The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has charged the newly-appointed Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of some agencies under the Ministry to consider their appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari as a call to national service.
The Minister, who gave the charge in Abuja, on Friday, at his first meeting with the CEOs, said they must work hard to justify their appointments.
The minister, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Segun Adeyemi, urged them to key into the administration’s Nine-Point Agenda, which was identified to guide policy directions over the next few years and to achieve national development.
Mohammed said: “Of particular relevance to your various agencies, especially those in the culture and tourism sectors, are priorities one, which is to build a thriving and sustainable economy, and two, which is to enhance social inclusion and reduce poverty.’’
He added that the Ministry was already working on these areas through its reform of the creative industry and the efforts to put in place a standard Audience Measurement System.
Describing the new CEOs as round pegs in round holes, the Minister said they were carefully selected based on their respective track record of achievements, competence, and years of dedication to duty.
Responding on behalf of his colleagues, the General Manager/CEO of National Theatre, Prof. Sunny Ododo, thanked the President for the appointments, and assured that he and his colleagues would consolidate on the gains so far recorded by the Minister, and strive to make the creative industry an enviable component of the Nigerian economy.
The new CEOs in attendanced were: Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria, Mr. Buki Ponle; Registrar, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, Mr. Olalekan Fadolapo; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Press Council, Mr. Francis Nwosu; Executive Secretary, National Institute for Cultural Orientation, Mr. Ado Muhammed Yahuza and Director-General, National Gallery of Arts, Mr. Ebetan William Ivara.
Others were: the Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Prof. Abba Isa Tijjani; Director-General, Centre for Black and African Arts, and Civilisation, Mrs. Oluwabunmi Ayobami Amao and Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, Mr. Nura Sani Kangiwa.
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