The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has commended the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited for promoting creativity through the NLNG Literature Prize. He urged the organisation to extend similar gesture to the Federal Government’s National Re-orientation Campaign, tagged “Change Begins with Me”, to be launched on Thursday.

The minister stated this in Abuja on Monday when he received the management of the NLNG on a courtesy visit to his office.

He said: “Of all the good things you have done, the one that struck me most has been the Literary Prize. It speaks volumes for a company, which is involved in gas exploration, to realise that it must also institute a prize for the creativity industry. It is a realisation that the single most important investment you can make is the investment in human mind.

“I believe that flowing from that, you need to also work more closely with us in the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, especially as you know that we are engaged in a very large-scale advocacy and programmes that promote the creative industry especially in the area of culture. But I think the most relevant one, for which we seek partnership, is in our National Orientation Campaign, which we are launching on Thursday, the 8th of September.”

Alhaji Mohammed explained that the “Change Begins With Me” campaign is anchored on attitudinal change among Nigerians.

Describing the NLNG as one of the most successful examples of Public Private Partnership in Nigeria, he urged all relevant stakeholders and the various arms of government to support the organisation to continue to contribute to nation-building.

The minister also lauded the efforts of the NLNG in the promotion of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), which will go a long way in reducing the reliance on kerosene, petrol and diesel, thereby conserving the nation’s foreign exchange.

Earlier, the Managing Director of NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah, expressed appreciation for the role played by the minister in bringing positive change to Nigeria.

“Honourable Minister, we appreciate your role in the Change Agenda. We appreciate your role in carrying the entire Nigeria along in terms of the Change Agenda through positive information because, as we say, an informed society is a society that is most likely to move along to a positive height,” he said.

Attah said the NLNG, in which Nigeria holds 49% equity, has contributed $20 billion in revenue and $6 billion in taxes to the Nigerian economy in the last five years.

He said the organisation is equally playing a critical role in technology transfer in collaboration with some universities, and it is also intensifying efforts to develop LPG to further diversify the energy source for the country.

•Photo shows Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Ayo Adesugba, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, Mr. Tony Attah, some directors of the Ministry and management staff of the NLNG when the NLNG paid a courtesy visit to the Minister in Abuja on Monday.

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