FG to unveil national lifestyle charter for citizens

The Federal Government has disclosed its plan to launch the national lifestyle charter which will define the responsibilities of government and expectations from Nigerians.

The Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Isa Onilu, disclosed this during a working visit and interactions with the agency staff in Ekiti state.

Onilu said that the national life charter was aimed at instituting a well-grounded social contract where the citizenry had certain expectations of the country and the country would in turn spell out what it wanted from Nigerians.

According to him, the charter is not just going to be a mere document but a well-institutionalised action framework for all Nigerians with an emphasis on core values needed in building a patriotic ecosystem for sustainable growth and development.

He said: “As of today, we don’t have a definitive statement on who we are. We have a national anthem and we all know it. In the same way, you must be able to define who the citizens of your country are supposed to be.

“What are the principles that we have put in place as Nigeria to say this is how we are or who we are as Nigerians? So, these principles have to be spelt out so that we are not in doubt as to what is expected of us as citizens.

“So, it’s the commonality of those features that make us unique citizens and make us different from other countries.  We must know who we are and what constitutes a Nigerian so that anybody who steps out of that can say he or she is not a good Nigerian.

The Director General said there a certain values that needed to be instilled among the citizens including honesty, integrity, patriotism, obedience, unity, discipline, and tolerance towards building a sane country.

He noted that Nigeria cannot achieve meaningful progress unless the citizens make these virtues part of their lifestyle and guiding principles.

Onilu who lamented that Nigeria has lost its core values due to moral decadence, added that revitalizing the lost national values was germane because it was the missing link breeding moral decadence in the country.

He added: “Our lifestyles are not cultism, banditry, drug abuse, hooliganism and kidnapping. Our lifestyles are honesty and handwork but we lost our way.  And if you are in a state of despair, you may lose hope. But now, the new administration is bringing renewed hope and that means we have to go back to who we are.

“We are not creating any new Nigeria. We are going back to real Nigeria. We must know who we are and what constitutes a Nigerian so that anybody who steps out of that you can say he or she is not a good Nigerian.”