Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, has declared that the people who gave him the mandate to serve them are entitled, as a matter of right, to be kept abreast of what the government has been doing for the socio-economic development of the state.
The Governor was speaking on Monday at the opening ceremony of the newly introduced Ministerial Press Briefing 2024, held at the Auditorium of the Abubakar Umar Secretariat, Bauchi.
According to him, “Having spent one year in our second term as a government, it has become imperative for us to review our performance not only during the last year but right from 2019 when we first came on board.”
The Governor, who was represented by the Head of the Civil Service, Yahuza Adamu Haruna, stated that “the ministerial briefing underscores our unwavering commitment to transparency and accountability in governance.”
He added that the responsibility for organising the ministerial press briefing rests squarely on the Ministry of Information and Communication, saying, “I am pleased to note that in spite of the challenge of funding faced by the state-owned media organisations, namely, BATV and BRC, they have been able to promote and project the activities of the government.”
“Considering the role of the two media outfits in providing feedback between the government and the general public, the government has directed that they should be fully upgraded, digitised, and their studio/office complex fully rehabilitated,” he added.
Bala Mohammed further stated, “I have also approved the appointment of substantive managing directors for the two stations to provide leadership for them to function efficiently and effectively.
“The government has also intervened in the area of increased funding, especially to the Bauchi State Radio Corporation (BRC), in order to address the problem of diesel supply to the station.”
He added, “I am pleased to inform you that in no distant time, Bauchi State Television will be linked to a satellite in order to be able to compete with its contemporaries across the globe.”
“While tirelessly working towards improving its two media organisations, the state government would also continue to give the necessary support to other media outfits in the state for them to also carry out their duties efficiently and effectively,” he stated.
He therefore appealed to the journalists to continue to work with the government as partners in progress, stressing that “they should not hesitate to contact agencies of the state government on how they run their affairs. As you all know, our government has accountability and transparency as its hallmarks.”
The governor also appealed to all ministries and department agencies to turn up for the ministerial press briefing as provided in the time for the exercise, stressing that lateness or delay would be viewed seriously.”
“The MDAs are to provide all necessary information on their activities. The Ministry of Information and Communication should compile and summarise the submissions of all MDAs and produce a compendium on the activities of the government for record and reference purposes. In the spirit of accountability and transparency, the Ministerial Press Briefing would be a quarterly exercise,” he directed.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner, Ministry of Information and Communication, Comrade Usman Danturaki, said that the Ministry had recorded numerous successes, with the support of the Governor, among which are the renovation and digitization of Bauchi State Television, which has been in a state of neglect for a long time. A contract for both (renovation and digitization) was awarded.
He also said that the digitization is nearing completion and that the total rehabilitation of the BATV office complex had since been completed.
The contract for the upgrading of the transmission system at the Bauchi Radio Corporation (BRC) was also awarded; transmitters were supplied and installed and we are awaiting test transmission.
He added that with the support given by the Governor, additional Directorates were created in the Ministry in order to revive and re-invigorate service delivery, the strengthening of ICT compliance in the Management and Monitoring E-governance, the return of the BICT back to the Ministry, and the continued support in the production of yearly Calendars, diaries, etc.
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