The National Agency (NOA) on Tuesday urged its stakeholders and partners to strengthen their synergy to ensure effective mandate delivery in line with the present administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Its Director-General, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, gave the advice at the Stakeholders and Partners’ Retreat on Re-engineering NOA Programs for more Effective Re-Orientation Towards Achieving CLHEEAN Projects in Abuja.
The CLHEEAN projects include Health and Hygiene, Environment, Education, Abuse and Narcotics as well as security.
Issa-Onilu said the retreat would re- examine the agency’s strategies to deliver its mandate, in line with the huge expectations on the government and people of Nigeria.
“As you are aware, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government places a lot of value in the reshaping attitudes, with the belief that positive attitudes generally will help push the country forward to achieve national objective.
“It was based on this reason that our parent Ministry was renamed Ministry of Information and National Orientation to enable all of us concentrate on the task of national renewal.
“This retreat is the first step in our wide ranging strategies for developing new approach, efficient systems, citizens based plans for engaging with our people in tackling the various issues affecting our country.”
The director-general urged all the stakeholders and partners to ensure that the policies and plans under the CLHEEAN project succeed.
” We have no doubt that the experience and expertise garnered over the years by your organizations will add significant value to the effort currently being made by NOA to achieve our mandate.
“We believe that your partnership and participation will enable you identify mutual areas of confluence between our mandates that can fit into partnerships model under the CLHEEAN over-arching program.
According to him, citizens’ support is very essential to the success of government and institutions’ projects and programs. The policies and programs of the government that do not enjoy the support of the citizens would intimately fail.
NOA chief said that the primary role of the agency was to mobilize citizens’ support for government programs and activities.
He added that the agency would continue to provide platforms for citizens engagement to engender the success of the policies.
“Let me at this point reiterate what President Bola Tinubu has continued to emphasize, which is the need for synergy, cooperation and coordination in the implementation of government policies.
“NOA is set up primarily to take your policies to the citizens. Our presence in all the states and the 774 local councils is an opportunity available to all stakeholders and partners.
” We are re-engineering our process to deliver on our mandate of driving the communication of government policies, in achieving citizens awareness, understanding and acceptance of your policies and programs,” he said
“Renewed Hope Agenda’ is not another opportunity to mouth slogans, it is serious program which will define our nation’s promise to its people with a corresponding citizen’s code which outlines the duties of every citizens to the country and its people.
“NOA is still cooking but essential to the citizens code is the duty of care we owe to ourselves and others, this retreat is part of your duty of care to citizens in the CLHEEAN thematic spread “.
In his remarks, Mr Salihu Dembos, Director-General, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), said NOA had a big task ahead of them, saying that part of the problems confronting the country was issue of trust.
Adewuyi, who represented by Mr Ayo Adewuyi, Executive Director on News, said that citizens did not trust their leaders, urging the agency to do the needful in order to restore citizens’ trust.
” How do we restore trust, how do we ensure that citizens trust their leaders. If we are able to do this , we will be at the right track,” he said.
NTA chief reiterated his organization’s commitment in supporting programs capable of re-orienting Nigerians on the change of national goals.
Also speaking, Hajia Lami Adamu Lau, National President, National Council for Women Societies (NCWS), commended NOA for organizing the retreat aimed at re-orienting relevant stakeholders and partners on government’s policies, programs and projects.
Lau, represented by Mrs Nnenna Emedolibe, Program Officer of NCWS, said women were faced with all forms of sufferings and accusations in the society.
She said that with the retreat, stakeholders should put more effort to see how they could help women at the grassroots.
