Nigerians have been advised by the Federal Government to refrain from disparaging the nation.
Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the director-general of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), made the call Tuesday in Osogbo at a stakeholder engagement on the National Anthem, Identity Project, Values Charter, and President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to Issa-Onilu, Nigerians should always love their country and adopt a feeling of patriotism.
“You must endure; we have no other country, and Nigeria is richly endowed with both human and material resources.
“We must never condemn, curse or speak evil about our country. Words have powers,” he said.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mrs. Olubukola Olorunfemi, the agency’s Director of Report Coordination and Improvement, represented the director-general.
According to Issa-Onilu, the organization is starting a nationwide awareness campaign to educate and encourage people about the importance of having a positive outlook and acting in a way that would foster national unity.
In order to foster unity and solidarity among Nigerians, he stated that 1,000 brigade members will be chosen from primary and secondary schools in each state.
He said, “We had all the qualities that could make us stronger in our journey to nationhood when we gained independence in 1960.”
However, the NOA head claimed that as time went on, the standards and qualities started to deteriorate until Nigerian culture, values, and what united them gave way, and no sense of national identity was ever again fostered.
He said that the president restored the traditional national anthem, “Nigeria We Hail Thee,” on May 29 after realizing this.
According to Issa-Onilu, the purpose of reintroducing the ancient anthem was to evoke in Nigerians a sense of nostalgia for the country’s independence.
“The national anthem reflects the aspirations and value of the founding fathers when you read it word by word, salutation to us, internalise it to our fatherland.
“No matter how bad the situation may be, Nigeria houses all of us, though tribes and tongues may differ.
“We don’t have to deny or pretend about this, that our tongue, tribes, religion, culture, tradition differ but in the midst of all these, it reminds us that in brotherhood we stand,” he said.
The director-general went on to say that the agency’s National Identity Project aimed to reorient all Nigerians toward the principles and values for which they were historically recognized, regardless of their class, ethnicity, or religion.
