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The National Orientation Agency (NOA) and Democratic Governance in Nigeria: An Assessment...

Abdulkarim Abdullahi, Abdulrazak Salihu Ibrahim

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) and Democratic Governance in Nigeria: An
Assessment of Citizen Awareness, Trust, and Policy Legitimacy

By

Abdulkarim Abdullahi
Department of Political Science and International Relations, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja abdulrazakibrahim851@gmail.com

Abdulrazak Salihu Ibrahim
Department of Political Science and International Relations, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja abibrahim@nileuniveristy.edu.ng

Abstract
The  National  Orientation Agency  in  Nigeria  was  created  to  close  the  gap  between  the government and the governed. The core argument of this paper is that NOA has sensitised citizens, increased their trust in institutions, and strengthened the resources for political legitimacy in Nigeria's governance. Its theoretical foundation is based on Habermas's 'Theory of Communicative Action. On their part, communication and dialogue become all about the rationalisation of discourse and mutual understanding in a dialogical process, to which is attributed the character of valid democratic communication. In that sense, this study places some heavy demands on data sources. Anything from policy reports and institutional publications to scholarship can be documented in the hodgepodge – yes, there would be some element of judgmental control with bibliographic reasoning (deductive) exercised around the product. The results of this project demonstrated that NOA is not a bad program as designed. However, policy errors have rendered it incapable of serving as a reliable source of public opinion and have locked in these deficiencies, turning them into barriers. The paper concludes that for NOA to play a positive role as an honest mediator of democracy in Nigeria, it must be implemented with strategic reform. Administrative authority should be decentralised, and its organisations really should have very substantial autonomy.

Keywords:   Public Enlightenment, Democratic Participation, Governance Reform, National
Integrity, Institutional Credibility, Civic Engagement

Introduction
With the deepening of democracy in Nigeria, the level of interaction between its institutions and citizens has become a leading indicator of whether governance can sustain its presence or gain legitimacy. Among the core agencies mediating this relationship is The National Orientation Agency (NOA), whose mandate includes promoting national unity, rebalancing values, publicising  government  policies,  and  engaging  citizens  in  discussions. As  a  state  organ established to encourage participatory democracy through enlightenment and mobilisation, NOA depends entirely on citizens' level of awareness, the trust placed in it as an institution, and its legitimacy within policy frameworks. However, whether the organisation can contribute to strengthening democratic governance remains under discussion. What is certain is that, largely because of lingering gaps in policy communication, public cynicism, and perceived inefficiencies within governmental institutions across Nigeria, it has not been the agent for the desirable result that its creators must have envisioned. The rationality of democracy lies in

conferring legitimacy on power, holding it accountable, and subjecting it to public opinion. For decades now, in Nigeria, this rationality has been systematically subverted by a lack of trust between citizens and state institutions, resulting in waning public participation and interest. At the same time, authoritarianism's guise makes it all the more difficult to delegitimise. NOA was born as a solution to this lack: its working architecture was intended to reach right into the grassroots, publicise government policies, and make citizens aware of their goals, so that they might support these democratic ideals. However, according to verifiable data, the utility (and indeed the intended roles) of the NOA in Nigeria's democratic options remain somewhat inconclusive. The agency has not been optimally effective in terms of public trust patterns, institutional relevance, or policy legitimacy (Osimen, Akintoye & Adi, 2022).

If people are to participate effectively in a democracy, they must be made aware of its basic principles. How much citizens know about what the government is doing depends directly on their awareness of governance processes, rights and responsibilities, and the country's direction. Awareness should come from state organs, such as the National Orientation Agency (NOA), whose tasks are to educate people about policies and mobilise them along civic lines. Still, there is a considerable gap between the plan conceived by the government and what citizens perceive it to be. Alarape (2023), Ogungirin, and Omoba argue that while the NOA acts during national disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic, its efforts remain largely fragmented. This seriously limits the ability to make informed political choices or to participate in the democratic process actively; whether citizens can trust public institutions — as measured by institutional trust — is crucial for maintaining a democracy. Just last year at Synod, both types of trust (professional and institutional) tumbled severely in Nigeria.

This was seen as an extension of the country's current ordeal, in which inconsiderate elections, administrative mistakes, and the misinterpretation of legality stand out. Still, the indications do not hold for long: Afrobarometer frequently reports very low levels of both public trust in government and confidence in politicians across states.

Without strong local accountability mechanisms to check government power, citizens have little confidence in either politicians or formal government institutions. Instead, it is non- governmental players, such as religious leaders and traditional rulers, who enjoy people's trust (Afrobarometer, 2022; Mbaegbu, 24). It also points to the realities of large bureaucracy at all levels within government structures. Gumbi and Baba (2024) linked the credibility crisis evident in the EndSARS protests to a communication failure between the state and citizens, thereby highlighting how trust is a condition of governance legitimacy.

In terms of democratic policy, the legitimacy of government is more than just a procedural mechanism. Whether an arrangement can be described as morally fair, inclusive, and responsive is always a matter for citizens' judgment. Citizens believe that the policies advance their interests solely within a legitimate atmosphere. At the same time, people are clear about how policy is written and implemented. Public displeasure and practical difficulties face policies formed by bureaucratic means rather than through the commitment of the interested parties. NOA's work in public education becomes critically important in this light. However, it is important to note that a common criticism of this organisation is that it often serves as little more than an outlet for strictly top-down government propaganda, rather than meeting citizens' needs by promoting dialogue and feedback (Osimen et al., 2022). Such perceptions undermine the legitimacy of

public policies and encourage people to distance themselves from political life, particularly among the young and among those who are disfranchised. This situation is typical of all government organisations. In theory, the NOA is best positioned at the grassroots level, as it has offices in every one of Nigeria's 774 local government areas. In practice, though, the tool's utility for enlightening the public is very limited. With insufficient funding and lackadaisical leadership, bureaucratically superior but bottom-bracket encumbered institutions stifle its every move. (Alarape et al., 2023) This specifically hampers the NOA's capacity to act as an effective intermediary between government agencies and the citizens whom they serve.

