THE overwhelming power of the media in shaping public perception of government policies and programmes is recognised all over the world. Needless to say that government appreciates these awesome powers and knows that what the media report about them can make or mar their policies, activities, success or failures.

This is particularly so in a fledgling society such as Nigeria, which is still passing through the complex processes of democratisation and economic reconstruction. This scenario has, therefore, increasingly made the relationship between the media and the government to be inseparable in the common pursuit for national growth and development.

The present administration’s Transformation Agenda is largely consistent with the Vision 20:2020, which is aimed at concretizing our collective national goals and aspirations of becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world by the year 2020. The media, as a veritable organ of mass communication, has a fundamental role to play in this national project by sensitizing, mobilizing and educating Nigerians on the core components of the Agenda and its derivable benefits. Nigerians also have to imbibe the correct attitudes and take the right actions for the Transformation Agenda to progress from the realm of public policy to that of concrete reality.

It is essential to point out that the Transformation Agenda seeks to transform Nigerian people into a catalyst for growth and national development. Under the transformational drive, we all aspire to build an industrialised modern state, peaceful and united in our collective aspirations; conscious of its manifest destiny as a regional power and well-respected in the comity of nations.

However, the above task can be a very great challenge without a highly enlightened, adequately remunerated, well-equipped and patriotic national media. In this respect, therefore, government, in addition to providing the enabling environment for the growth of the industry, needs to promote and sustain harmonious relationship with the media as one of the major stakeholders in this laudable national agenda. On their part, the media practitioners must imbibe a sense of national interest in the discharge of their duties.

It needs to be emphasized that based on its immense material and human resources, Nigeria has the potentials for greatness. To harness these resources for the collective national transformation, the media has to motivate, instill, and inspire necessary confidence among Nigerians. We must also embrace the positive virtues of self-discipline and patriotism, so as achieve the goals of our national reconstruction.

In the light of the above, therefore, the media has to vigorously embark on the deliberate collection, packaging, processing and sustained dissemination of well-thought-out public sensitization. In addition to this, the media has to equally play the role of promoting peace, stability, unity and progress of this great nation, without which no serious national transformation can take place.

It is essential to note that we should not confine the afore-mentioned roles to the national media alone. We also need the support and cooperation of the international media. Suffice it to say, at this point, that the role of the international media, in this respect, would largely depend on various critical factors such as our external relations, the state of our external image as well as the commitment and political will by the present administration to transform this country.

There is, therefore, the need to establish and sustain cordial working relationship with the international media. This is with a view to positively and favorably project Nigerian image abroad. It could be recalled that negative and stereotyped reportage by the international media could adversely affect the inflow of the direct foreign investment which is key to the transformation of our great country.

Mr.  HADI  AL-HASSAN, PS to the Minister for Works, wrote from Abuja