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Minister Calls on Media to Champion Awareness of the Upcoming Citizen Code Charter

Published

3 years ago

December 8, 2023

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Information of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has extended a call for support to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) as the government prepares to unveil a groundbreaking Charter on Citizen Code, designed to define and uphold the core values that unite Nigerians while taking into account the nation’s socio-cultural diversities.

The Minister, who stated this in Lagos on Thursday night at the 2nd NUJ Milestone Recognition of Media Icons in Nigeria, said the Charter would seek to entrench in all Nigerians, a balanced understanding of their rights and responsibilities as citizens of the greatest black nation on earth.

“Just yesterday, I put together a Committee of renowned experts to work on and finalize a Values Charter for Nigeria, in line with President Tinubu’s desire for true and sustained reorientation of national values and attitudes.

“This new Charter, which will be unveiled by the President early next year, will consist of a Nigerian Promise, and Citizen Codes, defining our core values as Nigerians, while taking into full account our ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversities. It will seek to entrench in all Nigerians a balanced understanding of our rights as well as our responsibilities as citizens of the greatest black nation on earth.

“This Committee has two weeks to submit its final report, and your support as the media will make a huge difference in terms of this assignment. Without you, we will not succeed in this vital mission,” he said.

The Minister, who was represented on the occasion by the Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Dr. Mohammed Bulama, hailed the leadership of the NUJ for nurturing the idea of recognising the invaluable contributions of the pacesetters and icons of the media profession to the development of the country.

“I am also grateful for the honour extended to me to be the chairman of this year’s edition, presiding over the recognition of industry ‘greats’ like Mr. Ray Ekpu, Chief Henry Odukomaiya, Dr. Danladi Bako and Aremo Taiwo Alimi.

“None of them needs any introduction in this esteemed profession of ours, the 4th Realm of the Estate. These are true icons, pioneers, achievers, record-setters and record-breakers, who have not only made their mark on the industry but also raised generations of successful professionals,” he stated.

While calling on the media to emulate the salient attributes of the icons honoured on the occasion, the Minister urged the media professionals to hold governments, politicians, and leaders to account while also being wholly committed to reporting progress and development, as well as playing their part in enlightening and sensitizing citizens to the potential and manifest the greatness of Nigeria.

“Hold us accountable for what we promise and what we do, but also help us in this collective task of building a Nigeria that works for every one of its two hundred million citizens.

“Continually remind us of our pledges and promises, and even our shortcomings, while also applying the same energy towards amplifying and communicating the programs and policies we are putting in place to transform Nigeria,” he said.

Idris said since the assumption of office by the President, he has been implementing painful but inevitable and ultimately beneficial reforms around the petrol subsidy and foreign exchange, social welfare expansion efforts, MSME support programs, tax reforms, food security initiatives, transportation palliatives, support to State Governments among other initiatives.

He said the Federal Government had launched an SME support programme, the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme and Palliative Programs, targeting traders, artisans, transporters, vendors, and creatives with grants and low-cost loans, emphasizing that under the 1 million nano-businesses, the smallest businesses in the country will benefit from grants of N50,000 each, while bigger businesses will be eligible to enjoy access to single-digit-interest loans from a 75 billion naira fund.

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Musawa Seeks Broader Significance for June 12

Published

14 hours ago

October 3, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, Esq., says June 12 must be remembered as a sacrifice that gave Nigerians democracy, beyond its status as a public holiday.

In a statement signed on Saturday by the Senior Assistant Media & Publicity to the Honourable Minister,Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy Dr Nneka Ikem Anibeze Ph.D in Abuja.

Musawa stated this at the national premiere of “MKO”, a film on Chief Moshood Abiola, held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, Lagos, to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.

She said 33 years after June 12, 1993, many young Nigerians know it only as a holiday, but the film turns it back into memory.

“For too many young Nigerians, June 12 is simply a public holiday. This film tells them that our democracy did not arrive by chance. It was fought for. It was defended. It was paid for. This documentary is in honour of the heroes of June 12, the men and women who gave their lives for the mandate of June 12, 1993 and for the democracy Nigeria enjoys today,” the Minister said.

Musawa hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Host, for his participation in the June 12 struggle and paying the price in exile, adding that Nigeria’s creative industry will keep telling the story of its democracy with courage.

“Through film and the creative economy, Nigeria will preserve its history. A nation that forgets its past loses its way to the future. Nigeria has a story and our story deserves to be told,” she said.

Earlier, the director of the investigative documentary, Ose Oyamendan, said the film was in honour and memory of heroes who fought for Nigeria’s democracy.

“There was Hope ’93 and now there is Renewed Hope. There was a man who sacrificed his life so we may have democracy and there is a man who almost lost his life fighting for democracy who is now helping build a lasting democracy.

“There was a great man called Bashorun MKO Abiola and there is now another great man called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Democrats. Nationalists. Nation builders. Leaders of men and women. We must never forget our story. We must always honour and remember our heroes,” Oyamendan said.

Top government officials including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the wife of the President Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Chief of Staff to the President Rt. Femi Gbajabiamila, state Governors, members of the National Assembly, Ministers and other distinguished dignitaries attended the premiere.

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