SAEMA/SCA: Information Minister Commends PRNigeria, Charges Media on Positive Reportage
By Lawal Dahiru Mamman
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, has called on Nigerian media houses to project a positive image of the country.
According to the minister, the narrative about Nigeria in the international community is not good enough due to one-sided reportage and wrong perception thus, media and other stakeholders have roles to play in countering false beliefs about the country and its people.
The Minister stated this during his address at the fifth Security and Emergency Management Awards (SAEMA) and third Spokespersons’ Communication Awards (SCA) organised by Emergency Digest and Spokespersons’ Digest, subsidiaries of Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR).
IMPR also publishes PRNigeria, Economic Confidential, Politics Digest, Tech Digest, Arewa Agenda, Health Digest and Entertainment Digest.
The Minister who was the Chairman of the occasion was represented by the Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Jibrin Baba Ndace.
“The story of Nigeria and Nigerians out in the world is not the story that people should be telling. In places like Dubai, fraudulent activities are the synonym people attach to our country. This is not acceptable especially when we have millions of our people making giant strides in all fields of human endeavour.
“It is then incumbent on the media and citizens alike to amplify success stories such as the one we are recording today for the world to see,” he said.
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The Minister acknowledged efforts of the CEO of IMPR, Alhaji Yusha’u Shu’aib, for using his very credible platform to recognise and honour military, paramilitary agencies, officers and men as well as spokespersons who have shown gallantry, patriotism and brilliancy in strategic communication and public relations.
He said such programmes are in line with the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu aimed at reorienting the citizenry and motivating them to put the country first in all they do.
“We must recognise Alhaji Yusha’u Shu’aib and his team’s commitment to the nation’s security among other things he is doing for the country. Rewarding our military and paramilitary for their sacrifices to the fatherland is commendable because some even pay the ultimate price in the line of duty.
“Those who received recognition in communications have shown possiblity of strategically passing information without inciting violence or indecency in language and approach,” the minister added.
The Minister appreciated the audience for gracing the gathering and congratulated the awardees while encouraging them to keep doing what they do for a more prosperous Nigeria.
For SAEMA, different security agencies and personnel were honoured for gallantry, patriotism crime prevention, crime fighting, arrest of drug traffickers, efficiency in military operations, paying the supreme price among other virtues.
For SCA, individual spokespersons and organisations were given awards for expertise in strategic communication, crisis communication, social media engagement, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) among others.
