Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam has asked users of the social media to be fair, truthful and objective as they circulate information in the society through the available platforms.
The governor said this on Thursday in his opening address during a workshop on the effective use of social media for public information officers in the state.
He asked participants to positively use the platforms to disseminate truthful information, enhance peace, development, sharing of knowledge among others instead of using it for retrogression.
“Social media can be used positively by our people to report crime, forward their complaints or comment on any government policies or programme.
“It can also be used to communicate, report or raised any issue of concern to our communities which need prompt action or response from the government for immediate intervention or solution,” he said.
Governor Gaidam also urged social media users to cultivate the ethical practice of objectivity and fairness as exhibited by the conventional media practitioners.
“We expect you to always be frank, fair and objective, as well as identify yourselves with forces whose major interest is the defence of the democratic ideals, rule of law as enshrined in our constitution, and the promotion of peace, unity and stability,” he added.
On his part, Commissioner of Information in the state, Mr Mala Musti, commended the governor for sponsoring the training, saying it would enhance the knowledge and capacity of the information officers in the discharge of their duties.
He said: “I would like to assure His Excellency (the governor) that our information officers are always being reminded of the need to discharge their duties objectively without fear or favour in accordance with the ethics of their profession.
“They will also continue to emphasise on issues that will be of benefit to the entire society and be seen as the vanguard of promoting peace, progress and nation building”.
Director of Press to the governor, Abdullahi Bego, also drew the attention of participants to the powers of the social media which include reaching out to millions of people at a time.
Delivering a speech titled: “The Effective Use of The Social Media in The Dissemination of Information”, he cautioned users to be developmental and ethical in the use of the platforms.
Mr Musa Usman from the Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri, also commended the state government for the workshop, saying participants would be further exposed to the gains of using the social media.
“Most of the information officers are used to the social media but this workshop will further exposed them to the positives of using the social media to enhance development at the local and the state level as well as nationally,” he said.
The workshop brought together participants drawn from ministries, departments and agencies as well as some renowned social media users from across the state.
It was also attended by resource persons, as well as other information experts and managers from across the country.
A communique issued at the end of the workshop called for the effective use of the social media to enhance development while government was asked to heighten training of information officers considering the dynamism in the information and communication world.
