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The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has urged Nigerians to celebrate Eid-el-Fitr peacefully by embracing togetherness and good neighbourliness.
Alhaji Zubair Galadima-Soba, NOA’s Director in Kaduna State, made the call while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria , to mark the 2022 Eid celebration, on Sunday in Kaduna.
“As we are coming out of the month of Ramadan, with all its laudable and religious prescription and endowment, Nigerians should imbibe the lessons learnt from the Ramadan fast and the Lent observed by Christians.
“The value of discipline, sacrifice, respect for one another, fear of God, show of love, unity and good neighborliness should be carried along even after the Ramadan fast and the Lent,” he said.
He said that parents had a moral duty to teach their children the importance of peace, tolerance and compassion, adding that it would shape the young minds to do good wherever they find themselves.
Galadima-Soba, therefore, urged Nigerians to avail themselves the opportunity of the Holy month to assist their neighbors, especially the less privileged.
This, he said, would promote love and remove the feeling of jealousy or malice.
He urged the youth to desist from acts capable of disrupting the peace in the state, adding that the celebration was worthwhile in peaceful coexistence.
The director also admonished the youth to eschew violence, alcoholism, drug abuse and illicit acts in disguise of celebration.
“We are appealing to everyone to ensure that we have a peaceful Sallah celebration, we show love and generousity, help the less privilege in the society,” he said.
RSA
(NAN)
Some stakeholders in Imo have lauded the UNICEF and National Orientation Agency (NOA) for their sustained efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the state.The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the two organisations have continued to champion the campaign against the unwholesome practice in the state.They have held several advocacy and sensitisation programmes in different local government areas (LGAs) of the state, especially Ehime Mbano LGA, where the practice is said to be more prevalent.A NAN correspondent, who visited Ehime Mbano on Saturday, reports that critical stakeholders in the area said they had embraced the campaign to end the phenomenon.The Chairman, Council of Traditional Rulers in the LGA, Eze Geoffrey Ejimogu, thanked UNICEF and NOA for their commitment in organising community dialogues toward ending the practice.Ejimogu said that his people had become properly enlightened about the long-term health and psychological implications of the practice.He said that their women and female children had started showing strong commitment to the abolition of the “olden days’ practice”.He said that in line with an agreement reached on Nov. 14, 2020 by community stakeholders to end FGM in the LGA, a surveillance system was introduced “to track the birth of every girl child”.The royal father said the measure was designed to ensure that the girl child was not subjected to genital mutilation.“We have been sensitised about the consequences of FGM and this has awakened our consciousness and commitment to abolish the practice,” he said.Also, the Secretary of traditional rulers’ council, Eze Boniface Onuoha, from Umunakanu Community, thanked the support partners for their efforts to end the sufferings of the girl child in the area.According to Onuoha, the fight against FGM in the area has begun and will continue until it is finally eradicated.The Secretary of Ikpe-Nsu Community Women’s Association, Mrs Agnes Njoku, was full of praise for UNICEF and NOA.Njoku pledged to continue to advocate an end to FGM and other forms of violence against women and girls.A cleric, Mr Jerry Atuzie, said that many persons practiced FGM out of ignorance of its social and health implications. Atuzie identified some of the implications as marital instability and excessive bleeding, which could result in death.He said, “Some promoters of the practice claim that it reduces promiscuity among girls but with proper enlightenment by UNICEF and its partners, we now know better.”The Imo Coordinator, Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, Mrs Ngozi Ejike, thanked UNICEF and State Government for supporting the enactment of the Imo Child Rights Law (2014) and Imo FGM Prohibition Law No. 006 of 2017.She said the laws had created the enabling environment for speedy dispensation of justice against FGM offenders.NAN reports that Mr Victor Atuchukwu, the Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF, Enugu Field Office, had said at a recent town hall meeting in the state that the organisation, in collaboration with support partners, would continue to campaign against the practice.
