The Federal Government said on Tuesday it has given out at least N100 billion to train no fewer than 20 million artisans in the country.
The aim is to make them self-reliant and become job creators rather than wait for white-collar jobs.
The Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, who announced this at a media parley, in Abuja, said that part of the funds would be used to train the beneficiaries on work ethics.
Issa-Onilu said: "I know that 20 million artisans are being identified and trained in partnership with the Artisanal Association of Nigeria to identify all these artisans and create a curriculum for them to upskill them, so that we can stop bringing people from other countries.
"I am sure it is N100 billion that has been provided to train these people. The role of NOA in all of these is to say, it is not just about skills, but their attitude to work and attitude to customers," the NOA DG said.
The DG stated that the federal government would also moderate cartoon contents with 70 percent local contents in order to boost national values.
He pointed out that through cartoons, Nigerians between the age of one and 16 have been nurtured on strange foreign values, over the years.
He said the initiative was part of the seven institutionalisation policies of NOA: nationalisation of cartoon animation, citizenship studies, citizens brigades, global reputational management campaign, and orientation programme for appointed and elected government officials.
Others are incorporation of value orientation as part of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and reintroduction and promotion of national symbols.
He said NOA would facilitate the integration of citizenship studies into the educational curriculum of children and youths between the ages of seven and 18 to develop informed, responsible and active citizens with genuine love for the country.
The DG also revealed that the agency would establish citizen brigades in primary and secondary schools this year, starting with 37,000 members to provide 1,000 per state and the Federal Capital Territory.
"The Citizen Brigades will be fashioned after the Boys Scouts and Girls Brigades, where members learn leadership and moral values.
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On the global reputational management campaign, the former National Publicity publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said: "the agency shall carry out a global reputational management campaign within and outside Nigeria to promote Nigeria's values, redeem our image, and enhance the public and international perception of the country.
"This will involve strategic communication, branding, and crisis management to ensure a positive and consistent image across the country and in the world's major capitals," the NOA DG said.
