Delta State House of Assembly Committee on Information, has promised to ensure that the information sector in the state is strengthened to provide quality services in line with the global best practice.
Chairman of the Committee and Majority Leader of the Delta Assembly, Hon Ferguson Onwo stated this when he led members on inspection visit to two State Owned Media outfits, the Delta Broadcasting Service, DBS, Asaba and the Delta Printing and Publishing Corporation, Publishers of The Pointer Titles.
Hon Onwo, accompanied by some other members of the Committee, including Hon Innocent Anidi, Reuben Izeze, Augustine Uroye and Ebifade Pullah commended the management and Staff of both Media outfits for their commitment to duty irrespective of the daunting challenges being experienced.
The Lawmaker Identified too much bureaucracy as one of the bane of development in most of the contemporary government establishments, and canvassed the need for both Media outfits to begin to think outside the box in order to improve on their capacity and productivity.
Hon Onwo who represents Isoko South 2 Constituency, particularly charged the media organisations to spread their tentacles through robust partnership as a critical index in enhancing productivity.
Apparently unhappy with the State of both organisations, Onwo who was conducted round by the General Managers of both establishments, Mr Frankwhyte Osabihien, DBS Asaba and Monday Uwagwu of the Pointer newspaper, along side with others, promised to liaise with relevant authorities with the aim of giving the Media outfits some facelifts.
The Majority Leader and Chairman Committee on Information stated that there was the need to strengthen and enhance the capacity of government parastatals in the state, saying “Strengthening institutions of government to deliver better quality services should be of great priority”.
Hon Onwo commended the effort of the present Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu to the development of the information sector, even as he challenged the management and staff of DBS Asaba and the Pointer newspaper to be proactive at all times.
He stressed the importance of partnership to grow the establishments, saying that government cannot do it alone, and promised that the committee will strengthen it oversight to the media outfits to remain abreast with progress, challenges and other developments in the establishments.
“Our major problem is over-governance. There is the need for us to be proactive. Strategic partnership is very important for us to grow these establishments. Government cannot do everything for you. You have started on a good note, but there is room for improvement”, the Lawmaker said.
The General Manager DBS Asaba, Mr Frankwhyte Osaborhen and the General Manager Pointer newspaper, Monday Uwagwu, explained that obsolete equipments, inadequate facilities and dearth of manpower were major challenges bedeviling the organizations.
They appealed to the committee to help reach out to relevant authorities towards addressing the challenges.
The General Managers expressed appreciation over the visits and promised the commitment of both establishments in propagating the policies and programs of the State Government, in addition to the traditional mandates of media organizations.