(NAN)
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Anambra has called on government at all levels to intensity the fight against malaria scourge in the country.The NOA Director in the state, Mr Charles Nwoji, made the call in an interactive session with newsmen in Awka, while speaking on this year’s World Malaria Day.Nwoji urged the three tiers of government to collaborate and evolve measures that would help to eliminate the environmental factors that encourage the spread of malaria in communities.He further advised communities that are vulnerable to the scourge, to work closely with development partners in order to advance the achievement of other Sustainable Development Goals.He said that it would take the combined efforts of all the stakeholders to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of malaria in the state and beyond.Nwoji also called on households and communities in the state to be active in the fight against malaria through acts of environmental cleanliness.The NOA director called for suppor from the relevant agencies to communities mostly affected by malaria in the state.He said the event is marked annually on April 25 “to focus global attention on malaria and its devastating effects on families, communities and social development, especially in the Sub-Saharan Africa.Nwoji described the theme for this year’s celebration, “Harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives”, as apt.According to him, the theme is meant to draw public attention to the fight against malaria.He urged governments in Sub-Saharan Africa to urgently embrace innovation and development of new tools for fighting against malaria.Nwoji also called for equitable access to malaria prevention treatment within the context of building health system to tackle the scourge.He commended WHO for its landmark recommendations on the first vaccine against malaria among Nigerian Children.He admonished residents of the state to desist from dumping of refuse in unauthorised places.Nwoji lauded the State Primary HealthCare Development Agency for its numerous health programmes designed to prevent and manage communicable and non-communicable diseases in the state.
(NAN)
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) implored Nigerians to absorb and propagate the unity and national interest as well as the peaceful coexistence of the country.
NOA Director General Dr. Garba Abari made the call at a National Fact-Checking Course IV in Abuja.
The Nigerian News Agency reports that the National Fact-Checking Course IV is organized to engage more fact-checkers to help tackle the scourge of fake news, misinformation and disinformation in the country.
Abari said that peaceful coexistence among Nigerians, regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliations, is vital to the nation's social, economic and political progress.
”We must desist from spreading misinformation and disinformation capable of causing confusion, crisis and disunity in the country.
“Fake news, misinformation and disinformation hamper the national cohesion of any nation,” he said.
Abari recalled that in 2021, the agency produced a five-year strategic document aimed at training 37,000 fact-checkers to tackle the threat of hate speech, fake news, misinformation and disinformation in the country.
Also speaking, Dr. Tobi Oluwatola, Acting Managing Director of the Center for the Innovation and Development of Journalism, said training fact-checkers was imperative rather than shutting down social and mainstream media due to fake news.
Oluwatola described freedom of information as the core of democracy, adding that shutting down social and mainstream media due to fake news would hamper the nation's freedom of information and democracy.
Also contributing was Mr. Ibrahim Boye, Director of Corporate Services, Securities and Exchange Commission, praising NOA for embarking on training fact-checkers in all sectors of the nation's economy.
This, he said, will go a long way in molding the minds and behaviors of Nigerians to verify any information before acting on it.
Galaxy Backbone's managing director, Mr. Muhammed Bello, who said information travels widely and quickly, raised concerns about fake emails being sent daily through social media.
Bello, who was represented by Mr. Balarabe Garba, said that those emails from the “Yahoo guys” portrayed the country in a bad image.
He praised NOA for organizing the fact-checking training and said the training would help address false information being spread on social media.
Mr. Austin Aigbe, Senior Program Officer at the Center for Democracy and Development, called for greater collaboration between the public and private sectors to achieve the NOA's goal of training 37,000 fact-checkers over the next five years.
By Oluwafunke Ishola
An NGO, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD), says it will collaborate with the National Assembly, to formulate a bill that will enable security agencies to effectively manage national health emergencies.
Mr Itia Otabor, Director of Strategy, Centre LSD, disclosed this during a Citizen’s Forum on ‘Strengthening Pan-African Citizens Voices for Security Sector Accountability (SPaCVOSSA)’ on Thursday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Centre LSD with support from TrustAfrica under its Governance Programme, initiated the SPaCVOSSA project.
The project which would be conducted in four African countries namely: Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya; would seek to analyse how citizens were affected by activities of security services during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Otabor, who is also the Project Coordinator, SPaCVOSSA, said that the project would look at the modalities and constraints of security forces during the implementation of the COVID-19 lockdown.
He said that the COVID-19 pandemic raised a lot of challenges that affected different aspects of lives of citizens across the globe, including Africa.
