National Orientation Agency (NOA) has issued a warning to social media influencer @alamin_sarkinmola over a viral video skit promoting a Mercedes Benz 2023 C300.
In the skit, the car’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) system was asked if Nigerian civil servants could afford it, to which the AI mockingly replied, “No! Maybe in 2062.” The agency says the video is a condescending portrayal of civil servants.
Director-General of the NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a reaction contained in a letter condemned the video, stating it was “wrong to be speaking in such condescending terms about Nigerian civil servants,” especially during a period of rising social and economic pressures.
He said, “To be a civil servant in Nigeria, as is the case in most countries of the world, is a very important role,” the DG noted. “Civil servants across sectors are the ones who work hard to provide the enabling environment for businesses like yours to thrive and prosper.”
The agency boss described the skit as indecent, warning that such portrayals promote the pervasive “get-rich-at-all-cost” syndrome, and undermine core national values like dignity of labour and service to country.
He urged content creators and business promoters to be more mindful in their messaging so as not to “hurt the sensibilities of any segment of Nigerians.” He said the NOA decided to respond publicly due to the volume of feedback the agency received from concerned citizens.
The statement concluded with a call for collaboration to build a nation “where every cadre of citizen can thrive and be respected, a Nigeria where dignity of labour is valued over and above material things.”
