Idris: Broadening Nigeria’s Information Highway @59

Information determines to a large extent the successes or failures of a government. In an age where fake news abound and social media is now the platform for the dissemination of falsehood, any attempts at downplaying the role of information in combatting the vulnerabilities associated with falsehood risks hazard. The role of information in a democracy cannot be overemphasised. Management information in an age where everyone feels and thinks he or she is a professional has attained a task so herculean. Beyond the smokes of propaganda demonstrated during campaigns to sway the choice of the electorate, the task of managing public information has not been that easy.

The inauguration of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency was in the midst of insecurity and spiralling economic hardship that had thrown the citizens into the flood of despair and growing despair. From the South to the North; and from the West to the East, the harsh economic conditions worsened by the removal of fuel subsidies threatened the ship of state, attended by hunger riots and tension in many parts of the country, especially in the North.  The appointment of Hon Mohammed Idris as the minister of information and national orientation, was greeted with ‘let’s-wait-and-see disposition’. Not a few had seen previous information ministers as town criers of falsehood. Idris seized the moment by telling the citizens: “I will never lie but provide credible information to the public.”

Unlike Others

Like some of his predecessors who turned the Ministry of Information to a mouthpiece of falsehood and propaganda when even it seemed obvious that they were lying , this former general secretary of the Newspapers’ Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and media entrepreneur has so far proven his critics wrong by demonstrating that a true professional can still stand for the truth without resorting to lies in defence of the government. Many, including yours sincerely, were doubtful about the minister surviving two years on the seat without getting caught up in the web of rebuttal that had become the banana peels of previous ministers of information.

Nearly two years after he was appointed by President Tinubu, the Niger State-born professional in politics has evolved a template that promotes synergy between the media and the government in a collaborative venture, instead of adversarial disposition. Since his appointment as the nation’s chief information officer, Idris has emphasised on the government and media collaboration for the public good. In charting for a new template, the Ministry of Information and National Orientation has achieved the goal of telling the truth all the time.  Not a new entrant in the management of information, his nearly three decades of PR practice have exposed the information minister to the intricacies involved in the management of information at the highest professional level. His appointment as minister offered him an opportunity to put into practice the experience he had garnered over the decades in the management of the nation’s public information.

Creating Synergies

His headship of the information ministry has led to a creative management of public information where both the government and the media worked as critical stakeholders. Confronted with the fake news over the Samoa Agreement, instead of heading to the court to seek legal intervention, the federal government wrote a letter of complaint to the Nigeria Media Complaint Commission (NMCC) over the report. In the end, the media ombudsman found the report as totally untrue and unethical and directed the offending news medium to apologise and retract the story. That was the first time the media ombudsman speedily delivered its verdict, thus avoiding a long-drawn disagreement. To the credit of the Ministry under Hon Idris, both the government and the mediaagreed with the NMCC’s position.

To boost engagements between ministers and media reporters, dialogue sessions have taken place in a bid to explain the performance profiles of various ministries. The ministry has provided a platform where top government officials meet the media during some of these programmes that are broadcasted live in some major television outlets. Through these programmes, the information highway has been broadened and the citizens are more enlightened on the efforts deployed by the government to tackle insurgency and economic hardship trailing Nigerians. By conducting the ministerial platform where ministers meet media practitioners, Nigerians are offered the chance to listen to those working to realise the vision of the government.

Healthy Engagements

In creating a robust management of information, Idris has embarked on pulling down the curtains to enable reporters and media practitioners into the dark corridors of power. Unlike his predecessor who played the canary, the minister is more interested in providing an information highway that places those at the centre of government activities to open up on what they are doing in their various ministries to achieve the dream of the Tinubu-led administration.  More importantly, no stakeholder is left out, as even former information ministers do meet to rub minds on issues relating to information management. With his vast network as one of the nation’s most critical media stakeholders, the minister rides on professional relationships in managing information.

The sterling performance of Hon Idris is not only due to his sound academic attainments; but also his skills founded on best global practices. Born 59 years ago on May 2, 1966, after completing his primary and secondary schools in Kontagora and Rijau, Niger State, he attended the Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, where he received a degree in English in 1987. He would later acquire a masters’ degree at the Bayero University Kano where he taught Communications Skills from 1989-1991. He was also an English and Communication Skills lecturer at the Federal College of Education (FCE), Katsina, from 1989 to 1994. His footprints in the field of public relations, as shown by many appointments, have earned him laurels in advancing PR practice in Nigeria, including the ownership of the Blueprint Newspapers that was founded 14 years ago to commemorate his 45th birthday on 2nd May, 2011.

The minister who is the ‘Kakakin Nupe’ has remained imperturbable in the wake of ‘fake news’ linked to his recent media response on insecurity. His dignified silence over the ‘fake news’ that was sensationalised by an inconsequential online platform underscored the time-honoured maxim that not every matter deserves a response. As he celebrated 59th birthday yesterday; this is wishing him good health in the service of his fatherland and humanity.