The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mallam Aliyu Ahmed, while declaring open the two-day training for Focal Persons from the various Departments and Units of the Ministry in Abuja, said that effective management of the website Content promotes Unambiguous Information Dissemination, whereby the government programmes, activities and projects are made readily known, visible, available and accessible to the citizenry while utilizing the feedbacks for enhanced decision making and service delivery.
The Permanent Secretary who was represented by the Director Procurement of the Ministry, Mrs Rukiyat Odekunle in the opening remarks reiterated that the training of the focal persons is on how to develop and write effective content for the Ministry’s website. He added that, a major thrust of this administration is the entrenchment of probity, openness and accountability in government activities, as well as citizen’s participation in governance.
Mallam Ahmed urged the participants to leverage on this machinery which the Ministry has put in place to ensure a functional-user-friendly website and other social media platforms. This according to him is to ensure that information on the Ministry’s policies, programmes and activities are proactively disclosed to the citizenry and prompt response are given to citizen’s enquires within the ambit of the law.
He urged the participants to take the training seriously because the Management places high premium on the website. He further stressed the need for all Ministries’ activities and programmes to be timely uploaded on the website and other social media handles of the Ministry.
The Permanent Secretary added that the interactive nature of the website makes it semi-open portal through which the citizenry and indeed the world could interact with the Ministry, stressing that their write-ups and visuals must meet international standard.
Earlier, the Director Information, in the Ministry, Abiamuwe-Mowete Philomena who organized the training disclosed that, the participants are reporters from the various Departments and Units of the Ministry and that their writings will bring the Ministry to the limelight which will be beneficial to Finance Stakeholders nationally and internationally, she added.
According to her, the “world is now digitally inclined, hence the need for training and retraining on digitalization and digitalization cannot be over emphasized. In discharging their duties they should avoid falsehood, be truthful and always be proactive, noting that the media generally is an agent of development.
Phil Abiamuwe-Mowete
Director (Information)
