Lanre Issa-Onilu’s Giant Strides at NOA

Emma Ibediro

 As a young man growing up, it was always a delight to listen to the jingles of Prof. Jerry Gana “if you are a President, President well, if you are Senator, Senator well, if you are a Carpenter, carpenter well,” etc. It was a clarion call for commitment to nation-building.  It was from the Federal Ministry of Information.  We had a National Orientation Agency (NOA) headed by Prof. Elochukwu Amucheazi. The impact of the NOA was felt all over the country.

Those were the days of MAMSER (Mass Mobilisation for Self Reliance, Social Justice, and Economic  Recovery). Then, the agency went the way of many government agencies.  It suffered neglect. It became moribund. It went into a coma.

In 2023, the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, fished for and picked a thoroughbred professional, a seasoned dyed-in-the-wool journalist, a consummate technocrat to resuscitate the very crucial Agency.  It is very interesting and indeed gratifying to see how Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu has, within a short period, revived this Agency.

Today, the national consciousness and pride in our country is witnessing a resurgence. Issa-Onilu as Director General of NOA is intentional in thought and actions.  He has worked assiduously to put the necessary framework in place to restore pride in one’s nation.  The consciousness has been taken to an admirable height.  Through carefully crafted television and radio programmes, jingles, and advertorials, the good works of the government are being disseminated seamlessly and convincingly.  They are packaged in very captivating and appealing messages that are very penetrating.

The “I am a real Nigerian” jingle is a deeply penetrating message that resonates well with our efforts at national consciousness.  Citizens must learn to see the nation from a positive angle at all times.  Indeed,’You cannot see the light if you keep your eyes closed’. So many positive things have happened in the life of this administration, but the naysayers who prefer to close their eyes to these developments will deliberately refuse to see them. Their hate for the leaders blinds them to the good works being done.

But Issa-Onilu has persevered despite challenges to drive the good messages home.  He enjoins Nigerians to see our cup as half-full instead of half-empty. We must continue to be proud, resilient, and accountable Nigerians.

The activities and programmes of government have continued to be disseminated to the citizens through short but insightful visuals and audio on television and radio.  The Captain Excellence and the delightful children provide in practical terms, information and availability of the Student Loan being championed by the Federal Government through NELFUND.

The save energy and water campaign could not have come at a better time, now that energy conservation is key to development.  Timely warnings on flooding and other natural climate change events save the citizens’ lives and properties.  When the new National Anthem was introduced, the National Orientation Agency, through a sustained campaign, took it to all the nooks and crannies of the country.

In the print media, he has brought to bear his knowledge and experience as a seasoned editor to pilot the publication of the Explainer journal.  The Explainer has brought the programmes and projects of the government to the doorstep of every Nigerian.

This weekly publication has brought to an end the speculations associated with government programmes and the reasons behind them.  Now you have them at your finger tips. The D.G is not a man who is limited by analogue bureaucracy.

He is in tune with the digital realities of our time.  Little wonder he has developed an AI chatbot, CLHEEAN. This chatbot provides an opportunity to Nigerians to seek information on government policies, programmes, and activities  through voice or chat assistant right on their devices. This is currently available on noa.gov.ng.

Indeed, Issa-Onilu, as the Director General of the NOA has revived the once comatose Information and Orientation Agency into a giant Information megaphone.

However, it is my opinion that these efforts should be encouraged.  The need to establish a desk in all government departments as an NOA desk, cannot be overemphasized. In this day of technology, an NOA desk equipped with a mobile telephone and Internet Internet-enabled laptop to receive information and forward the same to a central database should be considered and encouraged.

Secondly, the once popular but now moribund MAMSER ‘army’ should be established in all the States and Local Government Areas and assigned the duties of maintenance of civil order, control of traffic, and related matters. This set of thoroughly trained MAMSER officials will harmonise the haphazard activities of the untrained local government officials in maintaining social order and sanity.  Certainly, it will be cost demanding, but every society is rated by the behaviour of its people.  It will also be a huge avenue for the employment of our unemployed youths, especially in the Local Government Areas.  There is no point emphasising that in today’s Nigeria, the Police and Civil Defence Corps have not lived up to the expected standard in the discharge of their duties in this regard of management of social order.

Thirdly, the National Orientation Agency should be encouraged to take over the various moribund information units of the Local Government Councils.  The equipping of these NOA-driven information units with outside broadcast vans with film projectors will bring to an end the hitherto inability of information about government activities reaching the grassroots.  I still recall with nostalgia when information officers moved from one community to another, disseminating information about government activities in local languages and captivating visuals for the information, education, and entertainment of the locals at village squares or community town halls. Nobody can fault this strategy.

Nigeria is good, Nigeria can be better if we adopt the right attitude, Nigeria can become the best if we develop a conscious love for our country. The NOA under Issa-Onilu is working.

Ibediro is a former National Organising Secretary of the All Progressives Congress