The Lagos government on Thursday charged public affairs personnel in its employ to embrace and move with trends in information management.
The government believed that adaptation to evolving and trending skills will put the personnel in a position to deliver timely and optimal services while engendering the confidence of the public.
Speaking at a three-day 2021 annual retreat for public affairs officers in the state, which kicked off yesterday, the commissioner for information and strategy, Gbenga Omotoso said the moment the public affairs personnel as custodians of news, take charge and move with trends, the issue of fake news would be a thing of the past.
“I can tell you that no disease is afflicting the world more than the issue of fake news and this is the time all practitioners should rise up and phase it out. I know that if our information officers should start moving with trends, it would be of great advantage”.
Stating that the theme of the retreat, “managing information through the new media in a VUCAD (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous and Disruptive) world”, has a lot of relevance in the world today, Omotosho asserted that this year’s edition was the second ever to be organised by the government for the public affairs management team of the state.
He said the place of information dissemination and management cannot be overemphasised in the life of any human organisation, adding that it is hard to imagine an organisation, home, community and society where communication is non-existent.
He noted that the realisation of the essence of communication in governance has always made the 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 might 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.”, Omotoso said.
On his keynote address, the head of service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, represented by the permanent secretary, Cabinet Office, Tolani Oshodi, praised the ministry of information and strategy for convening the retreat packed with programmes that will improve the skills and output of its team
Muri-Okunola, 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 and impactful contributions towards achieving the set objectives of the exercise.
