Information and Public Relations Officers in Ogun State Civil Service have been urged to be mindful of their conduct, especially what they post on the social media, as it reflects on the ethics of their profession.
This was made known during a paper titled, “Personal Efficiency and Ethics”, delivered by a Public Relations expert, who is the Chief Executive Officer of OTTOCom, Tope Adaramola, during a two-day training for Information Officers, with the theme, “Upscaling Public Information Management in Ogun State”, organised by Ogun State government, through the Bureau of Establishments and Training, Office of Head of Service, at the Oba’s Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
Tope Adaramola, noted that the social media always have a way of reminding individuals of their dark past, adding that ethics were moral principles that control personal behaviour which could eventually become a parameter that defines the future of Information and Public Relations Officers in the Public Service.
The Public Relations expert, while describing professional ethics as the system that guides the conduct of every known profession, said people with strong ethics were self-motivated, as they go extra mile to accomplish their tasks, stressing that personal effectiveness would be futile when personal ethics breakdown.
He urged participants to entrench their positive traits, document, identify and develop their personal philosophy, adding that officers should be self-motivated, honest, have integrity and respect for others and themselves, to enhance efficiency.
“Realise the need to respect yourself and respect the likes and emotions of others, learn to respect their race, sex and religion, as well as respect social boundaries of others”, he said.
Adaramola, while urging Information and Public Relations Officers in the public service to imbibe good values, charged them to always use their discretion and be disciplined in their service to the government, noting that their good conduct would eventually become the hallmark and personal ethics they would need, in order to excel.
In a second presentation titled, “Renewed Understanding of Ogun State Vision and Transformative Agenda”, Permanent Secretary, Public Service Transformation Office (PSTO), Mr. Jola Oyeneye, spoke extensively on the rich cultural, social and geographic heritage of the state, underscoring the need for Information Officers to showcase these in their reportage about government activities.
He reiterated the need for Information Officers to understand the vision and mission of government, in order to properly report its policies and programmes, saying the ISEYA and the “Building Our Future Together” agenda of the present administration should be prioritised news reporting.
While delivering the third paper titled, “The Ideal Public Information Officer, the resource person, Mr. Femi Dokunmu, noted that a good officer must be knowledgeable and well equipped in his or her field, to enable effective communication with a measure of confidence that commands respect.
Mr. Dokunmu pointed out that an ideal officer should be conversant with the orientation and modus operandi of his agency, stressing that it was important to understand the terrain they operate, while always adopting the best possible model of communication recommended as standard to be admired, emulated and attained by anyone in the information profession.
