A group known as Concerned Professionals Congress (CPC), has lauded the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor for taking adequate measures to sustain the robust activities of the Defence Media Operations (DMO) which it said has succeeded in becoming the best authoritative one-source communication strategy of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
The group issued the statement in Abuja yesterday against the backdrop of resumption today by the DMO of its biweekly press briefing which could not hold on Thursday May 12, 2022 last week owing to a reason put as ‘’circumstances beyond our control’’ contained in a message by DMO’s Major Roseln Oluwaseun Managbe to defence correspondents, adding that ‘’a new date will be communicated to you’’.
In keeping with her pledge, Major Managbe whose robust rapport with journalists and general conduct on the job have been widely adjudged as warm, homely and professional by a cross section of correspondents on the defence beat, promptly sent messages yesterday to convey resumption of the briefing which many established news channels across the world have adopted as a major source of authoritative information on the operations of the Nigerian Military.
The group in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by its Northern Rapporteur, Mallam Kasim Baba Kasim which was obtained by SoundBite Online News, said that the Chief of Defence Staff deserved huge commendation for sustaining the biweekly programme as well as retaining the structure under its pioneer Director, Brigadier General Bernard Onyeuko, now a Major General, which he inherited from his immediate past predecessor, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin (rtd), now Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon. Major General John Enenche, now statutorily retired, was the first Coordinator whose pioneering efforts were described as inspiring.
The group described the DMO which it likened to the Pakistani Military’s similar one-source authoritative channel as one of the best things to happen to the critical issue dissemination of information of military operations as part of the entire Nigerian Military’s entire architecture to combat terrorism, insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other forms of criminality in the country.
The group recalled that since March 2020 when DMO was unveiled, it has stuck to its original goal of disseminating precise, timely and authoritative information on the general military exploits against insurgency and criminality resulting in better public appreciating and understanding of the purpose, progress and projection of the multi-faceted operations of the military on air, land and sea within the territorial space of the Nigerian nation.
‘’The gallant operations of the DMO have become a major watershed in the current strategic communication agenda of the Armed Forces of Nigeria under the charismatic leadership of General Lucky Irabor as the CDS.
‘’He deserves huge commendation for retaining the DMO structure as well as for vigorously sustaining their activities. The biweekly event has always recorded a huge attendance meaning that it has been widely endorsed and adopted by the media as a major element in its tool-kit as far as reporting defence operations accurately, professionally and responsibly’’, Kasim Baba Kasim said.
According to him, the DMO has succeeded in allaying media fears that it was not created to stifle information or regulate the media in sourcing information but rather, it has been able to fast-track and enlarge the channels by which information on all operational activities pertaining to military operations of the Armed Forces of Nigeria are obtained more accurately, speedily, seamlessly and effectively in line with global best practices.
‘’Our findings revealed that the method has proved to be the most efficient and effective media tool similar to the approach adopted by countries that had also experienced even worse security challenges.
‘’Essentially, the DMO’s media engagement in tone and scope has shown that its information dissemination process is not an attempt to teach the media how to do its job but rather enable the media, as a critical stakeholder in the Project Nigeria, to carry out its constitutional functions more seamlessly, efficiently and professionally at a time that the entire world is a global village’’, he said.
The group also observed that another major reason for the success of DMO’s activities so far is traceable to the cordial working relationship between DMO’S helmsman, Major General Bernard Onyeuko and the new Director of Defence Information, Major General Jimmy Akpor, both of whom were said to have worked together some years ago. The latter has always made it a duty to accompany the former to the press briefings.
