The federal government has said that the promotion of patriotism and nationalism in the country were strategic approach to curb violent crimes such as banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism in the country.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris who stated this in Abuja yesterday when he received the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa on a courtesy visit to his office, said the surest way to counter the wave of crime is to instill a sense of patriotism among citizens and foster a strong national identity as a united front against violent crimes.
“The concept of nationalism, nationhood, and patriotism must return, for us to have the unity and prosperity that all of us seek. We have seen a gradual erosion of our values – those values need to be reclaimed and we have to recover our senses as Nigerians.
“We need to go back to the drawing board and see where we got it wrong with the aim of getting it right this time around.
“I thank you so much for coming. We think that the collaboration that you require is for all of us to come together so that we fight insurgency and forge unity, development, and peace in this country. There is no way you can successfully fight this war without a frontal role for the Nigerian Media and Nigerians themselves,” he said.
Idris said violent crimes have adversely impacted the image of Nigeria hence the ministry bears the responsibility to manage and reshape the narrative about the country.
The minister, who stressed that information management is critical to the fight against insurgency, said collaboration between the Ministry and the Military is crucial to forge a narrative that strengthens national security and launder the country’s image.
Idris said the ministry would soon launch a campaign of national rebirth as a deliberate effort to instill a renewed sense of patriotism among the citizens.
“Some of those things that we are talking about will take centre stage early next year when the President, hopefully, will lead the campaign of national rebirth. We want to talk about this concept of citizenship again,” he said.
Earlier, General Musa, said the visit to the minister was part of non-kinetic operations to build synergy between the military and the media because the challenges of asymmetric warfare being waged by the military, are people-centric where both the military and the criminals are fighting for the hearts and minds of Nigerians.
“This is part of the lines of operations that we are conducting to build synergy between the Armed Forces and members of the public and there is nowhere to start better than where information emanates from,” he said.
He called for the support of the public in the war against insurgency, terrorism, and banditry, stressing that the war is a collective endeavor of all Nigerians to defeat criminal elements challenging the sovereignty of the country.
