President Goodluck Jonathan has approved
the posting of information officers to Nigerian foreign missions in a
bid to improve the nation’s image abroad.
Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran
Maku, who said this while speaking to staff of the ministry in Abuja on
Monday, said the ministry, was reactivating its foreign offices to
adequately project the image of Nigeria in the global community.
Maku said the ministry had received
presidential approval to start the posting of foreign information
officers, adding that this would start as soon as some of the logistic
challenges were addressed.
He said, “We need information officers
in all the key embassies abroad. The question of promoting Nigeria’s
image will be their daily task.
“They will respond to stories that are
negative about Nigeria in those countries. They will write positive
stories; they will post whatever we are doing in the nation.
‘They will coordinate and expose us in those countries.
“They will campaign about the opportunities for investment; they will reply anything about Nigeria and set the record right.”
The minister said the foreign posting was not a luxury but crucial to the image of the country.
He added that Federal Information
Offices across the country have been revamped through the allocation of
resources to enable them to carry out some publicity activities on the
programmes and projects of the government.
Maku also told the workers that a total of N100m was expended on staff training in 2012.
He explained that unlike in the past
when staff training was outsourced to consultants; under his leadership,
funds for staff training were channelled to the National Institute of Public Information which was statutorily established to train staff of the ministry.
According to him, the ministry was now giving priority to staff training and development to achieve optimal performance in service delivery.
He urged Resident Information Officers
posted to Ministries, Departments and Agencies to step up regular filing
of reports to saturate the social media with the activities and programmes of the government
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