The Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, Zephaniah Jisalo, has restated that the promise of renewed hope by President Bola Tinubu needs patience and teamwork to be actualized.
Jisalo stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the end of a three-day familiarization tour of the different parastatals under his ministry.
He visited the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, the National Lottery Trust Fund, and the Nigerian National Merit Award offices.
Jisalo said he has been mandated to reach the aspirations of Nigerians and assured the workers at the parastatals that poor funding and late budget release would no longer be issues.
“With our policy thrust, we are determined that things are going to change, we are going to renew hope and then this renewed hope is all about encouraging Nigerians and creating jobs for our citizens,” he said.
He charged the leaders of the commissions to apply for land allocation from the FCT Administration to address their complaints of lack of office space.
“We are going to address this issue,” he assured.
“Abuja is for all and we are going to have land allocation and every ministry should build their own complex.
“I have charged all the agencies under the ministry that we should apply for land and I am going to facilitate this to make sure we have land of our own to build a complex for the agency.”
Jisalo also promised to facilitate the deployment of the Central Monitoring System to prevent the loss of huge amounts of money to illegal lottery operators in Nigeria.
This followed the complaints by the Director-General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Lanre Gbajabiamila, that the absence of the system was affecting the commission’s revenue drive.
In her address, the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, Ibiene Roberts, stressed the need for constant feedback and strategic communication, adding that the ministry looks forward to open and honest dialogue that will strengthen the bond between commissions under the ministry.
“Effective communication is essential for success, and I encourage an open, honest dialogue during our discussions…We owe it to our citizens to be transparent in our actions, and accountable for the resources entrusted to us.”
For his part, the executive secretary of the National Lottery Trust Fund, Dr. Maigari Bello, called for the blockage of leakages in the lottery and gaming industry, to curb loss of revenue.
