A former Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga, has said the Nigeria Values Charter as proposed by President Bola Tinubu is the way out of the rots being witnessed by Africa’s most populous nation.
Aganga in a post on X, expressed shock that the announcement of the Value Charter by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, on March 26, 2024, that the President of Nigeria will introduce the Nigeria Values Charter sometime this year did not make headlines and yet VALUES matter.
“It affects everything: quality of leadership, economy, education, elections, corruption, the quality and resourcefulness of the people to build the nation, the quality of the civil service, quality of execution of policies, plans and projects, productivity, sovereign goodwill, law and order.
“History has shown that the world’s most prosperous countries and successful companies are built on a set of core values as the foundation. Nigeria cannot achieve sustainable economic growth and development unless it builds on a solid foundation and develops community-spirited Nigerians who live those core values,” Aganga said.
He noted that the difference between a rich and a developing or poor nation is not the size of the population or the natural resources it has but it is all about the people – their values, attitudes and ability to convert their resources to prosperity, noting that the nation’s values system has broken down completely and unless we invest in rebuilding it sincerely, Nigeria will have no chance of regaining her position as the Jewel of Africa.
“As I explained in the book “#ReclaimingTheJewelofAfrica”, rebuilding our values system must go hand in hand with building a law and order society. They are the two sides of the same coin. I encourage the Minister of Information and National Orientation, @HMMohammedIdris to prioritise this as the foundation of our development.
“I say “rebuilding” because there was a time in the country when integrity was recognised and rewarded, the days when your wealth meant nothing unless the community knew the source of the wealth and considered it credible. It was embedded in our culture,” Aganga further argued.
Citing the huge deviation from what the culture of the people has been, he said, “The Yorubas for example have the concept of “OMOLUWABI”, a Yoruba philosophical and cultural concept to describe a person of good character, a person of honour who believes in hard work, respects the rights of others and gives to the community in deeds. The Hausas and Igbos have something similar. We can build on these. Nigeria is a country destined for greatness – it is not a matter of “if” but when.”
The premise of the National Values Charter is that the government, as represented by elected and appointed representatives, must fulfill basic non-negotiable promises; in return for fundamental commitments from the citizens. “After all, governance is a social contract; life is about give and take.
President Tinubu is poised to introduce the Nigeria Values Charter, representing a social contract between the nation and its populace.
“This charter not only signifies a blueprint for a national value system but also lays the groundwork for crucial policies,” the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, revealed recently in Abuja.
Idris stated that the unveiling of the charter would take place later this year.
The minister said, “In the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, we are on the verge of unveiling the Nigeria Values Charter, which embodies a social contract between the country and its citizens and will serve as a blueprint and policy for a national value system, defining us as Nigerians and reinforcing our personality as citizens.
“The new policy, which will be launched this year by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, consists of the Nigerian Promise and the Citizen Codes, which have seven pillars each.
“The government intends to incorporate these values into formal, informal, and vocational educational policies to ensure that they are not only imbibed but engrained in the minds of our citizens.
“The unique thing about this Values Charter is that it is a social contract between the government and the citizens and it contains seven core obligations of the Nigerian state to its citizens as well as seven commitments of the citizens towards their country.
“The premise of the Values Charter is that the government as represented by elected and appointed representatives must fulfill some basic non-negotiable promises, in return for fundamental commitments from the citizens. This will ensure the fulfillment of the Social contract between the government and the citizens.”
