AS the National Orientation Agency (NOA) commences a three-month nationwide public enlightenment campaign on the National Anthem and National Values Charter, its Director in Enugu State, Mrs. Clara Nwachukwu has noted that “the country, since independence, has been struggling with the issue of national identity.”
At a press conference on Tuesday to start the campaign in Enugu, she stated that “the search for identity has been a problematic one, due to the ever-increasing level of ethnic consciousness among Nigerians.”
With the flagging off of the campaign, she noted that the introduction of the readapted National Anthem and the National Values Charter, two fundamental symbols of our national identity, will usher “in an important milestone for national pride and identity.“
Nwachukwu described the anthem as a potent call for harmony, equity, and prosperity among Nigerians and explained that the implementation of the Charter will foster a new moral, ethical and cultural reawakening among Nigerians.
The Charter, she stated, is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, designed “to reorientate and redirect Nigerians, regardless of class, ethnicity, or religion towards the values and principles that have long been associated with our culture and have been the foundation of our institutions and society.”
According to her, “the social contract between the Nigerian state and its people is the pivot upon which countries are built and sustained.”
She described the nationwide sensitisation as “a movement that calls upon each of us as Nigerians to imbibe the shared values and spirit reflecting in both our national anthem and national values charter. It is only through unity, respect and commitment to these values that we can achieve the Nigeria of our dreams.”
On government’s role in charting a reorientation towards the core values of the nation, she said that the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu stands on the imperative to “build Nigerians in order to build Nigeria,” through reorientation public campaigns.
“This action reflects the changing ideals and aspirations of the nation. Values may be defined as accepted principles or standard of behaviour that are used to characterise
