Supervising Minister of Information Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed has charged chief executives of parastatals and agencies in the ministry to promote the influence of Nigeria in global affairs by providing correct information about the country to the rest of the world.
He gave the charge on Monday, in Abuja at his maiden meeting with the chief executives.
“The global ascendancy of Nigeria is unstoppable and to achieve this, the right information about Nigeria must be communicated in the right way not only to Nigerians but to the rest of the world. I think all of you represented here, you are the ones that are charged with this very vital and sensitive aspect of our national life,” Mohammed said.
He urged that as Nigeria passed through a challenging phase, information managers should redefine their role in promoting nationhood and national security.
“These are challenging times for all of us and the role you play and how you play it and what you do will have significant impact. Information is not just for informing but it has other critical dimensions to nationhood, most importantly, national security,” he said.
He explained that the meeting was for the chief executives to acquaint him with their respective role in public information management and dissemination.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan had earlier expressed hope that the Supervising Minister, who is also the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, would bring his experience in the Foreign Service to bear on managing the reputation and image of Nigeria, which was one of the functions of the ministry.
Responding on behalf of the chief executives, the Director General, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Mr. Sola Omole, said in view of the growing influence of Nigeria in global affairs, the country had to be in the vanguard of adequate information dissemination.
He pledged the readiness of the chief executives to work with the Supervising Minister in proactive and productive manner and restated their absolute and total loyalty to the administration.
