THE CHALLENGES OF NATIONAL REORIENTATION
President Buhari returned to power on May 29, 2015 through the ballot box on the promise that he would restore the nation`s territorial integrity, fight corruption and resuscitate Nigeria`s economy by adopting better measures than that of the previous administration. In plain terms, the president promised us change; he promised to not only restore the nation`s lost glory but also set it yet on a new track that would eventually see it get to the land of promise.
This meant that the president promised to shutdown, reset and restart the nation. And this doubtlessly cannot be done without resultant repercussions on the citizenry. As it has come to happen, the policies adopted by the Buhari-led administration have subjected the people to untold hardship. Therefore, since we are in a democracy, Nigerians should be engaged by government to let the citizenry be aware of its policy directions so as not to have us lose hope for a greater Nigeria and therefore keep faith in the incumbent leadership.
In this regard, the importance of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to the success of the Buhari administration cannot be overemphasised. The NOA was established in 2005 as an agency under the Federal Ministry of Information to facilitate in communicating government policies to the people, get acquainted with their opinion, encourage patriotism and promote the unity and development of Nigeria.
Given its set objectives, the NOA is challenged to provide the needed platform on which government can talk to us as well as hear from us and rally our support for national development. This is to say that the NOA is a vehicle, which if effectively and efficiently steered can facilitate President Buhari`s efforts at repositioning Nigeria to greater heights. It may thus be in place to say that the desire for NOA to meet its objectives has never been as high as it is today.
Now, the aforementioned only highlights the much that is highly expected from the NOA Director General, Dr. Garba Abari. The task before him is enormous and the earlier he understands this, the better. After having man the agency for some time now, the music and thus the dance at NOA are expected to start changing. While, however, it is true that the DG has so many challenges to overcome, it is also true that no challenge is insurmountable.
One of the major challenges the NOA appears to be facing is that it exists virtually only at the center. Its presence at states and local levels is relatively inconspicuous. Its states offices appear to be passive for obvious reasons.
Mukhtar Jarmajo, dattuwamanga@gmail.com