By George Okojie, Lagos
The minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari and his entire cabinet had been living true to the national re-orientation campaign Change Begins With Melong before it was publicly unveiled last month.
Speaking at the unveiling of the campaign to Corporate Nigeria in Lagos, yesterday, the minister said that President Buhari demonstrated that change begins with him when he rejected the purchase of new vehicles upon assumption of office and also directed his convoy not to break traffic rules.
“The President demonstrated leadership when he rejected the purchase of new vehicles for his use, thus saving N400 million. Thanks to his action, no minister purchased new vehicles, saving millions more. Then upon assuming office, the President instructed his convoy to always respect traffic rules. The ministers all followed suit. Today ministers queue up at airports and filling stations. Their lifestyle is devoid of any ostentation. The Federal Executive Council is not left behind. The weekly FEC meeting starts on time. Indeed, change started with us a long time ago,’’ he said.
Alhaji Mohammed explained that the campaign was actually designed to start from the President, Vice President, Ministers and other top government officials and then cascade down to all citizens, adding: ‘’It is therefore wrong to see it as an attempt to saddle ordinary citizens with any burden without a commensurate effort from the leadership.’’