By Dada Ahmed.
The media tour embarked upon by journalists in kogi state, in alliance with the state government on February 4, 2023 has come and gone, but leaving on its trail, fun memories and food for thought about the concept of governance.
It is also a food for thought for journalists and information managers of the state government, on the imperative of synergy between members of the press and the executive of of government, and by extension,the judiciary and the legislature in the realm of government.
Some members of the public have also argued that the also provides a away forward for the information managers in government and members of the fourth estate of the realm to ensure seamless relationship between them in the form of using information to lubricate the process of delivering dividends of democracy to the people.
Basically, the relationship between the media and the government in any political setting is supposed to be a rosy and seamless development to pave way for effective coverage and dissemination of government policies and programmes by journalists to the people for better understanding and appreciation.
Political observers have expressed cocern that where this is lacking, discontentment, disenchantment, suspicion, misconstrue, disloyalty, rumour mongering and other negative tendencies as a reaction to government genuine intention to better the lot of people become the order of the day usually set in.
This trend played out prominently in kogi state in the past ,especially during the first and part of the second term of the dynamic administration of Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello and his able lieutenants, characterised by lull in reportage of government to the world by the local journalists.
Often than not before now, the media space in the state was filled with negative reports about the state government's activities, as if government has done nothing to impact positively on the life of the people, just as coverage of government remained at the low ebb.
However, light came at the end of the dark tunnel in 2022 when truce was reached between the kogi state government and journalists, facilitated by a media consultant outside the shores of the state, a development that put pay to about six years of not-too-rosy tie between the executive arm of government and the media practitioners, particularly journalists representing national newspapers.
One of the cheering news, following the amicable resolution of the seemingly rift was the opening up a floor gate of media activities that once again set local journalists on their toes towards effective coverage of government's programmes. The shore up of media coverage of government activities again the state further more national limelight and help to change peoples' mindset and praise towards the programmes, policies of the state government .
To test the efficacy of the new relationship, journalists in the state and government organised a media tour to inspect what turned out to be not only monumental but an exposition of many "legacy projects" executed by the Bello government to better the lot of the people of the state.
The February 4,2023 media your kick-started from Lokoja, the state capital and ended in Okene after solid 10 ten hours during which journalists criss crossed the length and breath of West Senatorial and Central Senatorial districts of the state,inspecting projects executed by the Bello-led government.
The tour which received the blessing of two Commissioners: Messrs. Wemi Jones of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and his counterpart in charge of Ministry of Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, was an exercise worth its salt as it revealed a lot about the state government's impactful infrastructural development in the social and economic life of the people of the state.
The energy-sapping tour started from Muhammadu Buhari Centre to GYB Model Science Secondary school, Adankolo quarters and zoomed to the newly inaugurated flyover bridge,all in Lokoja.
At the Muhammadu Buhari Civic Centre, the Journalists were welcomed to a magnificent recreational outfit equipped with modern facilities capable of accommodating over 3,000 people for social social and economic events, thus boosting social cohesion and generating revenue for the state government.
Ushering in Journalists to the flyover bridge, the first of its kind since the creation of Kogi State on August 27,1991, Fanwo said the state government constructed the facility at a cost below N5 billion instead of the N20 billion estimate for the project it inherited from the previous administration.
He attributed the successful completion of the project to the prudent management of the financial resources of the present state government under the able leadership of Governor Yahaya Bello.
The Commissioner expressed delight that the facility had gone along way to put an end to gridlock and accident and other impediment to vehicular and human traffic at the popular Ganaja junction.From the spacious recreational centre, the tour moved to GYB Model Science Secondary School, Adankola.
At the school,Wemi Jones Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, presented to Journalists, a well equipped secondary school by all modern standard.
The school has three hundred capacity hall, equipped with computers and other modern science and technological tools to aid students' learning of science and technology subjects.
According to him, the state government established the school to prepare science incline students for admission into the newly established state-owned Confluence University of Science and Technology CUSTECH, Asara to produce scientists and technologists that would harness the natural resources of the state for the good of the people.
The Education Commissioner also told the Journalists that the school contained 18 classrooms and capable of accommodating over 1,000 students yearly
He said the state government was in the course of replicating such model school in the three Senatorial districts of the state as well as implement other educational programmes to boost education in the state.
Not done with the tour, all road led to the newly established sd state-owned Confluence State University of Science and Technology,CUSTECH,Osara, where the Journalists listened attentively as the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Salawu Sadiku, reeled out the efforts of his management in putting the fledgling but promising institution on a course towards attaining greater heights in no distant future.
He disclosed that CUSTECH commenced operation in 2021, adding that the National Universities Commission,NUC, had approved all the courses presented to it by the Senate of the institution, pointing out that massive construction of the various faculties of the university had commenced with funds from Tetfund and the state government.
Prof. Sadiku, who took Journalists round the construction works going on in the university in a tour that spanned an hour,said the basic aim of the university was to produce a crop of science and technological based manpower for the state.
He expressed optimism that such manpower would boost the workforce that would work in Ajaokuta Steel project when it eventually commences operation in the nearest future.
According to him, some of the products of institution will also explore the abundant and reach solid mineral resources of the state and put them into use for its development among other advantages.
The CUSTECH boss said the coming into existence of the institution had also, to a large degree, solved the challenges facing indigenes of the state in securing admission in other universities in the country.
Perhaps, the most interesting part of the numerous projects inspected by the journalists, led by the state chairman of the union, Alhaji Adeiza Momoh-Jimoh, is the breeze to the much talked about Reference hospital,Okene.
