The Lagos State Government on Thursday charged its Public Affairs Officers not to rest on their oars at addressing the issue of fake news to move with trends in information management.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, gave the charge at the three-day Year 2021 Annual Retreat for Public Affairs Officers, held in Lekki area of the state.
The theme of the retreat was ”Managing Information through the New Media in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous and Disruptive World”.
Omotoso said that fake news was deadlier than COVID-19 pandemic, due to its aftermath effect hence, should be tackled.
He urged the public affairs officers to inculcate new ideas and skills in their operations to elevate service delivery and enhanced public confidence.
The commissioner said the moment the officers, as custodians of news, took charge and moved with trends, then the issue of prevalent fake news would be a thing of the past.
According to him, no disease is afflicting the world more than the issue of fake news, hence, the time all practitioners should rise and phase it out.
”I know that if our information officers should start moving with trends, it will be of great advantage,” he said.
The commissioner said the place of information dissemination and management could not be overemphasised in the life of any human organisation.
He said it was hard to imagine an organisation, home, community and society where communication was nonexistent.
Omotoso said realisation of the essence of communication in governance had always made the Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration provide support for every cause to reposition the Ministry of Information and Strategy, as well as its affiliated agencies.
”Without an effective information management mechanism, our plan to attain a Greater Lagos may be in jeopardy, hence, we shall continue to invest in the advancement of all our information organs.
”I urge all the state’s information agencies to evolve a process of building public confidence in the administration’s policies and programmes,” he said.
In his keynote address, the Head of Service, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola, said the retreat would improve the skills and output of the information team.
Muri-Okunula, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office, Mrs Tolani Oshodi, said that information management and dissemination had moved a notch higher than what was the norm.
He, therefore, urged participants to take full advantage of the opportunity provided by the forum to improve their knowledge, skills and competencies as information management professionals, while making meaningful contributions that would impact positively in achieving the set objectives of the exercise.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr Olusina Thorpe, urged the public affairs officers to make the retreat interactive.
Thorpe said the takeaways from the programme would linger long beyond the brainstorming sessions lined up for the retreat.
”In the next couple of days, I urge all of us to be frank and sincere in our contributions about salient issues that affect our reputation and professional cadre as image-makers of the state government.
”This is not a time to speak half-truths. It is not an occasion to stand aloof,” he said. (NAN)
