The Federal Executive Council has approved the setting up of an inter-ministerial committee to advice government on how policies and programmers can be better disseminated. This was one of the decisions reached at Wednesday’s meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu,
who stated this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, said the committee would “fashion out a marshal plan for the communications for the ministry.”
According to him, the ministers on the committee are those of finance, agriculture, budget and national planning, power, works and housing, transportation, communications, information and culture, petroleum and the Niger Delta.
Shehu, who spoke on behalf of the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the ministry made a presentation on the activities of his ministry at the meeting.
He said the achievements of the ministry in the past two years included: “Bringing down the wall that screens out Nigerians in the military engagement in the northeast, the role played in the prompt release of the Dapchi girls and the institution of town hall meetings.”
He said eleven of such town hall meetings have so far been held by the ministry, explaining “the town hall meetings are ways of getting feedback from the country.”
He said the ministry’s presentation gave details of the sensitization campaigns on insecurity in the country, regular interaction with Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Journalists and other relevant bodies.
Progress made in the digital switchover campaigns was also presented at the meeting.
The presentation also included interactions with the International Press Institute which will be coming to Nigeria for the World Congress in June, this year.
Shehu also said that the the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Abdulhassan, briefed council on women empowerment programme undertaken, capacity development for women, promotion of human rights, fighting violence against women, rehabilitation of victims of gender violence, promoting the health of women and children and efforts on the rescue of Chibok and Dapchi girls.
