By: Omolara Osindele

"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence." - Abigail Adams

The above quote by Abigail Adams succinctly describes the proactive nature of the Ogun State Government at making its workforce remain the best among the comity of States in terms of quality service delivery, especially in the core area of public information management by its Information Managers.

This was brought to the fore with the successful completion of a 2-day, not just intensive training, but a transformative journey for selected Information Officers/Public Relations Officers as well as Media Officers, drawn from all sectors/parastatals in the Ogun State Government, put together by the State Government through the Office of the Head of Service (Bureau of Establishments and Training) in conjunction with a private firm, OTTOCOM INTERNATIONAL, led by a renowned Public Relations guru, Mr. Tope Adaramola, who came with renowned experts like Prof. Dele Odunlami, Barr. Demola Badejo, Mr. Femi Dokunmu, Mr. Jola Oyeneye, mni, Mr. Gbenga Gbesan, Mr. Dare Folarin, amongst others, and aimed at equipping Information Managers, whose nomenclature just got changed from being Information Officers alone but Public Relations added to it through the express permission of the Governor of the State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, whose worker friendly disposition made him approve the workshop despite all odds.

The training with the theme: "Upscaling Public Information Management through Strategic Public Relations" was taken to a conducive environment, the fully air conditioned Conference Hall, Obas' Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, which was devoid of any form of noise and extraneous distractions, where all participants were comfortably seated in order to get the best out of the huge investments, in terms of time, energy, material resources and especially funds, that have been committed to the entire process of the event; moreso, participants must grasp the full essence of the gathering by resolving to improve on their productivity, else, it would be efforts in futility.

The opening ceremony of the training was a top-notch as it witnessed the creme-de-la-creme in the media world who made it a priority, despite daunting challenges, to come and honour one of their own, a pride of the pen profession, who so much distinguished himself as an Information Officer and rose through the ranks to sit on the exalted seat as the 20th Head of Civil/Public Service of Ogun State, Mr. Kehinde Olufemi Onasanya, mnipr.

The crop of invited dignitaries, both physical and online, gave the opening ceremony a second to none glamour that has not been witnessed in recent past as it drew the dignitaries from all circles - government, private and the public, which included the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, the House Committee Chairman on Establishments and Training, Ogun State House of Assembly (OGHA), Hon. (Dr.) Babatunde Tella, his counterpart on Information and Education, Hon. Segun Kaka, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Lekan Adeniran, a retired Permanent Secretary/Clerk of the OGHA, Barr. Demola Badejo, a former Commissioner for Information, Ogun State and CEO, Rockcity FM, Dr. Niran Malaolu, former Commissioner for Information, Chief Adetokunbo Fassy Yusuf, the Founder, PenPushing Media, Prince (Dr.) Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Permanent Secretaries from Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of government including Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr. Waheed Adesina, Bureau of Establishments and Training, Mrs. Lydia Fajounbo, her counterparts from Public Service Reforms, Mr. Jola Oyeneye, Service Matters, Mr. Oladipupo Ogunfowora, Local Government Pensions, Engr. Olufisan Osiyale, Local Government Service Commission, Engr. Olanike Ogunbona, Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Mr. Lateef Benson amongst others, as well as General Managers of State owned media stations, Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC), Mrs. Toyin Sogbesan and Ogun State Television (OGTV), Mr. Tunde Kassim, Heads of Local Government Administration (HOLGAs), Special Assistants/Consultants to the Governor on Media, Directors, Deputy Directors and so on.

In his charge to the participants in a keynote address, the Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Mr. Kayode Akinmade said the Officers must be visible, constant and dominate the media space to remain relevant as a lot of information management gaps that were noticed in the State informed the training, hence, all hands must be on deck to project the activities of the governor and the government at large in a positive light and added that if this is not effectively carried out, detractors will take over and start to sell rumours and lies to the people at the detriment of the government.

