Ogun State Ministry of Information has been commended for the quality of production of the State owned newspaper, Ogun Update being published by the Ministry, which is described as a veritable news medium meant to inform the members of the public.
A lawmaker representing Abeokuta South II State Constituency, Hon. Adeyemi Ademuyiwa gave the commendation during the 2019 budget assessment visit to the Ministry by members of the House Committee on Information, Culture and Tourism led by Hon Yusuf Adejojo.
Ademuyiwa noted that the newspaper’s rich content and its professional outlook had been attracting more readers within and outside the State.
He however advised on the need for the management to reduce the gramming of the paper to newsprint to enhance cost effectiveness.
In his remarks, the House Committee Chairman, Hon Adejojo stated that the visit was not meant to witch-hunt any agency, rather it was aimed at appraising the performance of all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government in relations to fund appropriation to them in the 2019 Appropriation Law.
He assured that his Commitee would work with the Ministry and other relevant government agencies for further development of the State through effective communication.
In her response, the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Information, Mrs Modele Sarafa-Yusuf said that the Ministry had continued to ensure effective coverage and publicity of government activities receiving, processing and forwarding comments as well as enquiries from the public to the relevant government agencies, while taking advantage of all communication tools and strategies for effective mobilisation of the citizenry.
Mrs Yusuf noted that the Ministry had achieved successes in creating a mutual understanding between the government and the people on government policies and programmes through a two-way communication system via different programmes and platforms like: from the House of Assembly on OGTV, “lati ile-igbimo asofin” on OGBC, OGIS daily bulletin, monthly Ogun Update newspaper and other enlightenment programmes.
She added that government placed value on feedback which remained a veritable means through which members of the public connect with government by asking questions, enquiries, and making suggestions amongst other issues that border on their welfare, saying efforts were in top gear to rejig the unit to enhance service delivery.
The Special Adviser explained the need for the re-introduction of Village Square meeting , pointing out that OGBC, which used to be the benchmark for broadcasting in Nigeria in the 1980s and 1990s required total upgrade of its equipment to enhance output of its programmes ; while OGTV also required some touch to be more digitally compliant.
Other lawmakers including Olakunle Sobukanla, Adegoke Adeyanju, Musefiu Lamidi, Abiodun Sylvester urged the Ministry to work more on how to improve its revenue target.
Other agencies visited by the Committee included State Minsitry of Culture and Tourism, State Signage and Advertising Agency, State Broadcasting Corporation, and State Television (OGTV).
