Harps on Accurate , Timely Information Dissemination on Government Activities
By Daniel Abe
The Ekiti State Local Government Service Commission (EKLGSC) has charged Directors of Information & Civic Orientation and Directors of Community & Social Development across the state’s 16 local government areas and 22 Local Council Development Areas to strengthen grassroots communication, identify community challenges and promote effective service delivery.
The Commission gave the charge at the commencement of a two-day capacity-building seminar for the directors in Ado-Ekiti, with a call for stronger collaboration between local governments and the communities they serve.
The seminar, held at the Ezekiel Oguntuase Hall, Onigari, Ado-Ekiti, has as its theme: “Strengthening Information Management, Community Engagement and Participatory Development for Effective Local Government Service Delivery.”
Declaring the seminar open on behalf of the Chairman of the Commission, Chief Samuel Abejide, the Commissioner in charge of Information and Civic Orientation, Mr Wole Olujobi, said the training was designed to equip participants with additional knowledge and practical skills to enable them to perform their responsibilities more effectively.
Abejide described Directors of Information as the image-makers and mouthpieces of local governments, stressing that they had a responsibility to ensure that relevant information reached the public while also communicating the concerns of the people to government.
He urged the participants to pay greater attention to the challenges confronting their respective communities, ensure that such issues were properly documented and bring them to the attention of the relevant authorities.
The chairman also charged Directors of Community and Social Development to strengthen the relationship between government and the people, describing them as a vital bridge between both sides.
He urged them to promote public trust, encourage meaningful community participation and work towards peaceful coexistence among communities.
Abejide commended the Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, for his commitment to human capital development and the continuous training and retraining of civil servants.
He said the administration’s investment in capacity building had enhanced the effectiveness and productivity of public servants, urging the participants to justify the investment by applying the knowledge acquired during the seminar to their daily duties.
The chairman further charged the participants to share the knowledge gained with other members of staff, particularly their subordinates, to ensure that the impact of the training was felt across the local government service.
The Permanent Secretary of the EKLGSC, Mr Rotimi Akomolede, described the seminar as an opportunity for participants to improve their professional competence and adapt to the changing demands of grassroots administration.
Akomolede urged the participants to take the training seriously and actively engage with the resource persons throughout the two-day programme.
In his remarks, the Coordinator of Ekiti State Local Government Information Officers, Mr Wumi Agbanigo, commended Governor Oyebanji for prioritising the welfare and professional development of workers in the state.
Agbanigo also thanked the leadership of the EKLGSC for organising the seminar, saying regular capacity building had contributed to improved performance and service delivery among local government workers.
Resource persons at the seminar included the former Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ekiti State Council, Mr Rotimi Ojomoyela; former Executive Secretary in the local government service commission, Apostle Olumide Olomu; former Permanent Secretary, EKLGSC, Mr Ebenezer Jegede; and former Executive Secretary, Mr Stanley Familoye, among others.
The training is expected to focus on practical approaches to information management, community engagement and participatory development, with the broader objective of strengthening grassroots administration and improving service delivery across Ekiti State.
