Tinubu’s devt agenda driven by Nat’l interest, not politics – Minister
By Joseph Erunke, Abuja
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has stated that President Tinubu’s development agenda is driven purely by national interest, not politics, with transformative projects and programmes rolling out across every state of the Federation without favour or partisanship.
A statement on Thursday by Rabiu Ibrahim, Special Assistant (Media) to the minister, said Idris made this remark in Abuja on Wednesday while receiving Commissioners for Information from the 36 states of the Federation during a courtesy visit to his office.
He stated that the President is motivated by the conviction that the challenges confronting Nigerians know no political boundaries and he is tackling them squarely in order to positively impact the lives of all citizens.
“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 said.
The Minister noted 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.
Idris said that before President Tinubu assumed office, 27 of the 36 states struggled to pay workers’ salaries, while a staggering 97% of the Federal Government’s revenue was swallowed by debt servicing. He stressed that, thanks to the bold policy reforms of the President and his creative 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. “Nigeria is on a journey towards enduring prosperity for everyone and my message and the message we have for all of you is that come and join this train to take Nigeria to the destination that Mr. President promised he is going to take it to and that all of you want to see at the end of the day,” he said.
He 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 institutionalization 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 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, who chairs 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, therefore, 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 organizing its town hall meetings through public mobilization and sensitization 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 of Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Mr. Sunday Dare, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media Affairs, Mr. Tunde Rahman.
Others at the meeting included the Director General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Malam Abudulhamid Dembos; the 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.
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