April 9, 2018

The Lagos State Government says it is targeting two million followers on its social media platforms by December, to educate and engage residents better on its policies and programmes.

Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, Commissioner, Ministry of Information and Strategy spoke in Ikeja on Monday, at the 2018 Ministerial Press Briefing to mark three years in office of Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State.

He said that the social media had become a crucial part of how the government interacts with residents, and the state government was doing so through three vibrant platforms – Facebook( www.facebook.com/followlasg), Twitter (@followlasg) and Instagram (@Lagosstategovernment).

“The ministry has been exploring creative, innovative and strategic media communications models to manage public information that continued to shape the state positively.

“In the period under review, the state had 16,500 followers on its Instagram platform, resulting in over 1,000 per cent increment from the initial 857 followers as at April 2017.

“The Twitter account now has over 173,264 followers resulting in 47 per cent increment from the initial 117,782 followers as at April 2017.

“On the state’s twitter handle, the post with the highest engagement in the year under review was the picture captioned  ’28 Adults Being Arraigned for Engaging in Homosexuality before the Yaba Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State’.

“The post had 184,811 impressions, 61,928 total engagements, 759 re-tweets, 301 likes and 307 replies.

“On the state’s Facebook account, we now have 296,000 followers making an increment of 14 per cent from the initial 259,147 followers as at April 2017.

“The post with the highest engagement in the year under review is the Land Use Charge infographics with 924 comments and reactions, 158,808 people were reached and 1,013 shares.

”The infograhics was an instant hit as it explained the border lines and breakdown of increases on the Land Use Charge and many people were able to better understand in clear and figurative terms the adjustments, ” Bamigbetan said.

He said the evaluation of the social media activities showed how the state government was using the social media platform to activate and sensitise public reactions to happenings.

“The American President uses twitter to engage citizens, we believe that we also need to use the social media platforms more and follow-up to ensure vibrant engagement.

”We are very emphatic about growing our followers on the platforms. Our target this year is 2million so we can use the social media platforms more engagingly to communicate and promote government policies more aggressively, ” Bamigbetan said.

The Commissioner expressed his displeasure that only 50 publishers out of the numerous ones in the state had complied with the requirements for registering their newspapers and magazines under the State Newspaper Law Cap No 2 of 2003.

He urged publishers to do the needful by complying with the law.

Bamigbetan promised that the ministry would continue to ensure effective and creative ways of managing public information in the state.

”In three years, Gov. Ambode has invested tremendous time, energy and resources to fulfill the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress by providing free and qualitative health, jobs and expanding public infrastructure to make Lagos state work for all.

”Lagos state is today a huge construction site, a city undergoing a new rebirth and being positioned for global competitiveness. Our ministry will continue to disseminate information efficiently to boost the reputation of the state, ” he said.