In furtherance of its resolve to promote Nigeria and Nigerians’ spirit of resilience, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has engaged the services of the Founder/ED of the Akin Fadeyi Foundation in its “Nigeria Happens to Me” project.
Founder of the foundation, Akin Fadeyi, disclosed this in a statement to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday.
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“Nigeria Happens to Me” is an initiative of the NOA to amplify successful Nigerian entrepreneurs confronting the odds and thriving in businesses and creative ventures.
It was launched in late 2024.
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Mr Fadeyi eulogised the Director General of the NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, for “conceptualising the telling of our own story within the fog of negative narratives pervading our nation.”
In his interaction with Mr Issa-Onilu, the DG said “the NOA has an unequivocal commitment to ensuring the faces of Nigerians who are thriving despite our challenges are shown to the world. We owe them this amplification that sells them and expands their business frontiers”.
Mr Fadeyi said Nigeria could happen to Nigerians in different ways.
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“Nigeria can happen to us in different ways. Even as our story in Nigeria is replete with social deficits. It can be better, and the government owes citizens the imperative dividends of social contract. Demanding for it is a given. Nonetheless, it won’t always be a woeful aggregated inference when we look at an exhaustive picture,” he said.
He stated that the pilot scheme, scheduled to begin in Lagos, would be coordinated by Tukur Mustafa and the NOA Director, while in Osun State, the NOA director, Stephen Adebiyi, will play host to the team.
‘We will go state by state till we have covered the whole of the South-west,” he said.
Mr Fadeyi said the interview with these unknown Nigerians who are doing great things in the face of very challenging circumstances should bring more spotlight on them.
He added, “Our corporate production arm and Donor-feeder to the Foundation, Bufferzone Ltd, shall be working with the NOA to showcase the resilience and milestones of Nigerian entrepreneurs.
“If you have got the Bank of Industry loan or other government incentives, or if you know anyone doing well you may want us to showcase, either on Facebook or elsewhere, mention them in your comment.”
Relationship with agency
He emphasised that his strategic collaborative relationship with the NOA dates back to years.
“The National Orientation Agency was the first federal government institution to adopt our ‘corruption not in my country project in 2016’.
“I also recall that after the production of our COVID-19 messages in 2020, the NOA took it to the Secretary to the Federal Government, Boss Mustapha, and he instructed NTA to grant us free airtime every night for about eight months in partnership with the FG,” he said.
Mr Fadeyi also said the Lagos State Government equally partnered with the foundation through the kind disposition of the Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso.
“This explains why I do not engage the government in fisticuffs. I derive more results from mainstreaming advocacy intervention ideologies to the centre in a way that bridges the gap between the government and the people even as I have deployed technology, our FlagIt App and other initiatives to engender intervention for our people against social injustice. I leverage persuasive strategies to fulfil accountability without hurling a stony,” Mr he said.
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Previous partnerships
For close to a decade, Mr Fadeyi has been the convener of a national rebirth project called “Corruption Not in My Country.” This was launched in 2016 to galvanise citizens’ awareness against grassroots corruption.
He has, in the same vein, launched multidimensional partnerships with federal government institutions ranging from the National Orientation Agency in 2016, the Nigerian Police in 2017, and the ICPC in 2016 and launched an anti-corruption reporting App, FlagIt with the FRSC and other partners in 2019 with Professor Fatima Waziri-Adio, representing the then president as Keystone speaker.
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