NOA Should Be Under Presidency For Efficiency, Ex-Director Advises Nigerian Govt 

President Bola Tinubu and Hajia  Aminat Elelu-Ahmed

 

 

By Emmanuel Kehinde, Ilorin

A retired Director at the National Orientation Agency, NOA, Hajia  Aminat Elelu -Ahmed has advised the Federal Government to take the Agency to the Office of the President (Presidency) from the information Ministry to ensure more efficiency.

Elelu-Ahmed, a seasoned Legal practitioner advised Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, North Central Nigeria while fielding questions from Newsmen on the perennial public complaints on the ineffectiveness of the Orientation Agency in the Country.

The former Director of Legal Services lamented that one of the major stumbling blocks frustrating the effectiveness of the Agency has been its lack of funding and logistic support from the Federal Government.

She said, “The level of funding the agency used to get during the days of MAMSER is different from now, even during the early days of National Orientation Agency in the early 90s it was getting better funding than what we have now, presently the Agency is getting a fraction of what it used to get in the years past and that has been one of the problems militating against the efficiency of NOA.

“In the days of MAMSA, almost all the local governments have vehicles but now things are very difficult. In Kwara State, the NOA office has only one vehicle and if you don’t have a vehicle, how do you go around” she said.

She stressed that the only way for the Agency to be rescued is if it is taken from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation to the office of the President for more deliberate attention as it was when the Agency was before it metamorphosed from MAMSER.

She said, “There was not much difference between MAMSER and NOA but what made them more efficient is that they were under the Presidency, they had a straight and direct link with the Presidency but now the agency is under the Ministry of Information and National Orientation”

Elelu-Ahmed also revealed that the Agency in a bid to help itself, is now collaborating with other Organisations such as INEC, Federal Inland Revenue Service, and National Population Commission to sensitize Nigerians since they have the funds while NOA has the platform and reach to get their information to the people.

She also suggested that the  Agency could be elevated to a commission, saying that such would mean funding and meaningful attention would be given to them, saying, “It won’t be a bad idea if the agency is changed from its Agency state and made into a commission as it would help with the funding and all”.

In another part of her remarks, she spoke on the need for women to get more involved in politics, lamenting that lack of financial strength has been the major stumbling block impeding women from playing active roles in politics.

Elelu-Ahmed, however,  appealed to women to take the initiative and get more involved in decision-making and shun the negative narrative that women who get involved in politics are wayward.

Speaking further, She appealed to Nigerians to have a positive change of mind and attitude be more disciplined in their various places of work and desist from littering the road with dirt.

Edited by Felix Ajide

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