Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
called on the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) to help
counter the false narratives by secessionist groups, insurgents and
anarchists who portray Nigeria in a bad light.
Alhaji Mohammed told members of NIDO, UK Chapter, on a courtesy visit in Abuja that “as an organized and well connected group, I implore NIDO to leverage its contacts in government circles, parliamentary groups and global think tanks in world capitals to help change the narrative and sweep the carpet off the feet of secessionist groups, insurgents and anarchists who are bent on pushing false narratives to portray Nigeria in bad light.
”I have no doubt that you will take this call seriously and do
everything in your power to change the narrative for the better.”
The Minister said the Buhari Administration considers Nigerians in
Diaspora as critical stakeholders in the Nigerian project, hence has
done the unprecedented by establishing the Nigerians in Diaspora
Commission (NIDCOM) which, he said, has been doing a good job in
coordinating and providing an organized system of collaborations of Nigerians in Diaspora.
He slammed some Nigerians in Diaspora who are helping to fund the
nefarious activities of secessionist groups that are campaigning
around the world to propagate their fake narratives about the country.
“Instead of contributing their own quota, all you hear from a section
of Nigerians in Diaspora and their allies back home are fake
narratives and untrue allegations of religious persecution, political
marginalization, human rights abuses, etc. These are baseless and
false,” the Minister said.
Acknowledging that Nigeria is facing some challenges including
dwindling revenue, he said in spite of the challenges, the
Administration has recorded tremendous achievements in the area of
infrastructure – roads, rail, power, housing, dams, etc. and
agriculture, where the country is closer than ever to achieving
self-sufficiency in major staples.
Alhaji Mohammed also listed the fight against corruption, which the
Administration is prosecuting in an institutionalized manner, as well
as the revamping of the economy, especially through diversification,
as some of the achievements of the Buhari Administration.
He said as part of deliberate effort to counter anti-government
propaganda, which is aimed at drowning the successes recorded by the administration, the government is scaling up diplomatic efforts to
reverse the trend.
“On our part as government, we are currently re-engineering and
ramping up our diplomatic efforts to counter and reverse the
narrative, in addition to countering pervasive anti-government
propaganda,” he said.
In his remarks, the Chairman, NIDO, UK Chapter, Mr. Chibuzo Ubochi,
commended President Buhari for officially gazetting 25th July every
year as the National Diaspora Day.
He called on the National Assembly to fast track the passage of the
bill that would enable Nigerians in Diaspora to vote and be voted for
during elections, in view of their numerous contributions to the
Nigerian economy.