By Haruna Salami
The ministerial nominee from Niger state, Muhammad Idris has expressed dissatisfaction with the information Nigerians are getting.
Mr. Idris stated this Wednesday during his screening by the Senate as ministerial nominee from Niger state.
Responding to a question by the Senator Abba Moro (Benue South) whether as a communication expert, he is satisfied with the information Nigerians are getting. Mr. Idris said, “well, I don’t think we are satisfied and I think this is one of the things we should strive to improve.
“Unless credible information is being put out there for Nigerians to consume, there will always be room for rumours, misinformation, fake news and all kinds of things.
He gave an example of “intense anxiety” for the ministerial list to get the Senate. Because it hadn’t come and information flow was a little bit slow, so many Nigerian youth who were idle were formulating their own lists and sending to the members of the public. I saw more than 7 lists, only one of them had my name suggested”.
He said as somebody who has experience on how credible news is sourced and disseminated, he knew most, if not all those news were fabricated.
However, the communication expert and publisher said it is pertinent that government must provide credible information to Nigerians. That is the only way that the transparency and accountability that the government is upholding will always be guaranteed. The more you default, the less you are trusted.
“We have this in communication parlance that 50 per cent of the execution of any government projects is actually in the communication. If you don’t communicate, people don’t get to know what is it that you are doing”.
He sited example with the hallowed chamber. This is one of the most reported arms of government. What you’re doing now is being viewed in Nigeria and all over the world, making Nigerians to judge, of their own, the quality of nominees, questions and the quality of the Senate itself, which will lead to formation of quality cabinet that we will be proud of.
Mr. Idris said Nigerians need to do more and if he is confirmed as member of the cabinet, he will ensure that communication flow is absolutely important, not only in newspapers, over the radio and television, but also all our digital assets that have been used to misinform Nigerians are looked at again, improved on. For example, the information we get through WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and all that, if you are not careful, the tendency is for you consume all you get on these digital assets as credible information, but they are not.
“We need to do so much regulate it, it’s not something that we can extricate ourselves from. It is a problem that happens all over the world.
“Like I said, I’m a member of Online News Association based in the U.S. and I know that any conference that we go to, every country, including America itself is complaining about such news. So, how do we deal with these digital assets? What type of regulation do we put in place? How do we use that to produce free flow of information in Nigeria? I think, this is very important.
Speaking on unemployment, Idris said it is not the task of government alone, adding that he is employing over 200 people with over 100 of them as Nigerian graduates.
According to him, if the right atmosphere is created for private sector to thrive, it is possible for our youth out there to be gainfully employed
“Secondly, it is important that policies formulated by government should encourage participation by the private sector to take the youth out of the street.
The senators
The senators from Niger state pleaded with their colleagues to allow the nominee to take a bow a go after brilliantly answering questions from the members.
Senator Sani Musa (Niger East) spoke on behalf of senators from Niger state and was supported by others, which made the Senate President Godswill Akpabio to rule that the nominee should bow and go.
