The director-general of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, says the agency will be repositioned to deliver on its mandate of driving the communication of government of policies and programmes to achieve citizens’ awareness, understanding and acceptance.
Issa-Onilu stated this on Tuesday at a stakeholders and partners retreat organized by the agency in Abuja.
He said the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not another empty sloganeering but an important programme that will define governments promise to its people with a corresponding citizen’s code that outlines every citizen’s duty to the country and its people.
“That is what we are talking about when you hear about the National Lifestyle Charter, to be unveiled by the President next year. The Lifestyle Charter is a social contract between the country and the citizens. The charter has two components: The Nigerian Promise and the Citizen Codes.
“This retreat, therefore, is part of our efforts to institutionalise the charter through structured collaborative engagement to clean our communities of their different challenges,” he said.
He disclosed that the retreat is the first step in its wide-ranging strategies for developing new approaches, efficient systems, and citizen-based plans for engaging with Nigerians in tackling the various issues affecting the country.
“At this retreat, we will be discussing our new strategic approach, which is called CLHEEAN. CLHEEAN encapsulates our various activities and engagements with the various government institutions, development partners, civil society organisations, and the three tiers of government.
“The CLHEEAN project refers to the broad areas of Crime and Lawlessness, Health and Hygiene, Environment, Education, Abuse and Narcotics.
“The CLHEEAN strategy seeks to identify the challenges of our communities and work with relevant stakeholders to address such challenges, one community at a time,” he said.
“There mere fact that we are here today shows the intention of NOA to scale its activities and do things in a way that will enable us deliver on our mandate.”
He said the agency will engage with its partners and seek their opinions as part of efforts to make citizens, including netizens, part of the solution to Nigeria’s challenges.
“It is trite that policies and programmes of government that do not enjoy the support of the citizens will ultimately fail. Citizens’ support is essential to the success of government and institutions,” he said.
