Delta State Commissioner for
Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, has charged Non Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) and other civil society groups to embrace the individual
and group specific form of advocacy in establishing a credible interface
between the state government and its citizens.
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| Mr. Patrick Ukah |
Ukah said while the conventional mass
media advocacy has the advantage
of reaching a wide audience
simultaneously, it has the drawbacks of elitism and technological inefficacy,
unlike the one to one method of communication that requires no special
technology and literacy level.
The Commissioner made the call in his
office in Asaba while playing host to a delegation of the Delta State Forum of
NGOs.
“When you are considering media advocacy,
you are basically talking about television, radio and newspaper, you can
estimate the segment of the society that you are targeting; but I think what we
need more is the one to one advocacy. We do this by talking to people in town
hall meetings, discussions with traditional rulers, youth groups, market women
and others. That is what we need now”, he said.
He explained that although the
emergence of the social media has made information dissemination and gathering
easier, “the online media look elitist in the sense that you have to own and
know how to operate handsets and other technologies that will enable you access
the Facebook, Youtube, WhatsApp and other online platforms”.
He said a higher population of
citizens that live in the villages lack adequate literacy and do not have the
requisite technological knowledge to explore such platforms, noting that NGOs, which
are at the heart of monitoring and evaluating government policies and actions,
must device a veritable mechanism of reaching out to Deltans “in their natural
habitat” to create adequate awareness on what the current government has
achieved since its inception.
The Commissioner, who promised to
liaise with the NGOs coalition as
much as possible, commended the forum
for including security and peace building in its areas of focus, noting that
positive results will be achieved when aggrieved parties embrace dialogue to
resolve disputes.
Earlier, the Coordinator of the
Forum, Dcn. Okezi Odugala, told the Commissioner that the Forum, which was
created on July 9, 2015, consists of credible NGOs in the state, disclosing
that the visit was to create a synergy between the Forum and the state Ministry
of Information as well as seek its support for the media advocacy and campaign
of the Forum against unwholesome practices in the society.
Reeling out the achievements of the
Forum, Odugala said the Forum had succeeded in resolving a communal clash at
Ndokwa East Local Government Area of the state, promoted peaceful dialogue
among aggrieved parties and monitored and evaluated government projects in the
state, adding that it is currently in talks with the Ministry of Environment on
the promotion of healthier and smarter environment in the state.
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