The National Orientation Agency (NOA), Ebonyi State Directorate, has scaled up its sensitisation efforts on the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the promotion of national values across the state.
We gathered that the initiative is part of a broader nationwide campaign launched in August, focusing on five thematic areas crucial to nation-building.
These include enlightenment on government programmes and policies, disaster preparedness and flood management, security consciousness, value reorientation for students to curb harmful practices, as well as campaigns on national identity and symbols.
Speaking at a news conference in Abakaliki on Tuesday, the NOA Director-General, Alhaji Lanre Issa-Onilu, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to taking the campaign beyond urban centres into rural communities in Ebonyi and across the country.
Issa-Onilu, who was represented by Mrs. Blessing-Ngozi Oyem, Director of Youth Engagement and Inclusion, said the sensitisation drive was essential for building a healthier society.
“In this five thematic areas of the campaign, our target is to reach out to no fewer than three million Nigerians per state, through media engagement, markets and motor park rallies. We shall also be holding town hall meetings, advocacy visits to traditional and religious leaders to enlighten the citizens,” he said.
He explained that the NELFUND scheme is accessible to eligible students in public tertiary institutions, noting that applications are processed online and tuition fees are paid directly to institutions on behalf of beneficiaries. “Over 600,000 students are already onboard,” he added.
Highlighting innovations to strengthen the campaign, Issa-Onilu revealed that the agency had upgraded its website and introduced an Artificial Intelligence (AI) interface known as CLHEEAN to improve public engagement.
“We are going to make sure that we reach every nook and cranny of Ebonyi’s 13 local government areas,” he assured.
On his part, the NOA Director in Ebonyi, Mr. Theophilus Nwokpor, described the campaign as a clarion call to Nigerians to embrace national values as a foundation for sustainable development.
Nwokpor said the agency’s Community Orientation and Mobilisation Officers (COMOs) would engage residents across the state to help them better understand the policies of the present administration, including the Renewed Hope Infrastructural Fund, Social Safety Net Expansion, and the Industrial Training Fund, among others.
