By Precious Oham
The Director General of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, Lanre Yisa-Onilu has said that the lifestyle of Nigerians is not cultism, banditry, kidnapping and other vices.
He stated this on Wednesday during a tour in Ekiti State, where he paid a courtesy visit to the Palace of Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe and the state office of NOA.
Yisa-Onilu said the federal government would soon launch a new campaign that would define the duties of patriotic Nigerians and the expectations of the political leaders.
Mallam Yisa-Onilu said the campaign – ‘National Life Charter’ would serve as a definitive statement that would inspire the citizens to shun cultism, banditry, kidnapping and other vices.
While reiterating the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to offer renewed hope to the citizens, he said the agency is capable of galvanizing Nigerians towards going back to the real Nigeria.
His words: “What are the principles that have been put in place as Nigerians to say this is how we are or who we are? Those principles have to be spelt out so that we are not in doubt as to what is expected of us as citizens.
“We must know who we are and know what constitutes a Nigerian so that anybody who steps out of that, you can say you are not a good Nigerian but as at today, we don’t have a definitive statement of whom we are.
“There is a collateral that the country itself must offer hope and that’s what President Bola Tinubu has brought, renewed hope. When there is hope, then you are inspired which will now make you to carry out those responsibilities the country has put in place as the lifestyle of Nigeria.
“Our lifestyle is not cultism, banditry, kidnapping, drug abuse. Our lifestyle is that of good people, honest people, hard-working people. But we lost our way. But now the new administration is bringing a renewed hope.
“The national lifestyle charter has two components. It has the country’s promises, that is the promises the country is making to the citizens and also has the citizens promise, which is their own code of conduct. So, when you step out of the line, we can say clearly that you are not a good Nigeria but as at today, you can only express an opinion because it is not defined and every country has a definition of whom they are.
“President Bola Tinubu said we must go back to where we got it wrong by giving recognition to the traditional rulers. By next year, a workshop will be organised for traditional rulers across all states on peace building and conflict resolution.”