Gentlemen of the press, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, good morning.
2. Let me formally welcome you all, especially our new Chief Executive Officers. Before I proceed, let me recognize the CEOs.
Please, when I mention your name, stand up for recognition
i). Mr. Buki Ponle – Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria
ii). Mr. Olalekan Fadolapo – Registrar, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria
iii) Prof. Sunday Ododo – General Manager/CEO, National Theatre
iv). Mr. Francis Nwosu – Executive Secretary, Nigerian Press Council
v). Mr. Ado Muhammed Yahuza- Executive Secretary/CEO, National Institute for Cultural Orientation
vi). Mr. Ebetan William Ivara – Director-General,National Gallery of Arts
vii). Prof. Abba Isa Tijjani – Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments
viii) Mrs. Oluwabunmi Ayobami Amao – Director-General, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization
ix) Mr. Nura Sani Kangiwa – Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism
3. Thank you, lady and gentlemen. Please sit down.
4. Without mincing words, let me say that your appointments are based on merit. Your track record of achievements in your various
fields, your competence and your years of dedication to what you do have earned you the job. You are round pegs in round holes. And that is why we have been receiving rave reviews since the appointments were
announced.
5. You must consider your appointment by Mr. President as a call to national service, and you must work hard to justify it. A starting
point is for you to ensure that the activities of your agencies key into the 9 priority areas of government.
6. As Mr. President said recently, the 9 priority areas were identified to guide the Administration’s policy directions over the
next few years, and to achieve national development. For emphasis, let me list out these 9 priority areas:
a) Build a thriving and sustainable economy
b) Enhance social inclusion and reduce poverty
c) Enlarge agricultural output for food security and export
d) Attain energy sufficiency in power and petroleum products
e) Expand transport and other infrastructural development.
f) Expand business growth, entrepreneurship and industrialization;
g) Expand access to quality education, affordable healthcare and productivity of Nigerians;
h) Build a system to fight corruption, improve governance and create social cohesion;
i) Improve security for all.
7. Of particular relevance to your various agencies, especially those in the culture and tourism sectors, are priorities 1, which is to
build a thriving and sustainable economy, and 2, which is to enhance social inclusion and reduce poverty. We in the Ministry of Information and Culture have already started working on these areas through our ongoing reforms in the Creative Industry, which include culture and tourism sectors, and our efforts to put in place an Audience Measurement System.
8. The Implementation Committee we set up to look at the well-prepared Ali Baba Committee report on the Creative Industry,
which was triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, is currently working to provide the guidelines for lifting the industry in the post-Covid era.
Also, the Implementation Committee on another great report by the task team on the Audience Measurement will soon be announced. I will encourage you to follow developments in these areas closely.
9. Lady and gentlemen, you are joining a government that is doing so much with so little. As you are aware, the resources available to the government have dwindled drastically, due to a sharp fall in the price
of oil. Yes, we are diversifying the economy to reduce the dependence on oil. But the situation today has been worsened by Covid-19, which has stifled economies around the world. Yet, due to deft management of
resources, this Administration is engaged in massive infrastructural renewal, whether in the areas of roads, bridges, rail or power. I urge
you all to imbibe this culture of doing much with less.
10. In the next two to three weeks, I will expect from each of you a report on where you plan to take your individual agencies to, and the
road map for achieving such. This will form the basis for your period assessment. But I have no doubt that you will succeed and justify your
appointments.
11. Once again I welcome you.
12. And I thank you all for your kind attention.
