October 09, (THEWILL) – The National Orientation Agency (NOA) says the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria (FECON) has officially adopted the third stanza of the New National Anthem as national prayer during public events in Nigeria.
Similarly, the first stanza of the anthem is approved to be rendered at all official functions, while all three stanzas be reserved for special occasions such as Independence Day, Democracy Day, Inauguration of the National Assembly, Children’s Day, Armed Forces Remembrance Day and Workers Day.
The Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Onilu, said this during a press briefing/stakeholders meeting, as part of the nationwide sensitisation on National Values, Charter and National Anthem at the Akwa Ibom State Directorate of NOA, Federal Secretariat, Uyo.
Onilu, who was represented at the meeting by the director of orientation and behaviour modification, Madam Tessy Nnalue, noted that the Agency had achieved remarkable milestones in its bid to re-engineer the focus of its campaigns nationwide, within the last few weeks.
“As you may be aware, we have been advocating for a fundamental approach to value orientation and attitudinal change campaigns. whereas slogans are good for the ear, it does not entrench these values in our hearts.
“The act that established the Agency makes it clear what our mandate is, including communicating government policies, programmes and activities; mobilising support for them and processing feedback to the government on these policies. It also mandates us to promote democracy as the best model of government and promote values that will ensure peace, orderliness and moral conduct. Over the years, especially in the last one year, we have pursued these mandates with extra vigour.
“In collaboration with our parent ministry, the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, the Agency submitted for the consideration of the Federal Executive Council some proposals seeking to entrench our value orientation processes. Many of them deal with young-age indoctrination, providing the template for the evaluation of the Real Nigerian character. All of the memoranda were approved by the Federal Executive Council”, he noted.
According to him, such achievements include restoration of the dignity and standardisation of national Symbols such as the National Flag, Anthem, Pledge and the Coat of Arms.
“Under this, the Council approved:
“a. that the first stanza of the National Anthem should be rendered at all official functions, while the three stanzas should be for special occasions such as Independence Day, Democracy Day, Inauguration of the National Assembly, Children’s Day, Armed Forces Remembrance Day and workers day.
“b. That the third stanza of the new National Anthem be adopted as national Prayer.
“c. That the National Orientation Agency (NOA) as custodian of the National Symbols should be the source of all official symbols to ensure standardisation.
“d. September 16 is to be observed as national symbols enlightenment day in the country.
“e. that NOA should vigorously promote these symbols to ensure that they are accorded respect, properly displayed and handled including the hoisting of national flag in public buildings, in order to build up love for the country, strong national identity, unity and pride.
“The Unveiling of the National Values Charter. The Federal Executive Council also approved the mandatory inclusion of the charter as part of the curriculum of schools at both the basic and post-basic schools. This new syllabus will comprise key topics.
“it also approved the teaching of the national values charter to be made a mandatory component of pre-resumption retreat for the federal Executive council members, the National Assembly members, the judiciary and other government appointees.
“3. Establishment of National Values Brigade in all schools both primary and secondary across the country. This will help to raise model citizens among Nigerian children as ambassadors of values. Creating role models is one of the sustainability strategies of the National Identity Project of the Renewed Hope programme of the Present government.
“4. Citizenship study should be made a compulsory component of our educational system from primary to secondary levels of education. further directing the Federal Ministry of Education, Nigerian Education Research Development Council and other relevant government institutions and stakeholders to with NOA to develop a curriculum for citizenship education.
“5. The approval of the nationalisation of cartoon content in Nigeria to break the dominance of foreign cartoons in the country and to promote our values, cultures, heroes, and lifestyles. This will also encourage local cartoon content creators through various forms of government support to create jobs and develop the animation movie sub-sector.
“6. Approved the global implementation of the campaign for national reputation management as part of the National Identity project.
“7. Approved the change of name from the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) Brigade to Citizens Value Brigade. The WAI brigade of the NOA was established during the military era but has remained an anathema as a democratic government cannot be seen to be waging war against its citizens over indiscipline.
“8. Approve that Value Orientation be made a compulsory component of the one-year mandatory national youth Service with NOA working with NYSC to inculcate national values in fresh graduates of higher institutions of learning.
“9. The FEC also approved the constitution of the implementation committee for the National Identity project comprising top government officials, selected private sector players, representatives of traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society organisations, and youth and women groups to be co-chaired by a representative of the federal government and private sector, with the NOA as secretariat”, the DG explained.
Mallam Onilu informed that the Agency by law has been mandated to communicate government policies, Programmes and activities and that has compelled him to adopt new methodologies in the fulfilment of the mandate.
He said the new communication platforms are targeting a range of demographics ranging from the young, the not so young and and old.
“The communication world is evolving daily and it is no more the same way we could reach our people in the 90s and 2000s than we can reach them now. young people consume less text, they like videos and audio. In fact, about 70% of our population is within the age range of 1 to 35 years.
“For the young, we have developed tools that can easily reach them within their lifestyle pattern. chief among them is our website which is now artificial intelligence-enabled making it easier for you to seek information about the government on the go. NOA’s AI Voice/Chat Assistant, CLHEEAN: An innovative tool designed to address the challenges of the new media landscape. CLHEEAN facilitates communication on various thematic issues such as Crime, Lawlessness, Health, Education, Environment, Abuse, and Nationalism”, he disclosed.
He said a strategic publication, ‘The Explainer Newsletter’, aimed at disseminating accurate and meaningful information about government policies has been introduced, published every Friday and serves as a hub for government-related information.
Also, the Mobiliser App is available on both the Play Store and Apple Store, featuring newsfeeds, interactive elements, gamification with rewards, educational content, and contest entries to encourage active participation, especially among the youth demographic.
There are in-house platforms such as Television and Radio studios to enhance NOA’s capacity to produce and dispatch content related to government policies and programs.
For Social Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC) Materials: Flyers, handbills, posters, and leaflets are also used to inform and elicit behavioural change among citizens, often translated into various languages and dialects.
These platforms are part of NOA’s broader strategy to leverage modern communication technologies and methods to effectively reach diverse audience segments across Nigeria.
He mentioned that the agency is presently promoting some policies of government in the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, especially several policies aimed at addressing Nigeria’s economic and social challenges, such as:
Student Loan Scheme: Launched to support undergraduates with school fees, with an initial disbursement of over N2 billion to assist more than 20,000 students in six universities.
Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF): A N110 billion fund dedicated to empowering youth in priority sectors to drive economic growth, among other policies.
