The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has announced the plan of the Federal Government to hold a national discourse to address the issues of national values and unity.
Idris in an interview with Punch, said that the discourse would be distinct from the constitutional conference organised by previous governments.
According to Idris, the discourse has nothing to do with the constitution but national orientation.
He said, “It’s true the Federal Government is planning a national discourse for national orientation. It’s a discourse for us to look at our nation again and decide where we want to be as a nation, and citizens and everybody would key into that.
“Everybody knows what they are expecting from Nigeria and citizens can also do a lot for their country. We need to agree on the kind of nation we want to build. What our founding fathers left for us is gradually being eroded. Trust in the leadership has waned over the years and that is clear.
We must agree on what we want as a country, where we want to be and then work collectively towards achieving that. There would be a national discourse so that Nigerians would have the consciousness about their country and strive towards keeping that for the benefit of all.”
The Minister when asked when the discourse would hold said the decision had yet to be taken but that it would hold soon, noting, “The previous ones were for constitutional reforms but this one is about all the key segments of the society coming together; youth, women, elders, religious leaders, professionals. There will be representation. We will come together to agree on the set values that we want to promote as a country so that everybody will move in that direction. The difference is that this is about value orientation that all of us will collectively agree on.”