"Ensure that the government is constantly in touch with the people via the media, as this is the channel through which government provides adequate information to the people. If you don't occupy the media space at every point in time, detractors will be there to speak for us. We surrender a large chunk of the media space to the adversaries, we need to fill up, let government be present everywhere. Be visible, constant and dominate in order to remain relevant. If you don't dominate, you can't be relevant and if you're not there, you're not there. Live up to expectations. Be proactive. Rejig your strategies. Be creative", the Special Adviser admonished.

Adding their voices at the event, in their separate goodwill messages, the Chairmen, OGHA House Committees on Establishments and Training as well as Information and Education, Hon. Babatunde Tella and Hon. Segun Kaka appreciated the State Government and the organisers for a good job and submitted that the training would help the participants to improve in the discharge of their statutory duties, as Public Relations plays a vital role by serving as a bridge between the government and all other publics; as it also enhances the flow of information between an organisation and its publics, hence, a call on the Information Managers to build trust and credibility while working, as these are essential for them to effectively communicate and be on top of their games. "Additive quality components would be given to your work as you go from this all encompassing training to discharge your duties", the duo concluded.

In the same vein, the former Permanent Secretary/Clerk of the State Assembly, Barr. Demola Badejo, who started on an appreciative note said "it takes a governor/government who appreciates the importance of training to approve this kind at a time like this when other germane issues are begging for attention". He also thanked the governor for the choice of one of their own as the current Head of Service (HoS), as this gladdens his heart that Mr. Onasanya is the first Information Officer to be appointed as the Head of Service of Ogun State.

He said from the word go, Information Officers are PR practitioners, who are expected to always portray government in good light, no matter the situation and laid credence to the fact that they tilt more to the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) than the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ); and added that the training was equally meant to bring moments of bonding and interactions among the participants, which must be fully explored.

On his part, former Commissioner for Information in the State and CEO, Rockcity FM, Dr. Niran Malaolu, appreciated the HoS for working assiduously to convince government to give approval for the training at a time when payment of minimum wage is knocking on the door, and concluded that the government wants the best for its workers, which must not be taken for granted but with utmost sense of responsibility. He went down memory lane to charge the participants that diligence, hard work and dedication pay on the long run, as exemplified in the current Head of Service who deployed all powers within his means to make government succeed while serving as Information Officer to the Governor. 

"As Public Relations practitioners, public perception about the government matters a lot. If the public has a negative perception of government, then, you're not up and doing. Your duty is to manage the image of the government to make it positive at all times. You don't engage at all, you're expected to engage and write, to make government's perception positive, no matter the situation at hand. The way you present the government determines how the public will take it, perception is reality", Dr. Malaolu said.

Also contributing, former Commissioner for Information in the State, Chief Adetokunbo Fassy Yusuf equally appreciated the government and all stakeholders for the opportunity, with a charge on the participants to remain focused to their schedules, leverage on the new media to project the government the more, make accurate information about the government accessible to the citizenry and in a timely manner as well as deploy intelligent quotients of openness and conscientiousness to justify government's huge investment in their careers.

Declaring the workshop open in his capacity as the Head of Service, Mr. Kehinde Onasanya said the training was strategically put together after the domestication of the new nomenclature of Information Officers and Public Relations Officers cadre, with a charge on them to reciprocate government's kind gesture by being more effective, efficient, proactive and add more value to the operations and success of the present administration towards achieving its set goals of rewriting the social, economic and structural development of the Gateway State. 

Mr. Onasanya said the training would address the core areas of Information Management and feedback mechanisms, with an assurance that the outcome would have a lasting impact on the participants and the State at large for the betterment of all.

"Information dissemination in government circle as it affects policies and programmes through the media to the general public are so fragile and sensitive that they cannot be toiled with, hence, this training is imperative to improve the practice of the Information/Public Relations Officers in enhancing effective governance in the State under the able leadership of Prince Dapo Abiodun.

"We must all realise that the world of information management for government institutions has changed dramatically from how it was practiced compared to the era of Information Communication Technology (ICT) that we are in now.

