KWSG Trains Press Secretaries on Strategic Communication Skills

The Kwara State Government has reiterated its commitment to regular training and retraining of its workforce for  efficient service delivery.

This was made known during a two-day Training Workshop for State Press Secretaries/Information Officers on Strategic Communications Skills.

The workshop, which was organized by Triumph Corporate Limited in collaboration with the Office of the Head of Service of Kwara State, started on Wednesday and ended on Thursday at the Banquet Hall, Ilorin.

The Governor of the State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, represented by his deputy, Mr. Kayode Alabi, who declared the event open on Wednesday, gave an assurance that the government will ensure that all officers of the state partake in regular trainings that will help in sharpening their skills and ultimately lead to effective service delivery. 

"At this juncture, let me assure you that plans are underway to ensure that this feature cuts across all integral parts of Civil Service, across all cadres, professional lines, and all levels in the service.

"With the huge and aggressive developmental achievements recorded so far in all spheres of our social life, as a Government, we do not only need these crops of officers to sell our goodwill to the public through masses-oriented policy and program of this administration, but they need to be more trained and retrained to build and improve their skills and capacity to facilitate effective information management proper dissemination to the public," the governor said.

Earlier in her opening address, the State Commissioner for Communications, Hon. Abosede Olaitan Buraimoh, acknowledged that the resource persons were topnotch professionals in the Communications and Public Relations industry who would help in making sure the participants richly tap from their deep wells of knowledge.

"This is the first time since the advent of the 4th republic that a training of this nature and on this large, qualitative scale will be organized for the official communicators of the Kwara State Government.

"The duties performed by Information Officers/ Press Secretaries in the State are crucial. They are considered to be the link between the government and the public. Their role as Press Officers is to adequately inform the public about the numerous activities of the government. They have to ensure, through their press releases and other media, that the image of the government is well-protected and not tarnished. 

"This is why the government is organizing this capacity building workshop aimed at enhancing their skills and knowledge to enable them to deliver on their jobs competently and position themselves for opportunities within and outside their official duties."

She further acknowledged that, "for a government doing so wonderfully well, it is only natural to expect a commensurate publicity for its work and this workshop is a major step towards achieving that." 

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Triumph Corporate Limited, Alhaji Raheem Adedoyin, said the training was important in order to ensure that press officers gather relevant skills needed in this digital age and to be able to stand at par with their international colleagues.

The Press Secretaries were trained on how to leverage the use  of Social Media in publicizing the activities of the government, News Writing, Public Perception and Image Management, Strategic communication, Features Writing and Events Management.

The closing ceremony was chaired by the Head of Service, Mrs Susan Dupe Oluwole, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Establishments, Alhaji Shuaib Boni Aliyu.

Mrs Oluwole described the media as the most powerful entity on earth and urged the participants to wake up to their responsibilities and "imbibe new ways of informing people of what they need to know in terms of government programmes."

Ayobami Ashaolu,

Press Secretary,

Ministry of Communications.