By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
In line with the national drive for citizen reorientation, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has constituted a committee to finalise Nigeria’s Values Charter.
This was contained in statement signed and issued by
Deputy Director, Press Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Suleiman Haruna.
Nigeria’s Values Charter embodies a social contract between the country and its citizens. It will serve as a blueprint and policy for a national value system, defining us as Nigerians and undergirding our personality as citizens.
The new policy, unveiled in early 2024 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, consists of the Nigerian Promise and the Citizen Codes, which have seven pillars each. The government intends to incorporate these values into formal, informal, and vocational educational policies.
It is common practice for countries to define their core values and institute policies to transmit a shared value system among the citizens, which, in the case of Nigeria, would help citizens evolve into united people with shared aspirations, a sense of nationalism, and pride.
Despite the Constitutional provision on national values, Nigeria has not implemented a definitive core value system for its citizens. As a country of diverse ethnic and cultural values, evolving into a unified nation without a unifying value system has been challenging.
The committee, which has two weeks to submit its report, has the following membership:
Dr. Muhammed Auwal Haruna – Chairman,Dr. Biodun Adeniyi – Deputy Chairman, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, Member Dr. Emma Agu, Member and Dr. Grace Awoleye Member.
Others are Dr. Monday Philip Member, Dr. Tunji Azeez Member, Dr. Naima Aminu Member, Nkechi Ali, Balogun Member and Mrs. Theresa Nnalue, Director of Orientation and Behavioural Modification (OBM), of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), will coordinate the committee.