"Utilise the transition from the industrial age of practice to the knowledge age driven by kinetics of Information Technology and the Social Media as its by-product to ply your businesses for excellence and productivity aimed at enhancing your career while manning your beats with enormous competence and reliability despite operational challenges", the HoS admonished.

Earlier in a welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Establishments and Training, Mrs. Lydia Fajounbo said the major responsibility of her Agency is to build the capacity of the workforce for excellent service delivery and revealed that the training was essential for government image projection through accurate reporting of its programmes and policies, and added that Media Managers needed to be equipped with requisite skills to meet today’s demand in order to perform optimally at their various beats.

She urged the participants to use the opportunity of the two days' gathering to learn, unlearn and relearn in order to achieve the set goals and appreciated the Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun for giving the approval and the HoS for being committed to the training and retraining of the Public Servants, as well as all stakeholders whose efforts went into making the training a huge success.

In a vote of thanks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr. Waheed Adesina appreciated the Governor and the Head of Service for the opportunity given to the Information Officers to be rejigged so that they can be more alive to their statutory duties of projecting government activities positively and promptly to meet current yearnings.

In his remarks at setting the tone for the training to kick off, the Course Coordinator, who doubles as the CEO, OTTOCOM International, Mr. Tope Adaramola, urged the media practitioners to brace up, especially in terms of changing dynamics, as gone are the days when government activities were disseminated manually but today, dynamic of time has changed the trend to IT and Social Media, thus, the practitioners must attune to the new dynamics as IT is now in the palms.

He said the training was aimed at unclogging the older generation with the modern generation to make them see the glory of the past in order to make them better at what they are employed to do and noted that experiences of gurus would be shared to give bearing to the theme of the workshop and urged the participants to fully imbibe every virtue and value that would be needed to get them to the zenith of their professional career as seen in the current HoS, who has phenomenally changed the public perception of the Public Service since he assumed the position as the Head of Service because the pivotal role of communication cannot be over-emphasised.

The papers for discussion were eight in number, which are: 'Personal Effectiveness and Ethics' by the Course Coordinator, Mr. Tope Adaramola; 'Renewed Understanding of the Ogun State Government's Vision and Transformation Agenda' by the Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Ogun State, Mr. 'Jola Oyeneye,mni; 'The Ideal Public Information Officer' by a PR expert, former PRO, Ogun State Polytechnic, now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority, Mr. Femi Dokunmu; 'Persuasive Reportorial Writing Skills' by a former Chief Press Secretary in Ogun State, a PR guru and editor of state newspapers, Mr. Dare Folarin; 'Public Opinion Measurements and Evaluation Strategies in Relation to Government Information Service' by a teacher of teachers, a Public Analyst, Mr. Gbenga Gbesan; 'Managing Public Information through IT and Social Media Skills' by a young but talented IT guru, Mr. Damilola Adeyanju; 'Data-Driven Journalism and Public Governance in Ogun State' by a former media reporter and the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Prof. Dele Odunlami and the last but not the least, 'Experience Sharing' by a retired (but not tired, as he left Public Service 14 years ago) Permanent Secretary/Clerk of the OGHA, Barr. Demola Badejo.

All the Resource Persons used all the resources within their means, including practical personal examples, to espouse the participants to the nitty-gritty of all the chosen topics, with the bottom line being rejigging them to come out of their hitherto sleeping positions of doing things the same way and expect different results by rising up to the daunting challenge of fully portraying government and all its activities to the teeming populace without any form of distortion or concorting lies but that the events be reported as they should.

For instance, in the sixth paper, Mr. Adeyanju urged the media managers to embrace 3 key factors in public communication, which are: Accuracy, Timeliness and Transparency and noted that anything short of these would make the people disbelief and lose credibility in the government of the day; while best practices for Social Media Management are Timelines, Accuracy, Consistency and Engagement, which means they should be known for what they do and not give room for any vacuum, as the end result may be catastrophic.