The hospital, inaugurated by the former President Muhammadu Buhari before leaving office on May 29,2023, boasts of the latest scientific and medical equipment with superb standard some of which cannot be found in other hospitals in the country and in some African countries, according to the state Director of Medical Services, Ministry of Health,Dr. Olusegun Barnabas.
The Director, who conducted Journalists round the state-of- art hospital, said the health institution has the advanced level of MRI, six dialysis machines, Citi scan and other up-to-date and sophisticated medical equipment
He assured that the hospital that can handle any disease in the world and perhaps better than any other hospital in Nigeria and else where in the world.
The director, who was of excited, assured the people of the state and Nigerians in general that, with the calibre of the latest equipment in the hospital, they should forget about going abroad for to seek health in the name of medical tourism which usually drain the nation’s foreign reserve.
Dr. Barnabas added that the hospital has gas plant where it produces adequate oxygen for local use and for sale to other hospitals in the country to save life of patients and generate revenue for the state government.
According to Dr. Barnabas, the hospital also boasts of hyperbaric oxygen treatment, the first of its kind in the history of hospital management in the country.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing of pure oxygen in a pressurized environment. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a well-established treatment for decompression sickness, a potential risk of scuba diving. Other conditions treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy include: Serious infections, according to mayoclinic.org.
Commenting on the hospital in an interview with Journalists at the end of the tour, Fanwo described the hospital as a big blessing,not only to kogites but also Nigerians in general.
According to him, the establishment of the hospital is in fulfilment of one of the five thematic programmes of the Bello's campaign that he promised the people of the state during his campaign in 2016.
He described the Yahaha Bello-led administration as one government that executed “massive projects”, more than the previous administrations in the state.
Adding voice,the number one Journalist in Kogi, Alhaji Adeiz Mimoh-jimoh commended Governor Bello for the establishment of the hospital and other people-oriented projects,aimed at boosting the social and economic wellbeing of the people.
He said Journalists embarked on the tour to be able to see the efforts of the state government in making meaningful impact in the life of the people and to be able to speak with adequate knowledge and insights of the programmes and policies of the current administration in the state.
By and large, the tour, besides its major objective also serves as a rally point for media practitioners and representatives of government to share ideas and thoughts on the way forward for the state.
What more, many of the journalists and non journalists alike described the tour as a golden opportunity for them to ponder on ways they could synergise with government information managers to enhance their statutory responsibilities to the public as critical stakeholders in information management and dissemination.
The atmosphere of conviviality that defined interaction between the Journalists and the two Commissioners during the tour ,many inquisitive minds believe, is a reflection of a new dawn of era of cordial relationship between the media and the Executive arm of government.
The biggest gainers are members of the public who now read, see and listen to the efforts of the Bello-led government, more especially in the print and social media and its conscious efforts to change the narrative of "decay infrastructure in kogi state."
At the end of the tour when the Journalists that took part in the exercise disembarked at the NUJ Press Centre, Lokoja, 6:30 p.m, they all agreed that their effort for the day was not in vain after all.
They acknowledged the fact that they came back from the tour, armed with enough stories to serve their various media houses for onward dissemination to the public who are eager to know happenings in the state, a phenomenon they have been for some close to six years.
Since the media tour, the media space has returned to an atmosphere where by more news is being heard about the efforts of the Yahays Bello to provide good governance to the people of the state.
To the government officials on the tour, the tour signals the new dawn of better relationship and understanding of the role of Journalists in the state in the discharge of their duty.
To some top government officials, the media your marked a radical departure from the seeming cool relationship between them and the journalists in the past.
The Journalists on the other
hand believe that they must also reciprocate the gesture of government in organising the tour through increased and objective reportage of government activities as well as availing government people's feelings about government policies and programmes and suggestions for move the state the next level of development .
Besides the gains of the media tour, other projects executed by the Bello-led include, Construction of kabba township roads with street lights, GYB model science schools in isanlu, the annex of Reference hospital, Isanlu and Gegu.
Others are,Omi rice milling in Yagba West, Kogi Reference hospital, Lokoja, the imposing Kogi State Revenue House, Lokoja, Internal road network and faculty building at kogi polytechnic, Lokoja, and the new Presidential House Chapel, Lokoja.
The state government also rehabilitated the Lokoja mega terminal at Felled and made it a functional facility for travelers around the state, constructed internal roads in Kogi West, constructed Ojaoja township roads, and Renova theme
It is also on the record that the state government constructed and renovated mosques and churches as a way of ensuring religious tolerance across the 3 senatorial zones of the state.
Experience showed that all these projects were not actively reported in the media before the truce.
By and large, the current smooth relationship between the government and journalists in Kogi state, exemplified by the media tour, must be seen within the context of the fact that when all is said and done, roundtable remains the best and lasting option to ensure a lasting solution for peace to replace crisis.
Therefore, the media, the first of its in living memory of this author will remain an indelible landmark in the minds of working Journalists and officials of the state government for years to come.
Many keen watchers of developments in the state agree that the exercise, though belated by circumstances, has eventually brought out the giant infrastructural efforts of the Bello administration and correct the negative perception of his administration by some kogites.
To ensure the maintenance of the current embracing tie between journalists and the executive arm of government, both parties must see themselves as partners in progress to take Kogi state to greater heights and make it a spinning example of overall development in human and natural resource among the comity of States in Nigeria.
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