To awaken the spirit of patriotism among the younger generation, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) says the Federal Government will soon introduce Citizenship Studies as core subjects at all levels of education in Nigeria.
Director-General of NOA, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, disclosed this at a Town Hall Meeting with Stakeholders in Lokoja as part of his 2-day working visit to Kogi.
Issa-Onilu said that it was imperative to interact with stakeholders on government policies, programmes and activities as part of the mandate given to NOA by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He said the introduction of citizenship study into the country’s school education system was necessary to help inculcate the right values and characters into every Nigeria’s child.
The NOA boss said, the move will enable them to learn the right values and characters and how to be a good Nigerian and make the country proud anywhere they go.
He added that it will inculcate the right values in children so that when they grow up and get into the society, they would live their lives in a way that the parents, the society, and the country will be proud of them.
According to Issa-Onilu, this the programme will start this year with 37,000 Citizenship Brigades, 1,000 per state in primary school and secondary schools.
Issa-Onilu said that the country would be codifying its values through the National Values Charter being spearheaded by the agency.
He said that the Values Charter was not anything new as all communities and ethnic nationalities held strongly to their values but regretted that Nigeria did not put any value system in place.
The director-general emphasised that values would only be appreciated when they were kept and made sacrosanct, promoted and nurtured by the people.
He commended the stakeholders for always being ever-supportive and dependable in working with NOA to move Nigeria forward.
Earlier, the acting State Director of NOA, Kogi Directorate, Mr Patrick Edogbanya, said the meeting provided the rare opportunity to rub minds with stakeholders towards finding a lasting solution to some of the country’s surmountable challenges.
According to him, the stakeholders include religious and traditional leaders, civil society organisations (CSOs) women and youth groups, media organizations, retired state directors of NOA, among others.