Nigerians need attitudinal rebirth to public resources – NOA

The National Orientation Agency (NOA), says the rich resources and low development contradiction in the country can be reversed if Nigerians embrace attitudinal rebirth.

NOA Director-General Garba Abari made this known in a statement by Mr Paul Odenyi, Head, Press Unit of the agency in Abuja yesterday.

Abari said this when he received the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mr Waziri Adio in NOA Headquarters, Abuja.

He stressed the need for positive attitudinal change among Nigerians toward public resources.

Abari urged leaders of extractive industries in the country to show examples of transparency and accountability to their followers, describing leadership as critical to value re-orientation.

He said NOA would work with NEITI in developing programmes, messaging and advocacy on transparency and attitudinal change as they relate to the extractive industries toward public reorientation.

He said NOA would use its numerous including the Government to speak to government programmes.

“NOA will put topical issues in proper perspective and elicit feedback from citizens to government on matters pertaining to the extractive industries.’’

Earlier, Adio said research had shown that apart from few states, nations who were richly endowed with natural resources had very low development. He, however, insisted that

natural resources were if platforms, Local Assembly, citizens on policies and managed in a transparent, accountable and prudent manner, the people would benefit optimally from it.

Adio decried public attitude to public resources in the country, where people expect public office holders to help themselves with public resources, noting that this had fuelled corruption at all levels.

He urged all stakeholders in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, particularly the civil society, to play their roles adequately to ensure that Nigeria’s natural resources worked for all Nigerians. (NAN)