Governor Bala Mohammed and Effective Media Utilisation in Governance

By Isiyaka Ismail Wunti

The watchdogging function of Mass Media and Journalism has over the years been acknowledged by every progressive-minded government and the society as a whole and that was why its information and monitoring roles are often considered as essential ingredients for democracy and good governance. Therefore, a successful government or administration considers the media as an instrument for meeting the yearning and aspirations of the people, hence all necessary support and level playing ground are being accorded for the smooth operations of media and general welfare of working journalists.

This further justifies the popular saying that “the media is the fourth estate of the realm” considering its obvious roles in promoting peace, unity and good governance through agenda setting.

It is obvious that a government that recognises the value of media often provided quality leadership which meets the needs of teaming citizens through formulation and implementation of policies and programmes characterised as result oriented.

For example, in Bauchi State where Governor Bala Mohammed led administration is gradually transforming the State with provision of physical infrastructure across all the 20 local government areas, some public affairs commentators attributed the development to the Governor’s ability to engage media in most of his administration’s policy formulation, implementation and providing a conducive atmosphere for the practice of journalism.

The Governor’s media friendly nature, according to them, may not be unconnected to his experience as a veteran journalist who began his career as a journalist and rose to the position of News Editor of the Mirage Newspaper Jos, News Reporter with the News Agency of Nigeria, from there he moved over to the Democrat Newspaper where he worked as the newspaper’s State Editor in charge of Benue from 1983 to 1984 before he joined the civil service when he got employed as an Administrative Officer under the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, Abuja.

This among others provided an added advantage to Bauchi based media stations, Leadership of the State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), members of Correspondents Chapel, other media related unions including Social Media activists who associated themselves to the polical movement of the Governor to actively take part during award of contacts, projects monitoring and commissioning ceremonies.

To strengthen the spirit of togetherness and esteem desire for effective service delivery, Governor Bala Mohammed appointed a seasoned journalist and immediate past National Deputy President of NUJ Comrade Mukhtar Gidado as his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity where the journey for media engagement in the government’s activities started.

This development pave the way for the media to access some of the government’s corporate interventions including provision of operational vehicles particularly to the NUJ, National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Correspondent Chapel as well as the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).

More importantly, arrangements are in advance stage for digitalization of the state owned media stations following the Governor’s approval for award of the multi billion naira contract. This will enable the stations to operate inline with global best practice.

Furthermore, the commitment to upgrade the State NUJ Secretariat through total overhaul in a manner that would accommodate state of the art facilities, was another testimony that he is the media friendly Governor.

One of the distinctive qualities of Bala Mohammed is that perhaps he is the only Governor that invites question from journalists covering any form of official occasion even if the event does not required interruption. This foresight often blocked tendencies of misrepresentation of information, inaccurate reporting and possible mischief by unscrupulous journalists.

The State Chairman of NUJ comrade Umar Sa’idu described the Governor’s concern to the Media family as not only commendable but a leadership style that required his counterparts across the country to emulate.

The giant stride exhibited by the Governor gave him more advantage over most of the Governors in areas of publicity, popularity and above all committed to his responsibilities as Governor.

It is however hoped that such a spirit of inclusivity in governance would be sustain for the overall development of Bauchi State and Media Profession.

Wunti wrote from Bauchi