The honourable minister of tourism, culture and national orientation, Chief Edem Duke, has urged the chairmen and members of the various boards of parastatals in the ministry to join hands with President Goodluck Jonathan’s belief that tourism, culture and national orientation are crucial to Nigeria’s quest to becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world by the year 2020.

The minister, who stated this at the inauguration of boards of parastatals under the ministry, said the sector had the capacity for job and wealth creation to Nigerians, adding that, provision of adequate and accurate information to citizens on government programmes and policies will be guaranteed, and that this was why the present administration was also committing resources to national orientation, with the belief that an informed citizenry with the right attitudes, will help achieve the objectives of national growth and development.

His words: “Our vision is to position culture and tourism as leverage for economic growth and development and build an orderly, responsible and disciplined society where core values of hard work, honesty, patriotism, democratic principles and ideals are upheld. It is also the mandate of the ministry to promote the nation’s rich cultural heritage through identification, development and marketing of the diverse cultural and tourism potentials and assets of our great country and mobilise Nigerians to participate in the governance process and contribute to national development.”

He therefore enjoined the chairmen and members of the various boards to buy into the vision and contribute to its realization by bringing their wealth of experience to bear on the process of growth of the organisations to which Mr. President had assigned them to serve.

To ensure that the boards understood their mandate, the minister stressed: “It is also important to note that as Chairmen and Members of Boards, you are not to interfere with the day-to-day running of the parastatals and agencies. Basically, your role is advisory and the law has provided an avenue, especially in the statutory meetings of your Boards to do this. I therefore urge you to cooperate with the management and staff of the Ministry as well as those of the parastatals and agencies that your Boards will be working with. It is only through cooperation and collaboration that we can achieve our collective goal of developing our communities, states and of course, the country at large.”

Nwagbo Pat Obi
Corporate Affairs
NICO Abuja HQ