“At least 42 African governments implemented partial or full lockdown measures and movement restrictions, to contain the spread of the disease following recommendations by local health experts and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“In Nigeria, the approach was supported and reinforced by a high-level securitisation by the Nigerian security forces,” he said.
Otabor said that there were lots of alleged cases of human rights violations and outcry of citizens against high-handedness of security agencies during the COVID-19 lockdown.
According to him, Centre LSD in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) was engaging citizens and security agencies on how security measures could be effectively implemented with minimal encroachment on the rights of citizens.
He said that the outcome of the engagement would enable Centre LSD push for institutionalisation of the findings as a bill to serve as the country’s protocol in dealing with national health emergencies.
“We also hope that it will help to reshape the security architecture in dealing with future pandemics and other national emergencies,” he said.
He added that the project would also strengthen citizens’ voices and make security agencies to be accountable for their actions, during national health emergencies.
Also, Mr Waheed Ishola, State Director, NOA, said that the forum was not to cast aspersions on stakeholders or security agencies, but to strengthen harmonious relationships.
Ishola said that harmonious relationships between citizens and security agencies would engender trust and promote citizens’ wellbeing.
He advised security agencies to restrategise and overhaul their communication channels to be more responsive to breed trust.
Also, the Commissioner for Police in Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu, said that the forum would assist the police to effectively respond to future pandemic and other crises.
Odumosu, represented by the ACP in charge of Operations, Oladotun Odubona, said that the police faced challenges during COVID-19 palliative distribution, and escorting vaccines to various locations.
He said that the police were working assiduously to surmount the challenges and would also enforce all COVID-19 protocols to reduce the spread of the virus and safeguard the citizens.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health,Prof. Akin Abayomi, in his comment said that the outcome of the forum would form a template for the state’s response to future pandemic.
Abayomi was represented by Mr Oluwatoyin Tiamiyu, a director in the ministry. (NAN) (nannews.ng)
Source: NAN
By Emmanuel Mogbede
Dr Salihu Lukman, Director-General Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) has advised the country`s political leaders to develop a more positive disposition towards Civil Society Orgnisations (CSOs).
He gave the advice in a statement on Monday in Abuja, adding that a better relations between CSOs and the Federal Government would facilitate and improve government, citizen engagement.
“Political leaders in the country should be encouraged to develop a more positive disposition towards civil society in the country.
“To achieve that, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) should be able to provide leadership in initiating and implementing activities to facilitate negotiations for improved relationship between the Federal Government and civil society.
“Part of the objective should also be to enhance processes of political leadership recruitment in the country, which are hardly planned and largely impulsive.
“This can be achieved if political parties in the country broaden membership mobilisation to include engagement with civil society as a strategy for leadership recruitment,’’ Lukman said.
He, however, emphasised the need for CSOs to change the orientation of operating with a mindset of being in opposition to the Federal Government.
He noted that repressive military rules in the past, mutual distrust and dislikes between government and civil society leaders had led to a broken relationship between the two sides.
According to him, this has led to civil society getting funding from foreign organisations.
He further noted that the background of repressive military rule had made campaigns for human rights and democracy the primary focus of CSOs.
He said this had fueled the negative mindset that translated to opposition to government which was deeply rooted among civil society leaders.
The PGF DG said while civil society leaders believe that opposition to the government is a requirement for their work, government functionaries on the other hand, has contempt for civil society and their leaders.
“A major problem is when being independent from government is applied in a way that blocked relationship with Nigerian government, but encourages relationship with foreign governments,’’ he said.
He wondered why CSOs’ relationship with Nigerian government is considered bad, but relationship with foreign governments is seen as good.
Lukman said there should be continuous negotiation between government and civil society going forward, with a framework that guarantees their independence.
He advised that the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the party in government should work towards developing this relationship, adding that the NOA needed to initiate and implement activities to facilitate negotiations.
This, he said, could facilitate strengthened engagement between the Federal Government and citizens and democratic development.
Source: NAN
By Angela Atabo
National Orientation Agency, Nigeria Police Force and Building Blocks for Peace Foundation, an NGO, have called on youths to be positive army and work in opposition to those trying to enthrone disorder in Nigeria.
The call for youths to protect Nigeria’s unity was made at the 2021 Nigeria’s National Youth Dialogue on Peace and Security on Thursday in Abuja.
Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Garba Abari said the event, which was in commemoration of the International Youth Day, called for youths to rise up to their responsibilities.
“I am from Borno one of the most security challenged areas and I know how much youths are doing in either escalating the conflict and threatening peace or trying to restore peace and engendering security.
“As head of Nigeria’s major citizens’ engagement agency, NOA, it is part of our mandate to orientate Nigerians toward behaving in a peaceful secured and disciplined way in the society.
“You cannot do that without engaging 70 per cent or more Nigeria’s population of the young people; so as a citizen’s engagement agency I have one particular concern which is drugs addiction among youths.
“Many youths, both skilled and unskilled have started to lose hope and see closing opportunities; skilled young men from school without proper engagement, unskilled young men with no employable skills,” he said.
Abari said that such youths therefore go on drugs and create an addiction, which their pockets could not sustain so they start petty crimes and then big crimes.
He said these were the acts that eventually escalated into insecurity challenges as they began to kidnap for ransom, killings, among others to meet up their addiction.
Frank Mba, Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), said unity of the country could not be negotiated.
He said that Nigerians live in very trying times when countries all over the world not just Nigeria were experiencing forces trying to pull them apart.
“My message here is to encourage every one of us to be part of that larger population of Nigerians working together to neutralise the effect of those pushing for disorder, violence and criminality.
“We need to work together to bring our country back to the path of sanity, Nigerian youths have the energy, the power of organisation and the capacity so they can really play major roles in setting the agenda of our country right,’’ he said.
Mba however called for capacity building for youths, financial and political inclusion as well as job opportunities for youths to live to their full potential.
He said doing this would make it easy for the force to deal with crimes and criminality when majority of Nigeria youths were positively engaged.
A young traditional ruler, Falowo Moyinoluwa, Regent of Ibule Kingdom, Ondo urged youths as the future of Nigeria not to give up on the nation because that would be tantamount to giving up on themselves.
Moyinoluwa said that since youths were involved in vices leading to insecurity in the country, it therefore behoved on them to also be the solution providers.
“This programme is apt because we need to rekindle faith and believe in our hearts, so this gathering will come up with solutions for the security and economic situation of our country,’’ she said.
Mr Rafiu Lawal, the Executive Director, Building Blocks for Peace and Foundation said that the event was an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of youths to conflict prevention, peace building and sustainable development.
Lawal said that the event would explore the critical role of youths in fostering Inter-cultural dialogue and inter-ethnic relations in Nigeria as the world commemorated the 2021 International Day of Youth.
“This event will also access the level of implementation of the Youth, Peace and Security agenda as encapsulated by the UN Security Resolution 2250 (2015), and African Union Continental Framework on Youth, Peace and Security (2020).
“The youth dialogue aims to interrogate the underlying factors of violent conflicts and harness youth capacities to transform the conflicts for the promotion of a peaceful and secure Nigeria desired by all citizens.
“It is our expectations that this dialogue will result in the adoption of the position paper on the hashtag #OurDiversityOurPride #PeaceAboveAll with key recommendations for implementation by relevant stakeholders,’’ he said.
Lawal said that the national dialogue would foster open communication and intercultural learning among young people from diverse ethnicity and background, raising awareness and educate youth on interfaith and intercultural dialogue within Nigeria.
He said that it would also create a youth facilitation platform that would ensure meaningful adhesion and participation of youth in the implementation of the strategies among others.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organised by Building Blocks for Peace Foundation, CLEEN Foundation, NOA, African Union among others. (NAN)
Source: NAN
By Rita Iliya
The Federal Government has commenced biometric data capture of 560,000 pupils from 2,632 primary schools benefitting from the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) in Niger.
Hajiya Fatima Bisallah, Team Leader for the enumeration from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, disclosed this in Minna on Wednesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NHGSFP is a Federal Government-led N70 per day school feeding programme aimed at improving the health and educational status of public school pupils.
Bisallah said the exercise was a physical verification to capture and get accurate biometric data of pupils and cooks in the state to scale up the programme to include more pupils.
“The exercise is to know the exact figure of the pupils benefitting from the programme as well as have their data base to enable us scale up the number of pupils,” she said.
