MAMSER was an acronym for Mass Mobilization for

Self Reliance "Self-Reliance" is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of his recurrent themes: the need for each person to avoid conformity and false consistency, ...

Social Justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

, and

Economic Recovery An economic recovery is the phase of the business cycle following a recession. The overall business outlook for an industry looks optimistic during the economic recovery phase. During the recovery period, the economy goes through a process of ec ...

. It was an exercise in political orientation in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

undertaken by President Babangida as one of the recommendations of the

Political Bureau A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

headed by Dr. Samuel Joseph Cookey. The bureau's task was to consult with thousands of Nigerians and recommend to the

Armed Forces Ruling Council Nigeria's Armed Forces Ruling Council was established by Ibrahim Babangida following the 1985 Nigerian coup d'état that overthrew Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the presid ...

, a respectable and methodical transition program. The ruling council also wanted a national orientation to enunciate the abstract ideas in its economic policy and promote value orientation. MAMSER was inaugurated on July 25, 1987.

Mission

A central goal of MAMSER was to cultivate support for the transitional program of the Government. It was also an avenue to educate the citizens about the political process, mobilize them to participate in up-coming elections and political debates, and also inculcate a dependence towards locally made goods and Nigerian products. Some of Mamser's official policies were as follows: # Re-orient Nigerians to shun waste and vanity. # Shed all pretenses of affluence in their lifestyle, # Propagate the need to eschew all vices in public life, including corruption, dishonesty, electoral and census malpractices, ethnic and religious bigotry. The responsibilities of MAMSER were placed under a directorate, with

Jerry Gana Jerry Gana, is a Nigerian scholar, politician and one time senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1983 then Director for the Directorate of Food, Roads and Infrastructure (DFRRI).He was the director of the Mass Mobilization for Social J ...

as chairman and

Ken Saro Wiwa Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa (10 October 1941 – 10 November 1995) was a Nigerian writer, teacher, television producer, and social rights activist. Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland, Ogonila ...

as one of its directors. However, after a few months as a director, Ken Saro Wiwa left the directorate. The directorate however has produced a few notable Nigerians, including

Tunde Adeniran Tunde Adeniran (born 29 September 1945) is a Nigerian scholar, politician, diplomat, and former minister of education. A former staff of United Nations, Tunde - before moving into politics in 1998 - retired as a political science lecturer at the ...

, who became the head of the National Orientation Agency,

Molara Ogundipe-Leslie Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie (27 December 1940 – 18 June 2019), also known as Molara Ogundipe and Omolara Leslie, was a Nigerian poet, critic, editor, feminist and activist. Considered one of the foremost writers on African feminism, gender studies ...

, and

Jonathan Zwingina Jonathan Silas Zwingina (1953 or 1954 – 2 October 2024) was a Nigerian politician who was elected Senator for the Adamawa South constituency of Adamawa State, Nigeria at the start of the Nigerian Fourth Republic, running on the People's Democ ...

, a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. MAMSER was eventually renamed National Orientation Agency and with a huge presence spanning across all 774 local governments in Nigeria, her current Director General is Alhaji Idi Faruk (MFR) and her headquarters is at Old Secretariat, Area 1 Garki, Abuja.

References

{{reflist * BISIS IKE-AUDU, Special Report on Nigeria (2): Challenge of an action-packed tomorrow - Political transition, The Guardian (London), September 3, 1987 *Stephen Wright; Nigeria: Struggle for Stability and Status, Westview Press, 1998 *MICHAEL HENDERSON, "NIGERIAN LEADERS SEEK KINDER, GENTLER NATIONAL ETHIC", The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), March 26, 1990 *OKPATA JOSHUA, HEIR APPARENT; A STITCH IN TIME, May 22, 2011 Politics of Nigeria