The Ministry of Finance is one of the ministries, departments and agencies that have yet to embrace the reality of open communication – an opportunity offered by the new media.
Its website is rarely updated, while the social media accounts may have been completely neglected.
With dozens of agencies under it, one would expect a load of data on the country’s economy. But the homepage is a cluster of slides of event photographs of the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the 2015 budget document, some of the minister’s speeches and links to some of the ministry’s initiatives such as the Graduate Internship Scheme.
There is also is an opinion poll on the morality of using taxpayer funds to bail out banks and stock market. The online research started on October 12, 2011, following the controversy that trailed the famous bank bailout administered by the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and now the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II.
As of Thursday, statistics of voting, which was still open for participation, showed that1,633, representing 48.9 per cent of those who have participated, “strongly disagreed” with the option; while 923, equivalent of 27.7 per cent, supported the action. Among those who participated in the study were 685 participants, amounting to 20.5 per cent, who ticked “not sure.”
The poor participation may have showed the level of interest in the website. After over three years, an issue as important as how public funds should be spent only appealed to 3,241 people.
Modern organisations, whether private or public, consistently explore ways of making their websites as fresh as possible; hence, stale contents are regularly archived, with dedicated folders created for the purpose. But those who operate the finance ministry’s website may have resolved to crowd the site with whatever information is in their possession.
Even the all-important homepage is stuffed with obsolete materials and stale photographs of the minister. For instance, an advertisement calling for submission of expression of interest for varied contracts, which were to be awarded last year, is still on the home page, and it is tagged “new.” The advert, as viewed on Thursday, was published on June 25, 2014.
A visitor with a vast knowledge of the operations of the ministry may look forward to a pool of data on the debt status of the country, its economic structure, amongst others. But such information is not available on the site.
The ministry may have also been grappling with the activities of cybercriminals of recent. A disclaimer notice sighted on the page on Thursday drew the attention of the public to a fraudulent email sent by impersonator(s) of the Director of Finance and Accounts, Mr. Okpo Chimereze. Urging the public to disregard contents of the email entitled ‘Confidential diplomatic immunity cash delivery,’ it warned that neither the ministry nor the impersonated official would be responsible for any loss suffered by those who fall for the gimmick.
On social media sites, the ministry is dormant. For instance, those who stumble on @financegovng may doubt its authenticity. It is poor in terms of profile, and it is rarely operated. What convinces anybody, however, that the account is, indeed, operated by the finance ministry is the link with its website.
The ministry’s first and last tweets were posted on May 3, 2013, announcing what it called “provisional results” of YouWin on the page that is followed by 429.
Its Facebook profile is not better. The ministry’s last Facebook post was on March 3, 2014, and it is also a YouWin promotional message. Less than a month before that message, the ministry, in what appears to be the high point of its social media outing, called for an online interaction with Dr. Okonjo-Iweala.
The post said, “Join the minister in a live, online conversation on the 2014 budget from March 4-6, 2014. The Budget 2014 jam is a three-day online interactive conversation between the minister and youths aged 18-40.
“This is your opportunity to share your thoughts/ideas with the minister on the 2014 budget and its impact on the nation. You can access the online discussion using a laptop or tablet device.”
It could be argued that the ministry is not in the business of public communication. But the question often asked by social media experts is, why initiate a conversation you will not sustain? Social media enable real-time conversational opportunity. But for the Finance Ministry, you can stay for a year without updating them.
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