Adeyanju listed the roles of Information/Public Relations Officers to include: Bridging the gap between the government and the public; Ensuring the accuracy of information released to the public and Crafting messages that are clear and effective, and submitted that anything below these would portray the government in bad light and such must nor be allowed.

In his presentation, Mr. Femi Dokunmu said an ideal Information/Public Relations Officer is a staff who is expected to create content for the government, must be creative, always set standard(s) to be admired and emulated by all, must be competent, effective and efficient, one who is able to define  various publics based on their interests and deal with them as such and above all, be outstanding in whatever he/she does in the best interest of the government.

Listing the qualities of an ideal Officer to include: to have been trained and taught the required rudiments on the job; must show high level of intelligence and ingenuity in the practical application of the knowledge acquired and trainings received, such that he must be able to carry out assignments with little or no supervision; must possess very good communication skills, that is, be able to read well, write well and speak well, especially with good mastery of public speaking.

Other qualities according to him are: must know, understand and be able to promote the vision, mission, core values and principles of the MDAs being projected; must be proactive, have analytical mind for environmental scanning, situation and trend analysis to be able to advise appropriately; must be resourceful, current and versatile; must be a good manager of men, money and materials; must show enough passion, commitment and loyalty to duties; must be provided with a functional office with the right working tools, equipment, logistics and enabling environment to operate as an ideal Officer, amongst others.

In his paper, 'Personal Effectiveness and Ethics', Mr. Tope Adaramola said ethics are the moral principles that control or influence a person's behaviour, while professional ethics are the norms that guide the conduct of every profession,

with a call on the participants to guide both personal and professional ethics jealously as this would determine where the pendulum would swing for them.

He listed few of the benefits of personal ethics to include, enhancing trust and believability, allowing for taking decisions and self motivation, while he encouraged them to map out their personal ethics through: knowing the positive traits they have and entrenching them by making impacts anywhere they found themselves; writing down the traits, i.e. the good things they stand for must be clearly written down and stood for no matter what and lastly, Personal Mission Statement i.e philosophy or creed must be developed and decisively pursued.

Ethics of honesty, integrity, respect for others and self, crave for incremental improvement, perseverance, initiative, resilience, discipline and good time management are some of the ethics to be possessed as a thorough bred Information/Public Relations Officer, the Course Coordinator concluded.

In 'Renewed Understanding of the Ogun State Government's Vision and Transformation Agenda', Mr. Jola Oyeneye said renewed understanding refers to a fresh or revived comprehension about something, which often involves a deeper level of comprehension or an increased awareness, as what is real is real, be truthful about it as it cannot be denied.

He said the transformative agenda of the Prince Dapo Abiodun led administration as encapsulated in the I. - Infrastructural Development

S. - Social Welfare and Well being

E. - Education and Human Capital Development 

Y. - Youth Empowerment 

A. - Agriculture and Food Security (ISEYA) mantra is real, it cannot be denied but the Officers need to go all out to project the real nature of the agenda as it is an all encompassing and inclusive one.

On Persuasive and Reportorial Writing Skills, Mr. Dare Folarin, said as a reporter, one has a pedigree which one must be proud of, 'as man cannot not communicate'. He said the inverted pyramidal style of writing, which is reporting the most important aspect of the event first, is the best method to be adopted as a reporter in order not to forget the most juicy aspect.

He said in the discharge of statutory duties, an Officer is bound to be faced with brick walls as there is trust deficit about the government, hence, all efforts must be geared at remaining a sterling brand, that is a resolute and determined officer ready to make waves no matter whose horse is gored. He challenged the participants to make reading a habit as minimum 500 pages of inspirational books must be read per day, 10 books in a week while the best time of the day to concentrate and assimilate is the early hours, say 4a.m. 

