations to operate inline with global best practice.

Furthermore, the commitment to upgrade the state NUJ secretariat through total overhaul in a manner that would accommodate state of the art facilities, is another testimony that he is a media friendly governor.

One of the distinctive qualities of Bala Mohammed is that perhaps he is the only governor that invites question from journalists covering any form of official occasion even if the event does not require interruption. This foresight often blocked tendencies of misrepresentation of information, inaccurate reporting and possible mischief by unscrupulous journalists.

The state chairman of NUJ Comrade Umar Sa’idu described the governor’s concern for the media family as not only commendable but a leadership style that requires his counterparts across the country to emulate.

The giant stride exhibited by the governor gives him more advantage over most of the governors in areas of publicity, popularity and above all committed to his responsibilities as governor.

It is however hoped that such a spirit of inclusivity in governance would be sustained for the overall development of Bauchi state and the media profession.

Isiyaka Ismail Wunti,
Bauchi, Bauchi state