'Change Begins With Me' Buhari Embraces Leadership by Example - Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mo­hammed, has said President Muhammadu Buhari and his cab­inet had embraced the national re-orientation campaign, ‘’Change Begins With Me’’ before it was publicly unveiled last month.
At the unveiling of the cam­paign to Corporate Nigeria in La­gos on Thursday, 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 (FEC) 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.’’
Giving the reason for the campaign, he said it was aimed at ‘’achieving a paradigm shift in the way we do things.’’
‘’In simple parlance, it is geared towards achieving an at­titudinal change. As they say, you cannot continue to do things the same way and expect a different result. Against the background that our core values have wit­nessed a total breakdown in the past years, it is imperative that we re-orientate ourselves with a view to restoring those time-test­ed values.
‘’Some critics have wondered why we are launching this cam­paign at this time. They say Nige­rians are hungry and need food, not campaign.
“What they don’t realize is that part of the reason we have found ourselves in this sorry pass is our attitude. Our fetish for consump­tion of imported goods has helped to deplete our foreign reserves, part of the reasons our local cur­rency is now very weak, with dire consequences. Our preference for foreign goods against the ones we produce has been detrimental to our manufacturing companies, leading to loss of jobs. Of course, without jobs, our ability to feed or meet our daily obligations is af­fected.”