The Kebbi State Government has rejected claims that the state lacks national media visibility calling an article by Abba Anwar flawed unverified and contradictory.
In a statement issued in Birnin Kebbi on Sunday the Special Adviser to Governor Nasir Idris on Public Enlightenment and Orientation Ibrahim Jambale said Anwar’s article titled ‘Kebbi: The Performing State Nobody Sees’ acknowledged the governor’s performance but questioned the competence of his media aides.
Jambale questioned how the writer could catalogue the administration’s achievements while simultaneously describing its communication machinery as ineffective.
He also faulted the article’s claim that Kebbi ranked 31st in media visibility with less than 0.9 per cent share of voice arguing that the figures were presented without a credible methodology sample size or verifiable sources.
‘A statistic does not become credible merely because it is expressed in percentages. If the writer conducted a genuine media audit he should publish the methodology for public scrutiny’ he said.
The special adviser argued that media prominence should not be confused with governance performance which he said should be assessed through outcomes in education healthcare infrastructure agriculture and security.
He maintained that the governor’s media team had taken deliberate steps to improve the state’s national profile including visits to major media organisations and engagements with editorial and management teams.
According to him the engagements led to retainer arrangements for sustained coverage with Channels Television TVC the Nigerian Television Authority and Third Eye Africa with the governor’s approval.
On reports about insecurity Jambale said media organisations operated independently and could not be expected to suppress security-related stories to promote a preferred narrative.
He also described attempts to link the location of national television stations’ bureaux to the competence of the governor’s press office as misleading.
The government further rejected the suggestion that low media visibility would cost Kebbi investment arguing that investors consider factors such as infrastructure security market access and expected returns not publicity alone.
While acknowledging the need for continuous improvement Jambale said the pursuit of greater visibility should not be turned into an accusation of wholesale professional failure.
‘Kebbi is not invisible. Its development story is being communicated its media engagement is evolving and it deserves to be evaluated through verifiable evidence rather than sweeping generalisations’ the statement said.