Yobe state government has begun the training of Local Government Information Officers to strengthen their capacities in educating the citizens on government policies and programmes.
The Facilitator of the programme, Dr Ahmed Mohammed-Bedu stated this at the inauguration of the two-day training exercise on Thursday in Bauchi.
The theme of the workshop is “Retooling Local Government Information Officers for Informing Democratic Dividends in Yobe State”.
Mohammed-Bedu said the exercise is designed to equip the participants with necessary skills to improve on their job as information managers and communication experts.
He said it would also sharpen their skills in publicising the dividends of democracy as being delivered by Gov. Mai Mala Buni’s administration at state and local government levels.
The participants, he said, would be exposed to emerging trends in information management, data processing and handling, fact checking, archiving, content management for online communication, report writing techniques, public relations, and value preposition.
“Local government information officers, as purveyors of grassroots information are responsible for dissemination the information on the achievements of government policies and programmes to the public.
“They need to undergo regular training to sharpen their communication skills and media engagement functions of their local government council chairmen and the Executive Governor of the State, Mai Mala Buni,” he said.
According to Mohammed-Bedu, the participants at the end of the exercise will be better equipped in handling media engagements between journalists and their principals.
He urged the participants to utilise the skills acquired to improve their duties.
According to reports, Information Officers drawn from the 17 local government areas of the state attended the workshop. (NAN)
