By BUSHRAH YUSUF-BADMUS

The Director-General of National Orientation Agency (NOA), Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, says appointed officials will henceforth go through a mandatory two-week orientation at the agency before assumption of duty.

Issa-Onilu made the disclosure on Thursday in Ilorin on the sidelines of an NOA-organised town hall meeting held towards embracing the reintroduced National Anthem and the National Values Charter.

The director-general said the essence of the orientation was to keep the officials abreast of the Nigerian promise expected of every government official, as enshrined in the National Values Charter.

He said by undergoing the orientation, the officials would be taken through what is expected of them and which would elicit patriotism and motivation from the citizens.

Issa-Onilu added that the agency was also working towards having a Citizens? Brigade as a form of nurturing the value system from a young age.

?The Citizens? Brigade will be established, comprising of 37,000 citizens with 1,000 each from the 36 states and the FCT, and it will be made up of primary and secondary school students,? he said.

The NOA director-general disclosed that it was discovered that in the last three decades, there was no platform for the Nigerian children to be nurtured on the country?s national values.

?Both parents and the government have abandoned their roles, because we are not providing the necessary platform for structure and values to be passed on.

?That is why we are coming up with citizens? brigade, so that our youths will learn values and ethics and be nurtured as global citizens,? he said.

Issa-Onilu added that another measure put up by the agency in the restoration of values in the citizens was to nationalise cartoon contents.

He said plans were already on ground to produce cartoons that would include the country?s values and culture.

?We will then gradually phase out foreign cartoons which have taken over the orientation of Nigerian children,? the NOA director-general said.

He added that Citizenship Study and History would soon be made a compulsory subject in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.

?Also, the NOA and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will partner to henceforth give Corps members values orientation during their three-week orientation camping programme,? Issa-Onilu said. (NAN)

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