The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, on Tuesday, August 13, charged heads of agency and parastatals on the need to work assiduously towards communicating the successes of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Idris made the remarks in Abuja while declaring open a one-day retreat for directors of the ministry and heads of its agencies and parastatals.
According to a statement by Suleiman Haruna, Deputy Director, Press, the Minister also signed a performance bond with heads of agencies and parastatals under his ministry.
“Since the advent of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there has been a structured agenda to achieve a Renewed Hope Initiative with all MDAs involved, and with a tracking system to ensure compliance. This tracking system is managed by the Central Results Delivery and Coordinating Unit (CRDCU) in the office of the SGF. All of you here are responsible for delivering our results to this office as heads or Delivery Officers. This retreat is organized to ensure that we understand this responsibility.
“You may recall that the Permanent Secretary and I signed a performance bond with the President to guarantee that we would fulfill the ministry’s mandate. I have been told that the Permanent Secretary has involved directors to also commit to the process; during this retreat, I plan to get the heads of parastatals to sign the performance bond as well,” he said.
The minister said the heads of the public information organs and information departments in the ministry need to have an in-depth understanding of the efforts that the government is putting into renewing hope as it has promised, in the area of improved minimum wage, student loans, consumer credit, loans to big and small businesses as well as different support grants to communicate to the public effectively.
Idris said the Ministry’s remit also includes regulatory responsibilities and the partnerships being offered to other government organizations to communicate their respective mandates.
The Minister therefore urged the participants to have open discussions regarding grey areas so that they do not just deliver on their mandate but are also seen to deliver well.
Idris used the occasion to thank the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman for the passion and visibility she has brought to the assignment, while also acknowledging the good work being done by her team at the Central Results Delivery and Coordinating Unit (CRDCU).
Participants at the retreat include the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Dr. Ngozi Onwudiwe; Directors General of Nigerian Television Authority, Comrade Abdulhameed Dembos; Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Dr. Mohammed Bulama; Voice of Nigeria, Mallam Jibrin Baba Ndace; Managing Director of News Agency of Nigeria, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Press Council, Dr. Dili Ezughah, Directors in the ministry among others.
