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PROTOCOLS
On behalf of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), I will like to thank the National Orientation (NOA), and our dear brother, colleague and friend, Dr Garba Abari for inviting me to attend this very important national flag off ceremony. I believe that it’s very important for the Nigerian people to be properly sensitized about the policies, programs and activities of government. Our country is today a country of very young people. Our population is about to hit 200miilion. The majority of that population is young. 63% of that population is under 23 and the median age is 17.9 years.
Whenever a society has a preponderance of the young, such a society faces the triple challenges of education, skills acquisition and jobs creation. The Nigerian Government, especially the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, is very much aware of this triple heritage of difficulties. And these are central to public policy. However, sensitization to the efforts of government is very vital, especially because the majority of our young do not get their information about their society from traditional media platforms. They use the alternative platforms which might not offer enough opportunities for the policies and programs of government to be well known. It is therefore important for NOA and other platforms of government to become more creative in communicating the programs of government, so that our young people can get a better understanding of the efforts being made, to improve the quality of life in Nigeria.
NOA under Dr Garba Abari is becoming increasingly more proactive in that respect, and we are very happy about its work. NBC is planning a major project on Nigerian music. Today our young musicians are molding opinions of our young. The lyrics of many popular songs leave a lot to be desired. Yet when you check YOU TUBE, songs such as WO by Olamide now have over 24 million hits. Our young people watch the lurid musical videos by our artists and sing the songs that valorize drugs; objectify women and preach more negative tendencies in society. We want to work with NOA, the NFVCB, the First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, who had expressed concern about this phenomenon in a conversation with me, and the musicians themselves. While we cannot tamper with their artistic license and creativity, we can appeal to their patriotism, so they appreciate their place in our society. Nigerian children see the artists as role models, and in all our home across Nigeria, all over Africa and in the diaspora, they love Olamide, Whizz Kid, Kizz Daniel, Davido and several other artists. We need to engage with them for the sake of our young people. This we will do very soon.
Thank you very much for your attention
