Joseph Bakare
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has released an innovative programme, tagged TESTIMONIES OF CHANGE, which listed the achievements of the Buhari Administration from the perspective of Nigerians themselves.
Speaking at the occasion, held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Sunday night, the Minister said the personal testimonies from the lips of Nigerians is to complement the different platforms created by his ministry to communicate the various achievements of the Buhari Administration.
He said the testimony series was borne out of the experiences of Nigerians who have benefitted from the various programmes of government and are ready to relate such experiences to fellow Nigerians.
“We have used many platforms to communicate the numerous achievements
of the Administration to Nigerians. These include Town Hall Meetings, which we have now held 16 times across the country; media tour of infrastructural projects; regular visits to media organizations, press conferences and media interviews, and the FGN/iAPP.
“However, we decided to add another platform, which is personal testimonies. The simple, dictionary meaning of testimony is ‘evidence or proof of something’. There is no better evidence of what this Administration has achieved than that given by Nigerians, who have been positively impacted by the policies and programmes of government,” Alhaji Mohammed said.
He said no one can better tell Nigerians about the impact of the Home-grown School Feeding System than the 9.3 million school children who are fed one meal a day, five times a week, or the over 90,000 cooks who have been employed under the programme.
The Minister also said no one can better tell Nigerians about the impact of the N-POWER programme in which 500,000 graduates have been employed under the scheme.
Continuing, Mohammed said, “If you want to know about the success of Tradermoni, ask any of the 2 million beneficiaries. If it’s Marketmoni, ask any of the over 350,000
beneficiaries. Who can better communicate the efficiency of the
Abuja-Kaduna rail transportation than the thousands of people who are
daily ferried between the two cities. And if the government says it
has paid pensioners from the defunct NITEL and Nigeria Airways, among
others, is it not better to hear directly from those who have received their pensions after waiting for many years?”
The minister said the testimonies, which started running on radio and television stations across the country, as well as in the Social Media, late last year, have so rattled the opposition that they were forced to issue a statement in which they acknowledged that the media space is awash with the testimony series.
”The achievements of this Administration are real, and the Administration has impacted positively on millions of Nigerians, in just three and half years and with very limited resources, compared to other Administrations that have presided over the affairs of our dear country since 1999,” he said.
In his remarks, President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by the
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma,
congratulated the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture for the
innovative way it is showcasing the numerous achievements of the
administration.
He said hearing directly from Nigerians lends credibility to the
positive impact of the policies and programmes of the government on
the lives of the people.
“In our second term, we will build on this momentum and we will do
even more. Nigerians can look forward to greater prosperity, more
opportunities and the continuation of growth that is diversified,
inclusive and sustained. Under my leadership, we will achieve the
Nigeria of our dream,” the President said.