The newly-appointed Chief Executive Officers of nine agencies supervised by the Ministry of Information and Culture have been told to see their appointment as a call to national service and work hard to justify it.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said this on Friday in Abuja during his maiden meeting with the CEOs recently appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
They were Mr Buki Ponle, Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria; Mr Olalekan Fadolapo, Registrar, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria; Prof. Sunny Ododo, General Manager/CEO, National Theatre; Mr Francis Nwosu, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Press Council and Mr Ado Muhammed Yahuza, Executive Secretary/CEO, National Institute for Cultural Orientation.
The others were Mr Ebetan William Ivara, Director-General, National Gallery of Arts; Prof. Abba Isa Tijjani, Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments; Mrs Oluwabunmi Ayobami Amao, Director-General, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization and Mr Nura Sani Kangiwa, Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism.
Alhaji Mohammed urged the appointees to key into the 9-point agenda of the Buhari administration to achieve national development.
He said, “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 nine priority areas of government. 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.”
Mohammed added that the Ministry was working on these areas through reform of the creative industry and putting in place a standard Audience Measurement System.
The Minister described the new CEOs as perfect fits carefully selected based on their track record of achievements, competence and years of dedication to duty.
He said they were joining a government doing much with little at a time of dwindling resources due to the fall in the price of oil and the devastating impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
Responding on behalf of the appointees, the General Manager/CEO of the National Theatre, Prof Ododo, thanked President Buhari.
He assured that they would consolidate on the gains so far recorded by the Minister while making the creative industry an enviable component of the Nigerian economy.