The Nigeria Customs Service is making attempt to strike a seamless working relationship with the media that will help to drive its public relations programmes.
In the same breath, the service, as a matter of deliberate policy, has engaged its officers in the public relations units at both the headquarters and the commands in a rigorous but coordinated public relations education that will mould them into better faces of the agency.
The Nigeria Customs Service is making attempt to strike a seamless working relationship with the media that will help to drive its public relations programmes.
In the same breath, the service, as a matter of deliberate policy, has engaged its officers in the public relations units at both the headquarters and the commands in a rigorous but coordinated public relations education that will mould them into better faces of the agency.
To demonstrate its commitment towards effective media relations as a vehicle to drive good corporate image, Alhaji Dikko adopted the need to foster good mutual understanding between the service and the general public through a well coordinated public relations activities as one of his six-point agenda on which he anchors its administration.
To give vent to this official advocacy stand, officers in the public relations departments of the service are being exposed to modern culture of good public relations tenets through annual public relations workshops.
The annual workshop kicked-off last year in Calabar where officers of the customs charged with managing the image of the service both at the headquarters and the commands were grilled for one week in the modern trends in the practice.
Once again, the officers gathered last week in Owerri, the Imo state capital, for yet another one week session in public relations practice.
However, this year’s workshop in Owerri was a radical improvement from the inaugural one.
Whereas the Calabar workshop excluded the media practitioners, the Owerri session involved journalists from across the spectrum of media industry.
The topic of the workshop tagged “Fostering Effective Customs/Media Relations’’, clearly demonstrated the conviction of the customs management on the imperativeness of cordial relationship with the media that will help drive the vision of the customs boss.
The workshopprovided unique opportunity for both the media practitioners who were present and the customs officers to engage in frank discussions where areas of friction in their working relationship were identified and solutions proffered.
Public relations and media experts were on hand to add impetus to the training workshop.
Alhaji Mohamed Abdullahi, the President of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), lauded the management of the service for its initiative which he believed will improve its image and reassures its publics of a re-branded customs.
Alhaji Abdullahi tutored the customs officers on how well they can relate with the media which they need to reach the stakeholders and other elements in their constituency.
‘’I will, however, advise you to be allergic to lies, falsification or misrepresentation of facts in your dealings with the media in order not to erode existing trust. Your success with the media depends on how transparent, honest and sincere you are in the presentation of emerging issues’’, the NIPR boss declared.
‘’It is necessary to also maintain a high level of integrity in your dealing with the media, knowing fully well that you and you alone is accountable for any inadequacy occasioned by your action. It takes a man with reputation to build organizational reputation’’, Alhaji Abdullahi further admonished.
Other notable media and public relations experts who delivered papers at the workshop harped on the need for officers manning the public relations machinery of the service to maintain a robust relationship with the media that will engender building good image for the agency.
Wale Adeniyi, an Assistant Comptroller of Customs and the National Public Relations Officer of the service, has the onerous task of marshaling a new, robust and effective public relations machinery of the Customs.
He noted that the workshop is a product of the passion of the CGC for capacity building and his conviction that good public and media relations is a catalyst agent that will drive his vision for new customs.
Adeniyi also disclosed that the platform which the workshop provided was germane to building robust and sustained working relationship with the media.
He expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the programme which he confessed has exposed customs officers to modern ways of public relations practice while at the same time, exposing the media practitioners to various aspects of customs operations that will enhance accurate reporting.
He disclosed that a proposal has been forwarded to the management of the service on the need to have similar programme for the senior officers, especially the Area Controllers that will further consolidate the efforts of the customs boss.
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