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The Kano State Government has said that the newly established Media Information Policy Drafting Committee was not an effort toward gagging the media, neither a move to stop the press from carrying out their job.
Speaking while inaugurating the 18-member committee at the SSG office, the Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Waiya, said, “This Policy Committee has nothing to do with stopping the media from doing its jobs, but rather to cement the already existing relationship between the government and the journalists.”
He said, “For the first time in 50 years, history is being made, and we are witnessing one of the greatest engagements that we are getting all the time, ready to have in the state, that is having a policy that we are guiding the information, media engagement in the state.”
Waiya noted that the essence of this is to be guided by the professional ethics in government, as contained in journalism practice, and that the state government is not here only to send messages to the media, but rather to have a direction.
“We are taking up the space where the boundaries of the state government are, and where the boundaries of journalism practice are; that is the essence of the policy framework.”
The Commissioner hinted that there are many policies in the state which the state government, in an effort to enhance the practices of accountability and transparency, has already put in place.
“And we feel also that the information and media space is very critical and important, especially in this era of digital media. We feel obliged that we have a responsibility to have these policies in place that can help cement and strengthen the relationship between the government and media practitioners in the state.”
He explained that that is why the composition of the committee drafted to develop these policies approaches all points of policy, covering three different phases of media practice: academia, practitioners, and others.
“We want to have a holistic policy that will really help to give you a place in the state and to guide our relationship, as I said, and also to guide the practice of journalism.”
The State Secretary to the Government, Umar Faruk Ibrahim, noted that the development goes way back to the year 2023 because of the transition programme put in place by the then elected government, such that there is a conscious approach to governance.
He said the transition committee recommended that key sectors of society and government should be looked into where there are no policies, and that policies should also be adopted so that they will guide the administration. “Already, policies in the electricity sector, solid minerals, women and economic empowerment, and climate change have been put in place, and they have been approved by the State Executive Council, and they are now being guided.”
He said the Committee is to examine the transition quality document, the national policy, any national policy, and other relevant documents to develop the state policy framework on international media communication. Number two, we are expected to convene a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the proposal and draft the policy framework.
“Number three, we are to engage relevant government agencies, media practitioners, and civil society organisations in the policy development process. Number four, we are to undertake necessary steps to achieve the said outcomes. This is the mandate, and of course, there is an omnibus—any other thing we consider relevant should be incorporated into the policy, and we are also briefed to co-opt any other person we think would add value to the exercise.”
