By Sarah NEGEDU
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has declared that President Bola Tinubu’s development agenda is driven purely by national interest and not politics, insisting that projects are being rolled out across all states of the Federation without condiscrimination.
The minister maintained that President Tinubu is motivated by the conviction that the challenges facing Nigerians know no political boundaries, hence his commitment to tackle them squarely in order to impact the lives of citizens.
Idris made the remarks in Abuja on Wednesday while receiving Commissioners for Information from the 36 states of the Federation who were in his office on a courtesy visit.
Idris, in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Rabiu Ibrahim, quoted the minister as saying that, “I have not seen where there are things to do and the president refused to do because the governor of that state is not in the APC. In everything that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done, the focus has always been on the ordinary Nigerians.”
He stressed that President Tinubu’s landmark fuel subsidy removal has unlocked unprecedented revenues for all states of the Federation, empowering them to launch life-changing projects that directly improve the welfare of their people.
“The removal of fuel subsidies has freed up resources that have enabled all your principals to embark on projects, delivering the dividends of democracy to your people. I have not seen one governor, whether in our party or any other party, who has said that we should reverse and go back to the status quo,” he said.
He recalled that before President Tinubu assumed office, 27 of the 36 states struggled to pay workers’ salaries, while a staggering 97 percent of the Federal Government’s revenue was swallowed by debt servicing.
However, he pointed that with to the bold policy reforms of the President and his approach to governance, these grim realities have now been decisively reversed, restoring fiscal stability and freeing resources for development.
The minister urged state governments to key into the President’s vision and mission so that the dividends of prosperity can be felt in every nook and cranny of the country.
The minister also informed the Commissioners that, as part of the ministry’s ongoing citizens’ engagement initiatives, the Federal Government delegation would soon visit selected states in the South-South and North-East geopolitical zones to inspect key projects being implemented by both federal and state governments and to gauge citizens’ sentiments as part of the ministry’s feedback mechanism.
He called for the institutionalisation of regular meetings between the Commissioners and the ministry’s delegation to continually compare notes and coordinate strategies for taking the message of hope and prosperity to all parts of the country.
The minister further urged the Commissioners to consistently utilise public information organs, including the National Orientation Agency, Nigerian Television Authority, Voice of Nigeria and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria at their disposal in the states, in order to drive community engagement and public sensitisation.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Information of Borno State and Chairman of the Commissioners for Information Forum, Prof. Usman Tar, said they have agreed to form a common platform across party lines to promote national interest, values, orientation, unity and integration of the country.
“Seated before you are commissioners from different political parties from different regions of this country. Therefore, we represent the broad spectrum of the Nigerian Federation. We are not here on a party basis or any narrow interest. We are here on a national platform to discuss ways and means of promoting our national interest, values and orientation,” he said.
Prof Tar urged the minister to leverage their platform in furtherance of the national campaigns for unity, integration and value re-orientation across the country, adding that their platform is ready to support the ministry, especially in organising its town hall meetings through public mobilisation and sensitisation to make such meetings more impactful.
The meeting was attended by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Mr Ogbodo Chinasa Nnam; Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga; Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Mr Sunday Dare; and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media Affairs, Mr Tunde Rahman.
Also present were the Director General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Malam Abudulhamid Dembos; Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Malam Jibrin Baba Ndace; and the Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Dr Mohammed Bulama.
