Asishana Okauru, the director-general of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), has identified implementation as the weakest link of the policy value chain in governance in Nigeria.
Okauru also charged those with the responsibility of executing policies to show leadership, knowledge, integrity, accountability, and transparency, especially at this time of major global happenings.
The NGF DG spoke at the opening of a two-day training on ‘policy and governance reporting”, organised by PREMIUM TIMES Academy in collaboration with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).
Okauru said the role of journalists was crucial in crafting and shaping policies, initiating public discourse, and holding policymakers accountable but could potentially derail a well-thought-out policy as a result of poor messaging.
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According to him, they have the power to shed light on important issues and must work together to better understand the policy value chain.
“The training will afford sectorial heads to speak to participants, adding that “the Forum is essentially a policy hub and has done an excellent job in locating some of the most competent research-minded hands to drive the work we do for our principals.”
“For me, it would appear that in our environment, the implementation segment has been the weakest part of the entire policy value chain. This calls for patience and understanding.
“Here I am referring to the Israel-Hamas war; Russian-Ukrainian war and the attendant supply chain issues arising from these wars; the rise of extremism; worldwide depression, climate change, UK has been hit by Brexit; technology particularly artificial intelligence (e.g. Chatgpt, etc)” he said.
Also speaking, Salihu Dembos, the director-general of Nigerian Television Authority, said citizens no longer trust the political leadership no matter how genuine they are.
Represented by Ayo Adewuyi, the executive director of news, Dembos said the media has the responsibility to keep the citizens informed and educated on policies of government as well as keep those in government informed about the plight of citizens through investigative journalism.
Jibrin Ndace, the director-general/CEO of Voice of Nigeria (VON), on his part, noted that training opportunities like that of Premium Times and NGF were what sharpened his journalism career, urging participants not to take the training for granted. He assured his determination to ensure Nigerian stories are told to the world unapologetically.
Musikilu Mojeed, the editor-in-chief/COO, Premium Times, said as the new crop of politicians assume duties, journalists must prepare, including raising their skills, to report on them and their actions and policies.
He said the training was, therefore, designed to help journalists with the skills they need to cover public policies, governance and the democratic process in Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy.
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Mojeed believed governance and policy reporting should be informed by more profound knowledge and skill level of how governments work and how public policy decisions are taken.
Ali Ali, managing director/CEO, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in his goodwill message, said the media impacts and influences daily lives that the Nigerian constitution makes specific provisions to protect and preserve “this institution which the British statesman, Edmund Burke, described in 1787 as the ‘fourth estate of the realm.’
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