The recent appointment of 44 social media activists as senior special reporters and senior reporters by Kano Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, has ignited a mixture of reactions of support and criticism within the state.
Chief Press Secretary to Governor Yusuf, Comrade Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, explained in a statement that the social media activists would contribute to the execution of the state government’s policies, programs, and projects.
However, some observers, including veteran journalist Alhaji Muhammed Aliyu, have expressed concerns.
Aliyu said virtually those appointees do not have rudimentary knowledge of journalism and are also capable of doing irreparable damage to the ethics of the journalism profession.
Comrade Dawakin-Tofa added that the SS on media will help execute government policies.
He added that the appointment of social media activists as reporters was part of efforts to provide access to information on policies, programmes and activities of the administration of Governor Yusuf.
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Alhaji Aliyu stated that the state government’s appointment of the SS media to 44 local government councils was a deliberate attempt to rubbish the work of information officers at their respective places of work.
According to him, “All these were not trained journalists to me they were quack as far as the profession is concerned.
However, the Kano state chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalists, Comrade Abba Ibrahim said; “Is a welcome development, because indirectly it has created employment.
“We all know that unemployment is one of the factors that lead to social vices, this appointment, would a bit take away these social vices”.
According to him, the state commissioner of information Alhaji Baba Halilu Dantiye recently made some commitment that the government would work in harmonium ways with both the conventional journalist and the social media influencers to enhance effective and efficiency in the dissemination of information in the State”.
He added that he believed that the crop of social media influencers would be trained on digital rights to guide against infringes on other people’s rights and deformation of characters.
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Comrade Ibrahim noted that instead of local government information officers doing nothing to project their respective local government councils, the appointment of these SS media would spur them to perform maximally.
“In essence, the appointment is timely, especially since it is well-known that social media has come to stay, allowing them to operate independently just like that is better to bring them close, to enable them to know the dos and don’t of social media.”
While also commenting on the issue, former managing director of a local radio station but preferred anonymity said that the appointment of SS media was basically to enrich those hanging on politicians.
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GOOD EVENING NIGERIA reports that the portfolios assigned to the new SAs are Policy and Social Development, Industries, Cyber Security, grassroots mobilisation, Support Groups, Metropolitan Affairs, and Domestic Affairs.
Read the full portfolios HERE.
The appointees are directed to collect their letters of appointment and report to their respective agencies of assignment in Kano immediately.