Nigeria Passing through Difficulties, NOA DG Laments

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr. Garuba Abari has lamented that the country is presently passing through difficulties. He said though the challenges facing the country are surmountable, Nigerians must unite to bring the country out of the woods.

Abari disclosed this at a cocktail dinner weekend in‎ Abuja at the presentation of the M5 musical group by Casiva entertainment Limited.

The group consists of artists from both the north and south and the aim is to use music to preach unity and douse ethnic tension in the country.

‎He said while corruption has eaten deep in the country, the fundamental issue that needs to be done is to change the attitude of Nigerians, saying most of the problem is attitudinal.

Abari stated: “Our country is passing through difficulties but which country ‎does not have difficulty?‎ We are diverse, but in this diversity lies our strength. We have a population of nearly 200 million people, by every sense of imagination, this is a large market that you can never ignore. It is an endowment which we must make our citizens to appreciate because we are the only one that can make this country great.

“All other countries that we see and we admire ‎were made great by their own citizens. Of course we have difficulties but difficulties are meant to be surmounted

“Music is one of the most veritable platforms ‎that I intend to use for message. And what kind of message? Because music has now developed beyond entertainment, music has developed beyond singing and dancing, music has become a veritable instrument of mobilisation of cultural consciousness

“We want to change our country from a country perceived has corrupt country to a country of honest people, we use music. We want to showcase our natural endowment, we use music, we want to export our culture, we use music. We have seen the role of music in the liberation of South Africa

“I have heard a lot of messages here that makes a lot of sense, but if we are going to talk about corruption, we cannot just be talking about corruption in high places because it is more than stealing of money.‎ We have a country that we must all unite and bring out of the woods,” he said.

On his part, music star, Olu Maintain said music is powerful and it is one of the most engaging elements in nature. The Yahooze crooner was of the opinion that ‎the project that would expose artists from the north and the south to different cultures.

“I’m from the south and this collaboration project that I did with artists from the north is going to blow people’s mind because not only do these guys have their fans Base in millions, we in the author probably have not even heard of them before

“Most especially we al realised that there is ethnic tension ‎in the country, so it is better to try and tone it down with music, because at the end of the day music takes us away from our sorrow,” he noted.

Also, Ali Jita, a music start from the north said ‎the project was Dan Amani’s idea in collaboration with Olu Maintain and some of the artistes from the north.

“It was a great experience, this is the first time and we have a lot coming. We want to see how we can unite the north and the south and the whole country together through music. The crew is called M5 and the idea was led by ‎Olu maintain and it consist of five artistes,” he added.