The Commissioner of Information and Strategy in Akwa Ibom State, Comrade Ini Ememobong, has said that the Department of Communication Arts, University of Uyo, supplies 60% of the ministry’s workforce.
Ememobong spoke yesterday at Onyema Ugochukwu Hall in the Town Campus of University of Uyo during the opening ceremony of Professor Nkereuwem Udoakah Conference on Political Communication and National Development, a conference put together by the Department of Communication Arts in honour of the academic don who is due for retirement November.
The Commissioner who was away in University of Nigeria, Nsukka, for the university’s Founders’ Day and represented by the state’s Director of Information, James Edet, wondered how the Ministry would have fared if the department had not worked hard to train their students thoroughly.
Describing Prof. Udoakah as an academic patriarch, he noted that the academic don has been consistent in contributing to the intellectual department of the ministry in the last one year.
Responding to a keynote lecture delivered by Prof. Lai Oso, on the Political Economy of Political Communication, Ememobong said there was something to take back, especially as the country is at “a crossroad politically”, appealing that the ministry gets a copy of the lecture note.
The Information Commissioner told people in attendance to the conference’s opening ceremony that the ministry tries to see how it could bridge between manpower development and classroom training.
He also appealed that deliberations arising from such conferences be made available to policy makers especially in the state, as it will make little sense they do not have access to them.
“They will be helpful when considered during the formulation of policies as it affects communication,” Ememobong added.
Responding, the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, Prof. Uwem Akpan, appreciated the Information boss and conveyed the department’s goodwill to him.