She said the ministry was collaborating with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for the data capture.
She added that the security challenges in part of the state would not hinder the exercise as appropriate measures had been put in place to cover the no-go-areas.
Also speaking, Malam Hamza Audu, the Director of NOA in Niger, said the agency has fully sensitised stakeholders and communities to ensure the success of the exercise.
Mrs Amina Gu’ar, Focal Person of Social Investment Programme (SIP) in Niger, expressed satisfaction with the quality of food being served to pupils by the vendors.
She said that about 560,000 pupils were benefitting from the programme in the state with over 5,000 food vendors engaged by the government. (NAN) (www.nannews)
Source: NAN
By Habibu Harisu The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Tuesday urged anti-corruption agencies to redouble efforts on public awareness against corruption and ensure transparent dealings on handling cases. Abubakar made the appeal at the Northwest zonal dialogue with stakeholders on National Ethics and Integrity Policy, organised by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in Sokoto. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organised in collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and National Orientation Agency (NOA). Abubakar, who was represented by the Wazirin Sokoto, Prof. Sambo Junaidu, stressed the importance of pubic awareness in the fight against corruption. The monarch urged agencies to be wary of keeping mute on the recovery which, according to him, would spell doom to the fight against corruption in the country. “Nigerians needs explanation on how much was recovered, where are the money and what are they doing with them. “This explanation is necessary considering the state of our education and other infrastructure like roads which need serious government attention,” he said. According to the monarch, founders of the Sokoto Caliphate had written many books on corruption and how it would be addressed using Islamic ways. He advised leaders to obtain copies of such publications which, he said, would guide them in getting to the root of the problem. The Zonal Head of ICPC in charge of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States, Mr Ibrahim Alkali, said the national ethics and integrity police was a child of necessity. “It was conceived and delivered out of the urgent need to resuscitate and rejuvenate our lost values of honesty and integrity as a nation,” he said. Alkali said the commission had recorded many cases with some disposed and others being prosecuted. He enjoined participants to educate others in their respective domains on the need to abhor corruption and imbibe the culture of integrity and self respect as well as enjoined public to understand the authority’s mission on inculcating right policies against corruption. In his lecture, Sokoto State Director of NOA, Alhaji Maude Danjadi, underscored the importance of doing the right things at all times as being anchored by NOA. Danjadi dwelled on community values and social orientation that existed in Nigerian communities and urged stakeholders to collectively strive in restoring lost values especially on integrity and social respect. NAN reports that other papers were delivered by officials of ICPC through online presentations and the event was attended by government officials, community groups, women and youths associations, among others. (NAN) (NAN)
By Aderogba George/Franca Ofili
Mrs Mary Tanko, the Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has called for collective action to expose perpetrators of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in the country.
The director made the call on Monday in Abuja at the opening of a four-day media dialogue with media practitioners on “Ethical Reporting and Advocacy to Eliminate VAWG in the FCT.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was organised by the European Union, in collaboration with the United Nations Spotlight Initiative, supported by the United Nations Children’s Trust Fund (UNICEF).
According to Tanko, VAWG has been on the rise in recent times.
“The rise of violence against women and girls calls for action, a collective action to ensure that the cases are reduced.
“NOA is involved in this training so that members of the grassroot can be carried along, stigmatisation issue has also made so many victims of VAWG not to speak out,” she said.
Mrs Ike-Jacinta Ngozi, Desk Officer, Gender Based-Violence (GBV) response team, FCT Social Development Secretariat urged the media to collaborate with relevant organisations to end the menace.
Also speaking, Mrs Khadijah-Ibrahim Nuhu, a Spotlight Initiative said the objective of the training was to increase participants’ knowledge on ethical reporting.
Nuhu, also a communication consultant with UNICEF, said the dialogue was also to engage participants on gender inequality discourse as well as change negative social norms about VAWG.
“The dialogue is also to increase participation of Spotlight Initiative Media Network members in advocacy and solution journalism.”
Nuhu further said that the organisers would be collaborating with the media for the next three months to turn out stories on VAWG.
Mr Geoffrey Njoku, Communication Specialist UNICEF, said that reports had shown that VAWG was on the increase and so the initiative decided to ensure that the media focused more on ethical reporting. (NAN)
(NAN)