MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND ORIENTATION

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MINISTRY

The Ministry came into existence with the State creation in 1976 as Ministry of Local Government and in order to meet the challenges of the dynamic world, the information Ministry has had its name changed over the years. At different times it bore:

• I. Ministry of Local Government and Information 1976 – 1979

• II. Ministry of Home Affairs 1980

• III. Ministry of Information, Sports and Social welfare 1981 – 1983

• IV. Ministry of Information 1984 – 1985

• V. Ministry of Information, Social W elfare, Youth, Sports and

Culture 1985 – 1988

VI. Ministry of Information and Culture 1988 – 1991

VII. Ministry of Information, Social Development, Youth

and Sports 1992 – 1994

•  Ministry of Information, Community Development,

Culture and Sports 1995 – 1996

•  Ministry of Information, Sports and Culture 1997 - 1999

•  Ministry of Information 1999 – 2003

•  Ministry of Information and Strategy 2003 – 2007

•  Ministry of Information and Orientation 2007 to date

 

BRIEF FUNCTION OF THE MINISTRY – BACKGROUND NOTES

The Ministry is a service-oriented agency and acts as the chief mobilizer of the citizenry towards Government's policies and programmes.

The Ministry's major responsibilities are the management of public relations, orientation and publicity of activities/efforts of the State Government and the entire citizenry.

In order to properly execute its functions, the Ministry operates with five (5) departments and one unit:

•  The Finance and Administration department is in charge of the general administration and all financial matters of the Ministry. Its responsibilities include matters relating to Promotion, Discipline, Transfer, Appointment, Training and re-training of all the staff in the Ministry. The department is also involved with the coordination of all accounting transactions of the Ministry.

 

•  The Production Services Department is responsible for the gathering of news and dissemination of same. It publishes a daily bulletin on activities of Government – “OGIS”. In order to achieve these objectives, Information Officers are attached to Ministries, Statutory Corporations and Boards, Governor's Office, Government House and the House of Assembly. The department also writes feature articles on the activities of the State Government and ensures the publication of same in the National Dailies. Feature articles written by Information Officers are often turned into Government Publications, which serve as reference materials to Higher Institutions both at home and abroad and private scholars. The Department also produces the widely acknowledged public News letter, “OGUN UPDATE”. The department with the aid of the Photo and Film divisions provides Photo and Video Coverage on the Governmental Activities on a day-to-day basis. In addition, the Department serves as training ground for new Local Government Information Officers and students of Mass Communication from Olabisi Onabanjo University , Ago-Iwoye and Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta . The department liaises with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) through State Social Mobilisation and Technical Committee (SSOMTEC) to address issues affecting mothers and children.

 

•  The Public Enlightenment Department on its own part publicizes the activities of Government through the direct production and distribution of booklets, leaflets, magazines and a wide range of audio/visual materials as well as T.V. and Radio programmes such as Giant Strides, Ogun State Review and Tiwa n tiwa with the assistance of other means of mass communication. It serves as the public relations agency to various arms of Government through the constant use of public address equipment vans.

 

•  The Orientation Department which has dropped its strategy component in line with the Administration's focus of creating positive awareness and identity for its citizenry takes care of image management for the State Government as well as the re-orientation of values in line with the vision of the State Government. This department also proactively identifies crisis issues for effective management. The department ensures smooth planning towards actualization of government programmes and engagements. It strengthens feedback mechanism on the philosophy, programmes, achievements and aspiration of the government to the people (Government – the Governed-Government). It develops effective strategies for mobilizing citizenry for support of government policies as well as re-introduce/re-package the time-tested Ogun State Information Order, encompassing village square meetings, Zonal Information Offices, Viewing Centres etc.

 

•  The Department of Planning, Research and Statistics is responsible for the facilitation of a new dimension in feed-back mechanism between the government and the governed though a scientific approach of data collection and analysis, especially at this crucial period of the nation's democracy where rumour mongering has become the order of the day. It also serves as the central organ for the planning and coordination of the various activities of the other departments in the Ministry. The department liaises with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to help in the population and development activities in the State.

 

•  As part of the Ministry's effort at generating more revenue, a new unit of Billboards and Signages has been created under a separate Director. It is believed that the separation of this revenue source from other department will give it more supervision and resultantly more revenue.

 

GENERAL FUNCTIONS

•  p ublicity of government activities

•  Image Management for the State Government

•  Reputation Management for the State Government and its executives

•  Public Relations of Government

•  Ensuring regular communication between the government and its stakeholders

•  Re-orientation of values in line with the vision of the government for the state.

•  Engineering mindset changes in positive direction to provide support base for development.

•  Creation of a conducive environment in which worthy legacies can flourish.

•  Nurturing a citizenry that is receptive to government messages.

•  Mobilizing the citizenry behind the vision of government.

•  Proactive identification of crisis issues and crisis management

•  Registration of Newspapers and Magazines

•  s upervision of parastatals under the Ministry – Gateway Radio, Gateway Television and Council for Arts and Culture.

•  Publishing of Bulletins, Newsletters and Promotional materials about the s tate.

•  Organising briefing sessions, village square meeting etc.

•  Electronic Information Interchange in the State.

•  E-mail Interface of the Government with the State citizens

•  Liaising and partnering with n ational o rientation a gency

•  Maintaining a favourable brand perception for the State

 

Names Of Principal Officers

Names and Designations

•  KAYODE SAMUEL HON. STATE COMMISSIONER FOR INFORMATION & ORIENTATION

 

•  YETUNDE KUJORE PERMANENT SECRETARY

 

•  TOKUNBO WILLIAMS DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION – PUBLIC ENLIGHTENMENT

 

•  JIDE OYEGUNLE DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION – ORIENTATION

 

•  YETUNDE OGUNDARE DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION – BILLBOARDS & SIGNAGES

 

•  BUNMI ODUMUSI DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION – PLANNING, RESEARCH AND STATISTICS

 

•  AYO OLUYEMI DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION – PRODUCTION SERVICES

 

•  FEMI OGUNDIMU DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION.

 

 

 

CURRENT/ON-GOING PROJECTS

•  Town/Village Square Meetings : First introduced in the state in 1987, the Town/Village Square Meeting is a revolutionary concept in the art of public communication and an effective instrument for the mobilization of the rural masses towards the statutory goals of the government and for embracing participatory governance. Usually, representatives of 10 – 20 contiguous villages assemble in a central location where they are met by the Governor and members of his cabinet. There are no formalities and under a village setting, the Governor and his cabinet are questioned, confronted and advised by the citizenry.

 

•  Zonal Information Centres : In view of the fact that Abeokuta , the headquarters of Ogun State Information Services is far removed from the bulk of the masses, the need to re-established Zonal Information Offices in the State in order to intimately get to the grassroots becomes paramount. This will give fillip to the efforts of Local Government Information Officers as well as ensure that government get nearer the people.

 

•  Community Viewing Centres : To close the yawning communication gap between the government and its grassroots population, the community viewing centres serve as rallying points for people in the rural areas to get adequately informed about government programmes. The centres would be accessible and would be equipped with audio-visual aids.

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