By joshua 
Ayo Ola
PVC-NAIJA paid a courtesy call to the Directorate of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) Lagos on September 5, 2022. The team was received by The State Director in the person of Mr Waheed Ishola who was enthused by the visit.
The Lagos State Director, the Directorate of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr Waheed Ishola, has pledged to support any an initiative that has a mandate of enriching Nigeria’s democracy and getting rid of vote buying, which he described as a phenomenon that has become a cankerworm in Nigeria’s political trajectory.
He also pledged to support iWALK. He spoke on Monday, September 5, 2022; during a courtesy call by PVC-NAIJA on NOA in Lagos. The PVC NAIJA team was led by Dr Bolaji Akinyemi (convener). Other members of the teams are Mrs Joy Osawaru-Akinyemi (Director Organisation); Mr Leo Omoseebi (Director Projects); and Mr Peace Oluwawemimo, Field Officer Communication.
Mr Ishola mentioned that he had known Dr Bolaji Akinyemi , PVC NAIJA convener for some time via his social commentary activities and writings.
As known by all familiar with Dr Akinyemi, his posts do not spare the establishment, he said. He added, yet any initiative that has a mandate of “enriching our democracy and getting rid of the phenomenon that has become a cankerworm in our political trajectory that is, vote buying, NOA will be very supportive of that.”
Citing that the new electoral act has nipped a lot of things in the bud, with a view to getting better, the Lagos NOA boss asserted that NOA will always “support any activities centered around getting the Nigerian democratic dispensation to the next level.”
He also remarked that votes bought for N5,000or N10,000 naira equates to N33 per day and is a poor mortgage of the future. He prayed that social media activeness notwithstanding, the people should do well to come out and vote rather than play football on closed roads and expressways on election day.
He also observed that he was aware that registration for iWALK was online and the Lagos Directorate of the NOA will key in and support pending directives from Abuja.
The Director of Projects clarified that PVC NAIJA also recently partnered with the federal ministry of foreign affairs in April 2022 to execute a program aimed at helping returnees from Ukraine to adjust to a new Nigerian environment.
The insights gleaned from fieldwork as INEC election observers in Osun and Ekiti initiated the iWALK program.
The online registration is to ensure the program is not hijacked by miscreants and to eschew partisanship.
Dr Bolaji Akinyemi, the convener PVC NAIJA thanked the State Director of the NOA for doing a great job and noted that the input and impact of civil servants as stewards of the state is far greater than that of politicians who come and go. To that end Dr Akinyemi appealed for synergy with the agency as the iWALK is poised to be an annual event that explores issues in our polity, calls global attention to such issues and initiates local advocacy action to educate citizens accordingly.
Dr Akinyemi reiterated that it is on record the efforts of NOA to mobilize citizens to the national assembly to make contributions to the now passed new electoral law whilst still a proposal by INEC. He thanked NOA on behalf of all Nigerians stating that it is the responsibility of every Nigerian to strengthen democracy.
Explaining further the rationale for online registration, Dr Akinyemi stated that it was for security reasons and that the iWALK was not a protest but a charity walk to sensitize Nigerians about our collective aspirations for a better nation.