A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Olajide Olatunbosun, at the plenary on Thursday, said the National Orientation Agency has failed.
The lawmaker moved a motion, entitled ‘Call on the National Orientation Agency to Actualise Its Statutory Mandate,’ which was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers.
The House, while adopting the motion, resolved to mandate the Committees on Information, National Orientation, Ethnic and Values to conduct a hearing on the challenges facing the NOA, with a view to charting a way forward to enable the agency fulfil its statutory mandate.
Olatubosun said, “The House notes that the National Orientation Agency has failed in the last 20 years of democratic dispensation to actualise its statutory mandate to orientate and encourage the citizenry to participate actively in discussions affecting their general welfare;
“The Mass Mobilisation for Self-Reliance, Social Justice and Economic Recovery, as the forerunner of the NOA, even under a military dictatorship, effectively inspired Nigerians to attain appreciable level of awareness and constructive encasement in national issues on consistent basis, with attendant citizenry training and awareness campaigns along with abiding jingles and signature tones.
“Most of the current national controversies that are adversely affecting our democratic growth and national development stem from ethno-religious sentiments that are fuelled by pathetic deficit of public discuss and policy contestations which have now assumed disturbing dimension on regular basis.
“Strategic awareness and enlightenment campaigns on government policies by the agency in line with its foremost objectives to ensure that Federal Government programmes and policies are better understood by the public and mobilise favourable opinions for such programmes and policies, amongst others, will serve as platform for discouraging the current wave of agitations among Nigerians.”
