Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has taken the country’s re-orientation campaign, tagged ‘Change Begins With Me’, to the police saying it is in recognition of the critical role the institution can play.
President Muhammadu Buhari launched the campaign September in Abuja.
He made the presentation to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, Deputy Inspectors-General, Assistant Inspectors-General and Commissioners of Police.
“This is very important because the police, by virtue of its duties, is a critical stakeholder in this campaign,” he said, describing ‘Change Begins With Me’ as a Pan Nigeria Campaign that has no coloration whatsoever – whether it is political, religious or ethnic.
“It is a campaign for all Nigerians, with the sole objective of achieving a paradigm shift in the way we do things. The campaign is based on one principle: Each one of us must be the change we want to see in our society,” Mohammed said.
The Minister, who had earlier joined the IGP in decorating some
newly-promoted AIGs, urged the critics of the campaign to endeavour to understand it before casting aspersion on it.
He added, “Contrary to the misconception in certain quarters, this campaign was designed to start from the very top, right from the President, the Vice President, Ministers and other top government officials, and then cascade down to all Nigerians.
“Therefore, those who have said the campaign is aimed at saddling only the ordinary citizens with any burden have been unduly hasty. They should have at least waited for us to roll out the campaign before criticising it,” the Minister said.
He commended the police for their efforts at ensuring the security of lives and property, urging them not to be discouraged by criticism.
