The Minister of information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the 'Change Begins with Me' campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari's administration "is a campaign which is going to last the entire life of this administration and hopefully beyond". He further stated that the main concept of the campaign is to change the "behavioral and attitudinal" of Nigerians.
The Minister disclosed this in an interview with Vanguard News.
Excerpt:
Many well-meaning Nigerians were worried that the government was more concerned with launching ‘Change Begins with Me’ than fixing the economy first? And is this campaign only going to run in the media without any enforcement agency like what we had during the WAI campaign?
If you were at the launch of the CBWM campaign, you would have realized that I was allotted only 20 minutes to give excerpts of our multi-media campaign. As I speak to you now, we have more than 102 TV commercials, radio jingles, bill boards and press materials ready to go.
It is a campaign which is going to last the entire life of this administration and hopefully beyond because the concept of the campaign is simply that we need everybody from the leadership to the governed to change the way they behave; it is about behavioral and attitudinal change.
It is based on persuasion and appealing to the patriotic and nationalistic instinct in us. It is a campaign that you will begin to appreciate better when it rolls out because it is going to affect every stratum of the society and it is going to be a daily thing.
Some people have asked us why we are bringing this campaign without even fulfilling our own promise of change. And our answer is very simple: If for instance, this campaign had been on before now and the tenet of the campaign had been imbibed we would not be where we are today. If Nigerians had imbibed the spirit of the campaign, I am sure the kind of corruption, stealing, mindless destruction of assets, and the huge appetite for imported goods would have been checked and we would have probably had a healthier balance sheet than we have today.
Two, without this campaign and the tenet of the campaign being assimilated by Nigerians, it would be impossible to end corruption and revive the economy even if oil rises to $110 per barrel a day and we produce up to 3 million barrels per day and miraculously come out of the recession which mindless corruption had pushed us into.
Without ending corruption via this campaign, our growth would still be artificial because it would be based on consumption not on production. Corruption will still loom large, embezzlement will still loom large and within a short time we would come back to the sad story. So there is no better time than now to launch the campaign.
Thirdly, to the critics who say why not wait till you have delivered on your promise; we ask them if you take this country to be a small family, would you say that you would not counsel your son to be of good behavior simply because you don’t have money to buy him a bicycle you promised him? Would a good father not counsel his children not to steal or lie just because he does not have money to buy them the luxury they need?
This is the situation we find ourselves today and we must rise above our challenges and think ahead in the direction that will bring progress and stability. In any case, it is good that this campaign is beginning at the moment of adversity so that when prosperity comes they will be able to manage.
Is the campaign only media-based?
Yes, it is media-based but let me say that by the time this campaign is full blown and becomes part of our lives-when people are orderly, time-conscious, diligent and are patriotic enough to patronize made-in-Nigeria goods, there will be no need to persuade them anymore. But the easiest way to persuade them is by leading by example and this is why I believed that this campaign will succeed because already there is discipline within the leadership of this government.
Unlike many other governments, this is a government that is very disciplined; there is no flamboyance in governance because ministers and other top government officials queue up at airports and other public places to be served just like any other ordinary citizen. That is good for Nigeria and its people.
When you look at the example being given by the President himself, it is difficult for any minister not to fall in line and I am sure that those who cover the State House know that every Wednesday meeting starts on time and I can assure you that the financial discipline introduced by this government, is exemplary. So we have no problem that this campaign will succeed. We don’t have to flog anyone to comply because we are appealing to the innate goodness in every Nigerian.
Culled from Vanguard
Culled from Vanguard
