• ‘Nigerians hold key to nation’s better image’

NIGERIA’S insecurity problem can be reduced through agriculture, a sector in which a synergy between Abuja and Berne has reached its peak, according to Switzerland’s Ambassador to the country, Mr. Hans Rudolf Hodel.

Speaking with reporters at the end of a two-week capacity-building workshop in agricultural education in Ilorin, Kwara State, at the weekend, Hodel, who is also the Swiss  Ambassador to Chad and Niger, said the pendulum of the collaboration has shifted to Nigeria.

However, he noted that insecurity could only be solved by Nigerian authorities, while Switzerland could only help in this regard. Hodel, who spoke at the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), cautioned against sensationalism in the media coverage of Nigerian affairs.

Asked whether the country at present was safe to live in, he said: “You are the ones who should know better. I got to Nigeria some eight months ago but we rely heavily on what you tell us about your country.

“We can help the authorities to create jobs, encourage education, improve on social fields so that people will be happy and have less tendency towards terrorism and violence.

“Nigeria should improve agriculture and industrial production so that everyone can be economically active to boost the nation’s trade and commerce, with people producing. Industrial production would make people to import less and export to other countries.”

Meanwhile, the Head of the African Union Diaspora Forum, Ambassador Erieka Bennett, has stressed that the nation’s negative image abroad could only be changed by Nigerians, who should speak well about their nation and project its rich historical and cultural values at every given opportunity.

A statement by the Director of Media, Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Mr. Bamidele Salam, said Dr. Bennett made the remarks in a paper entitled “Effective Public Communication: A Global Perspective,” delivered at a workshop organised for Special Assistants (Media) and Directors of Information in Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies in Abuja.

The African-American described Nigeria as a great nation with a potential to play major roles in global economic and political developments. He advocated a change in the current information management system to encourage proactive engagement between government officials and media stakeholders with a view to telling the Nigerian story in a positive form.

Going by the dynamic nature of the media and communication landscape, Bennett noted, there is the need for constant training and retraining of information officers in government ministries and agencies to equip them with the essential tools of productive public engagement.

She advocated a creative use of the Nigerian film industry by government media managers, declaring that “the Nollywood phenomenon offers exciting, new opportunities for Nigeria to reframe and retell its history, promote dynamic, new self-image and pride among the Nigerian people.”

Also speaking on the topic, “Security and Information Management in an Emerging Democracy,” the Assistant Director (Public Affairs) in the Department of State Security, Mrs. Marilyn Ogar, urged spokesmen to promote public order and confidence in government by providing regular and detailed information on its programmes and projects in order to check rumour-mongering among the populace.

Speaking earlier on the topic, “The Imperative of Organisational Synergy in Effective Information and Public Coummunication,” the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, whose office organised the workshop, explained that the only way the walls of cynicism, doubt and mischief could be broken down was by spokespersons offering true, cohesive and prompt explanations on government policies and programmes before they generate controversies.

According to Okupe, communications managers must be conscious of the environment in which they operate and devise means of cultivating media and public partnerships for government programmes in order to guarantee sustainability of the Federal Government’s transformation agenda, which is President Goodluck Jonathan’s social contract with Nigerians.

Other speakers at the workshop included the Regional Manager of Seismonaut Africa, Mr. Collins Nwanya; Special Assistant to the President on Public Relations, Dr. Olusanya Awosan; and his counterpart in charge of Media, Mr. Bolaji Adebiyi.

While Nwanya spoke on appropriate use of the new media in public communication, Awosan and Adebiyi spoke on the need for information managers to understand the importance of public opinion in formulating government programmes, as well as the need for better strategies and funding for government information organs.