Minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, said the Federal Government of Nigeria is launching a national security awareness campaign as part of her efforts to provide the missing civilian component on the war against terrorism in the country.
Mohammed made this assertion during a meeting with members of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) in Abuja on Thursday.
The campaign, he said, is aimed at sensitising Nigerians on the need to support the military that has availed itself creditably in the battle as well as to own the war.
He said Nigerians needed to be more security conscious, to be able to identify improvised explosive devices (IED), the weapon of choice being deployed by the terrorists and also to be able to fish out suicide bombers before they strike.
The minister further stressed the military capability, having been able to degrade the capacity of the Boko Haram terrorist attack to the barest minimum as they use to launch in the past.
This, he said, is the reason why the government felt the need for sensitisation of her citizen to be more security conscious and help fight the spate of suicide bombings that are the last vestiges of fading insurgency.
Nigerians need to join hands together and make sure all hands are on deck, he said
He therefore urged all media organisations, especially BON, to take up the gauntlet of running awareness campaign messages of the Ministry of Information and Culture to Nigerians as at when due.
The minister, who understand the need for privately owned media outfits to make money to pay salaries and run their media outfits, urged them to give their support in this area, as they cannot carry out their operations except their country was at peace.
He added that BON should endeavour to broadcast in indigenous languages as much as possible, as there was that will to assist in the fight against insurgency.
The major campaign to be launched is tagged ‘change begins with me’ with a view of achieving attitudinal change among Nigerians, as the change we so much desire begins with each and every one of us. The change so to say must come from the heart rather than being forced.
“My appeal was that they should stop glamorising the activities of Boko Haram as it is the oxygen they need to survive, in which absence of Boko Haram is a dying insurgency and once they are denied broadcast cast, they die eventually. We must therefore give emphasis to the things that connects us rather than give priority to the issues that disconnect us,” he said.
In his remarks, Sola Omole, chairman of BON, reiterated the need for broadcasting organisations, be it government or privately owned media outfit, to continually support the government in the fight against insurgency.
Omole said if a country was not at ease, there would not be a level plain ground for the media organisations to carry out their activities, hence pledged the commitment of BON in the support of the awareness campaign, which was to commence later in the year.