Mr. Folarin added that while writing, relevant research questions must be frequently asked to put the writer on the right track, as the practitioner with the x-factor, i.e the officer with the extra midas touch is the best. Moreso, constant practice brings out the best shots from the writer. He recommended that environmental scanning be carried out to enable the officer get conversant with his beats while proficiency in grammar, spellings, pronunciation, choice of words, style, idiom, syntax and so on must be properly deployed to make the Officer the best at what he does.

On his part, while speaking on 'Public Opinion Measurements and Evaluation Strategies in Relation to Government Information Service', Mr. Gbenga Gbesan said the three major responsibilities of government are Policy Making, Public Services as well as Delivery of Public Services, with a call on the Officers to use the set aims and objectives, mission statement and vision statement of their beats to measure and in turn evaluate the strategies adopted, as this will enable them execute properly the set goals for the betterment of all.

He added that the results gotten from a particular endeavour would help determine if a strategy is worth running with or not and used schools' resumption in the State as a case study.

Similarly, Prof. Dele Odunlami, while taking the participants through 'Data-Driven Journalism and Public Governance in Ogun State' said data will remain in its raw form until it is processed. It is after being processed that it becomes information and useful for all. He said it is needed to enhance the understanding of the audience in various dealings with the public and charged the Officers to go all out and gather data, via the old form, which includes eyewitness account and interviews or through the new IT or various Social Media platforms to get accurate data for real processing.

He advised the participants to always use their discretion in whatever they do, because as image makers, they must always portray the government in good light and not give room for loopholes to be used against them because 'he who pays the piper dictates the tune'.

On Experience Sharing by a mentor who dropped the anchor in the Civil/Public Service 14 years ago, Barr. Demola Badejo, submitted that whatever that is embarked upon by any Officer, character matters a lot, it is the destiny, as absolutely nothing in life is permanent. He urged the upcoming generation to deploy creativity in anything they do, as they do not know when it might be greatly needed to save a soul or a situation. 

Citing his personal example of how his ingenuity of documenting government activities at the expiration of a tenure saved the lead team of that administration from embarrassment or in the long run, going to jail, the former OGHA Clerk advised the Officers to always think out of the box to take the best advantage of any situation as nobody knows what the future holds.

In his closing remarks, which was the first of its kind, the Head of Service, Mr. Kehinde Onasanya, who surprisingly returned to formally close the training and symbolically present certificates to some of the participants, said he believes all learnt at the training would be codified and translated into good use in all the beats, as the job description of an Information/Public Relations Officers transcends just writing of press releases or organising press conferences but now an encompassing one with the sole aim of managing government activities in its entirety.

Mr. Onasanya said the environment is infused with a lot of distortions of facts and figures and challenged the officers to rise up and bridge the gaps, develop close affinity with relevant stakeholders in order to get the required information as someone who wants to inform must be adequately informed.

"Deploy all the techniques and  strategies the lecturers have placed into your hands in your beats. Feedback mechanism is also very key in your new roles as Information/Public Relations practitioners. Ogun State is developing, growing everyday, therefore, stand up to key into the I.S.E.Y.A. mantra as a lot of initiatives are going on around us. Rise up and key in, you've garnered quite a lot that would enhance quality service delivery", the HoS said.

He appreciated the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun for the change in nomenclature, the Resource Persons for their resourcefulness and the 5-man Communique Committee, led by Mr. Waheed Ogunjobi from OGBC, for doing justice to the assignment given to them. 

Conclusively, according to a Yoruba adage, "Alagemo ti bimo re naa, aimojo de ku si lowo", which means that the State government has successfully played its part, the onus now lies on the participants in particular and the entire cadre in general to take the bull by the horns, by equally playing their parts to the fullest by being committed, conscientious dedicated and diligent in the discharge of their duties as captured in the opening quotes ""Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence." Learning has been sought for, all that is left is to attend to all learnt during these two days with all sense of diligence.

Omolara Osindele, anipr

Information/Public Relations Officer, Office of the Head of Service.