Bruit Costaud, Nasarawa gov’t to partner on strategic communications, policy enhancement, others

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

An international leading and policy consulting firm, Bruit Costaud, and the Nasarawa state government have announced move to partner on driving strategic communications, policy development, dispute resolution, among others.

Furthermore, the partnership was to provide advisory services on visibility at national and international fora, expos, and foreign media appearances to drive needed development for the state.

This was made known when the Managing Partner, and former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, paid a courtesy visit to the Nasarawa state governor, Sule Abdullahi, on Tuesday in Nasarawa state.

The major objective was to introduce Bruit Costaud, also known as BC Advisory of the world-renowned Ballard Partners Group and Africa’s foremost government affairs outfit.

While Sule’s achievements in governance, infrastructure, and grassroots engagement were lauded, Mohammed highlighted Nasarawa’s unique potential for growth and development, given its strategic proximity to the Federal Capital Territory.

His words: “Given your position as the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, we believe that the services offered by Bruit Costaud can significantly complement your efforts to ensure proper communication and dissemination of key information to manage any crisis given the current economic situation in Nigeria.

“We do not seek to compete or replace the excellent work being carried out by your team, but we propose to collaborate, complement and give more visibility to what your team is doing.

“Our firm’s expertise in policy, communications, diplomacy, and stakeholder engagement can aid in shaping effective strategies to enhance your administration’s economic policies and overall good governance. This becomes more crucial in the wake of the current economic crisis and the efforts of state governments, particularly Nasarawa State in ameliorating the economic hardship and bringing down the high cost of living.

“To achieve this, we invite you to explore our specifically tailored services in the following areas: Development of a comprehensive communications strategy to amplify the projects and policies of Nasarawa State through social media and testimony series in the form of brief sectoral documentaries.

“Provision of advisory services on visibility for the state at national and international fora, expos, and foreign media appearances for the governor. Facilitation of capacity building for Information Officers on strategic communications, social media engagement and countering fake news and hate speech.

“Facilitation of capacity building for public officials: conduct training sessions for public officials on effective communication strategies, media relations, public speaking, and international engagement protocols. Conduct special sessions with public officials, traditional rulers, religious leaders, security chiefs, civil society and media on peace and conflict resolution.

“Provision of legislative advocacy on the enactment of favorable legislation for solid minerals producing states. Amplification of the state government’s humanitarian and economic interventions to manage the current economic crisis in the country.”

Responding, Sule, expressed his optimism about the collaboration and its potential to drive positive change in the state.

He emphasized the importance of effective communication in building trust between the government and the people, and highlighted the role that Bruit Costaud will play in achieving this goal.

“This, indeed, is an area that we would be interested in working with you after they go through it and review it. I have seen one of the things they have been posting actually to me about which areas they are planning in order to explore all the opportunities of NACCIMA.

“And I’m happy when you mentioned that you are not here to take anybody’s responsibilities but to collaborate, you know and see how we can work together. Another key aspect, which you have mentioned is actually on human capital development, because for us in Nasarawa state, we consider human capital development a key and we’re very serious about it.

“You mentioned an area where you had gone through a lot of challenges. Maybe you will take us out of it – fake news. Fake news is very common especially here in Nasarawa where someone reported that N40 million was stolen from the bedroom of the governor.

“I didn’t report that, I didn’t know how that happened. I don’t have N40 million in my bedroom. Unfortunately, some people took it seriously”, he said.