The Senate has called on the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, and all the heads of government owned media organisations to rise to the occasion and deploy their expertise and resources to bridge the gaps engendered by primordial sentiments amongst Nigerians.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation, Senator Kenneth Emeka Eze gave the charge on Wednesday during an interactive session between the committee and the ministry.
Senator Eze decried the attitude of heads of government agencies whom he accused of “lacking patriotism” in the discharge of their duties.
“When we are in government business we want to have it so rosy and have it in our comfort zone, whereas when we are in our private business, even the little we have can be turned around and deliver on the set mandate.
“Our major problem is lack of patriotism,” Sen. Eze said.
The interactive session was the first major engagement between the Ministry of Information and National Orientation and the agencies under the ministry since President Bola Tinubu appointed new leaders for the ministry and its parastatals.
Speaking on the need for the ministry to drive home the good policies of the government and also mobilize Nigerians to support the government to succeed, Sen. called on the minister to come up with a comprehensive plans and proposals for all the agencies under his ministry. He said that, the National Assembly will not listen to the perennial requests for more funding without any concrete plans on how such requests will impact the development and progress of the country.
He said:
“This committee will be challenging you to transform this ministry with the little you have. You have to think out of the box knowing the sensitivity and importance of this ministry, that it is going to help us as Nigerians at this point in our history. We can use the instrumentality of NOA to mobilise Nigerians against insecurity and other social issues .
“Create contents that can help Nigerians to bridge the artificial gaps created by ethnicity and religion among our people..
“Let your programme be a holistic in tackling some of the issues that create problems in Nigeria.
“We need your proposals on all the agencies under the ministry of information and National Orientation, it is your proposals that will determine your appropriation in the National Assembly,”
“We cannot listen to requests of more money without any tangible and achievable proposal.
Earlier, the minister told the lawmakers that he has visited all the agencies under the ministry and have taken stock of the challenges facing them.
He assured the lawmakers that he was ready to work to change the narratives in the government media outlets.
Those who accompanied the minster include the heads of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Nigeria Press Council (NPC) among others
