The Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Christopher Nehikhare, was at the premises of The Nigerian Observer on Tuesday, July 4, 2023 to inspect the ongoing revamp of the state-owned media by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration. On the sidelines of the tour, Nehikhare spoke with a team of The Nigerian Observer editors. He commended the progress made so far at The Observer and assured of continuity of the revamp programme begun by the Obaseki-led administration. Excerpts:
One of the things we have realized is that information dissemination connects the people with the government, letting them know what the government is doing and why the government does all those things. Could you please give us an appraisal of your ministry with regard to dissemination of information and getting people to know more of what the government is doing for their own benefit?
Well, that is the essence of the Ministry of Communication and Orientation. We need to be able to tell people what the government is doing at all times, and it is very important that we have all the media – social media, conventional media, television houses – all working together as a team to be able give out government position on issues. For instance, we have heard a lot of misinformation, especially about The Nigerian Observer and the Edo State Printing Press. A lot of people are out there on the streets thinking that it’s not working, that there is nothing going on, but it is up to us to let people know what is going on.
Yes, we all acknowledge that the e-copy of The Observer is very effective, doing its job properly, gathering information, sharing information and making sure the people are aware. Now what the people were not sure of is, how come we don’t have the hard copies yet? But we have just demonstrated that we have the most sophisticated machines today in Nigeria that can produce not only for The Observer but for other newspaper houses, other people, private and public – they can come in here for a fee to be able to have their job done. All these things put together determine how the public views the government, how we justify the taxes they pay, how we justify when we say we have a good story to tell. And this potpourri of ideas from all the various arms of government have now been put inside this big box where The Observer is, where Channels TV is, where Arise TV is, where EBS is, and all these things determine how people view us. It is my duty to make sure we are all working as a team and we are in sync. And that is why today we are here to ask you to continue to do what you are doing and, if possible, please do more.
Talking about the social media, we have several instances where people have come up with something that is not true as relating to the government. How do you clarify, how do you let people know that for them to get information from the government, these are the sources they must rely on?
Well, that is the independence of the social media. We have to understand that it is a free society. People would write what they want to write; it is the government’s duty and the duty of government people like yourself, The Observer, to make sure that whatever you put out there is true and authentic. Once your medium is trusted, people would hurry back there to verify. No matter what anyone puts out on social media, if no other responsible medium like The Observer, ThisDay, Vanguard, or any other paper like that puts it up or repeats it, nobody would listen to it.
The government cannot be the one defending itself all the time but the various responsible people within that ecosystem are the ones that are supposed to defend the truth, make sure the truth comes out. So as the Commissioner, I am not really bothered with what people sit in their rooms to write about government as long as the truth comes out from the various media.
You have come to The Nigerian Observer, you have visited the press and you have seen things for yourself, what message do you have for the people out there, the sceptics doubting the progress of things?
Well, I don’t know why they are sceptical. The truth of the matter is that government is doing a lot to make sure people are aware that things are happening at the right time, and you people are there to also share these things to people. As I said, don’t forget we are in a democracy. People that want to be in government, that want power, they would make up stories to discredit whatever government is in place at a time. Don’t forget, there was a time I was the Publicity Secretary of the then opposition party, the PDP, before the government came to us. Then, fortunately, I was responsible. I would always tell the things that were factual after investigating them. They were always factual, I never made up stories. I got information, did research and always put government on its toes. We are hoping for that kind of opposition in Edo State but unfortunately, we have a very lazy opposition. They are relying on Mr President to come and create magic for them in a year’s time. They have not come up with anything. They have no programme, they have nothing on ground, no plan for Edo people, just that they want power, but Edo people are cleverer than that. We are not just interested in people that want power, we want people that can deliver for us, that can make sure Edo is better than it was yesterday, and PDP is the only government and the only party right now that has those plans for Edo people. And so, no scepticism at all, what we have are lazy people in the opposition. They have no idea, they have no plan, they have nothing in place for Edo people. All they want is that, ‘it’s our turn’, but Edo people would tell them, ‘it’s not your turn’. We want a government to serve Edo people, which is what we are offering.
Now people have seen and heard about the progress being made in the revamp of The Nigerian Observer, but some might say, well, it’s just a one-off. What is the assurance that there will be continuity?
Continuity of what? Of government establishment? No responsible government would stop what is working – and Edo people trust a government like PDP. I am sure PDP would be the government to take over from PDP. Now we are spending a lot of Edo people’s money to build this edifice, we spent Edo people’s money and invested in that printing press, and then you think a government would come tomorrow and say, we are not using it? That’s irresponsible.
We have a system, like the education system, EdoBEST, recognized and acknowledged around the world. Now no responsible government would come and say stop it. Then, we have EdoJobs, engaging our youths, training our youths in all sorts of skills to make them better for tomorrow. No responsible government would say stop that. Then we have the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub right here, having youths for creative arts come here to express themselves, their talents. No responsible government will stop that. The only irresponsible government or party we have in Edo State is the APC. They are irresponsible and they may be the ones that might think they need to stop it because when you spend government money on the people, you don’t have money to share to the party leaders. The PDP, the government of today, we are not sharing money to party leaders but we are giving it back to Edo people. So that is the guarantee I will give you. This is what is being done for the Edo people, we are carrying on and we won’t stop.
