By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi
The goals of national service of fostering unity among Nigerians and encouraging compatriots to render selfless services to the country could not effectively be achieved without the support of the mass media that helps in publicizing the activities of corps members.
Director General of the NYSC Scheme, Brigadier General Suleiman Kazaure made the observation Thursday during the closing ceremony of a three day workshop organized by the service to train its officials drawn from all the states of the federation.
Brigadier General Kazaure said that the three-day workshop was geared to brainstorm on how to come up with policies that would improve the welfare and security of corps members all year round held at Zaranda Hotel, Bauchi.
He said however that the scheme had in recent times been under reported by the media and faced some ‘crises’ which he attributed to poor human relations, management, poor handling of official matters, favoritism, and over zealousness on the part of some camp officials.
Kazaure, also ascribed the setback to inaction, negligence, abdication of responsibilities, hoarding and suppression of information that farmed rumour mongering, observing further that the best way to manage the crisis is through engagement with every stake holder.
” Furthermore, there is need to bear in mind that crises are sometimes escalated by the media hype especially with one-sided reportage or outright falsehood as was the case with the alleged assault of a Corps member by policemen in Zamfara state”, he said.
He advised workshop participants, who were staff of the scheme, that cultivation of cordial relationship with the media, especially accessibility and closer interaction with Correspondents and Bureau Chiefs in their various states might readily nip bad publication in the bud.
NYSC Director of Press and Public Relations, Mrs A.O Aderibigbe has earlier explained that the workshop was anchored on the vision of his unit to operate a media approach that is responsive to the scheme’s various publics and achieve desirable image for it.
‘In view of the significance of this workshop to the corporate image of the scheme, we have packaged a number of world class presentations that will be delivered by seasoned, experienced and professional Public Relations practitioners drawn from the public service and academia”, she said.
The objective, according to her, is to create necessary sensitization needed to challenge and enhance the capacity of management and other stakeholders of the scheme nationwide in effective management of crisis situation through informed and constructive engagement with the Mass Media.
