Dr Garba Abari , Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), has appealed to Nigerians to stop referring to Nigeria as 'Naija' to keep its originality.
Abari
told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday that the new
trend of making funky the original name of Nigeria was worrisome and not
in the best interest of the country.
“We try in all our advocacy visits to insist that Nigeria must be referred to as Nigeria and not Naija.
“So,
our schools have a role to play in this; the media itself has also got a
very fundamental role to play because it is the media that helps in the
propagation of this kind of misnomer.
“All
of us, as individuals, as corporate organisations, as media, whether
broadcast, print or online, must wake up to the reality.
“That
the more we use these misnomers referring to our country, the fallout
of it is that, a significant percentage of our younger ones will not
even remember that Nigeria is the original name of our country.
“I want to appeal to all Nigerians, young and old to always refer to our country as Nigeria."
Abari
also urged parents to key into the efforts to preserve the country’s
original name by discouraging their children and wards from referring to
Nigeria as 'Naija'.
DG National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr. Garba Abari
(ICPC)
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