In Nigeria, the dynamics of democratic governance are also determined by broader historical and socio-political conditions; elite capture, corruption, and weak rule of law are among them. Governing under such circumstances, it can be said that these factors help create an environment of rule without Revolving Funds or Area Quotable Pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, others are passed off on their way up (rather than on any course which might take them beyond this goal); all the senior persons in Nigeria have had to put their hand in and be corrupted a little.

Organised to reduce the span of natural objects, such a social arrangement commits the NOA to formalism. In view of these problems, the paper examines the role of the National Orientation Agency in Nigeria's quest for democratic governance, with specific reference to national consciousness, confidence in institutions, and policy credibility. It also looks similar, practically about talking to get what you want, in the face of how complicated society and its institutions are, all getting it wrong. The study then discusses the impact of a failing NOA on Nigeria's democratisation efforts. A cycle for civil education, popular governance, and policy development within and among governments. It serves two purposes. First, from the government side of things, it presents empirical evidence for seeing whether one should carry out an effective activity such as this on so grand a scale in developing democracy. Nigeria, for example, also offers suggestions for state leadership. It examines how the NOA could be improved to serve as an agent of national integration, democracy, and trust-building among institutions, which is crucial to the continued unity of a nation like Nigeria.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, as the country begins to taste democratic defeat, astonishment at bureaucracy grows deeper by the hour. Now, the need even arises to change the role of an organisation like NOA, making its existence as indispensable as it was in the old days. However, that would be a major reform of the system for N: moving forward. By providing information on awareness, trust, and legitimacy, these issues were not discussed with examples in any work on governance reform. Giddens took after Gorbachev's ideological framework to explain changing politics, and it is cruelly self-contradictory. The paper argues that belief in the democratic project must be based on much more than just having regular elections. It calls for a sustainable change in citizens' mindset, concrete policy actions, and precise information about institutions and how they currently operate, all of which are open to citizens' accountability. However, if properly repositioned in this Agency, so that it is now of little use, it can again be a necessary tool, with adequate support provided for its development and without the constraints that paralyse too many such government agencies.

Theoretical Framework
This study is anchored on the Communicative Action Theory (CAT) as developed by Jürgen Habermas. Communicative action theory (CAT) was first conceptualised by the German philosopher and sociologist Jürgen Habermas. The Theory of Communicative Action (1984)

provides a theoretical lens for understanding how democratic societies might foster legitimate governance through rational dialogue and mutual understanding. Habermas argues that open, uncoerced communication–free of distortion–is the basis for social coordination and legitimacy in democratic systems. Democratic governments rule through strategic representations of public opinion. His theory builds on the idea that all decisions emerging from democratic societies must stem not from coercive authorities but from public, inclusive discourse, free of strategic motives for gain and characterised by a pursuit of understanding and agreement (Jeko & Nwana, 2022).

Communicative Action Theory, at its heart, distinguishes between communicative rationality and instrumental rationality. The latter aims to get things done, regardless of the consequences for others; communicative rationality, by contrast, seeks to create and maintain conditions under which all affected can pursue their interests. According to Habermas, valid communication is based  on  three  such  claims: truth  (the  veracity of  statements), rightness  (the  normative appropriateness of actions), and sincerity (that the speaker means what they say). These form the foundations on which trust, legitimacy, and democratic cooperation are possible (Amadi
&Ndianefoo, 2025). He applied his theory by pointing out that, in modern democracies, legitimacy arises not just from elections or constitutional formalities but from ongoing conversations between government and society. In this regard, the state's public institutions must create forums for discourse in which laws can be justified to the public and citizens can critique, accept, or alter governance practices (George & Eke, 2025).

When these conceptions are related to the Chinese National Image and Culture Project (NICP), it becomes evident that the NICP has been entirely wrong in its work. The NOA was established to promote national values, civic education and policy enlightenment. However, the Nigerian context shows that mass communication in the final analysis is a one-way channel-you get spoken to by government policies without any discussion. This makes people more likely to think of themselves as audiences for well-produced monologues than as actors with a role in those dramas, with their own views and feelings about what should happen next. When action becomes instrumental, this kind of engagement is in irreconcilable contradiction with Habermas's idea of a deliberative democracy, where legitimate communication must be done on shared grounds. In fact, the National Orientation Agency not only fails to promote inclusive discourse; it often acts as a mouthpiece for the state, thereby undercutting the credibility and trust that the public places in it. (George & Eke, 2025).

Also, the lack of legitimacy in Nigerian politics has caused widespread public protest. From the cancellation of lottery funding for NGOs to political parties' moves against independent candidates, those with public interests ultimately express disappointment, feeling excluded from decision-making processes. (Jeko &Nwana, 2022). From failing to remove fuel subsidies to failing to carry out electoral reform, many policies in Nigeria have left the public disillusioned. It is Habermas's fault that this crisis of legitimacy occurs. When governmental communicative structures fall apart, and genuine dialogue among citizens is replaced by nameless confusion with the central power, the National Orientation Agency's inability to engage in communicative action also leads directly to policy closeness. This is particularly true for those people at the periphery of influence and youth populations. This contributes to the erosion of trust in policy.

The theory emphasises the integrality of communicative spaces. In a society like Nigeria, which is made up of many different races and at the same time in which several religions coexist, democratic communication must be able to cross over regional, class and other natural divisions. However, researchers have found that NOA operations often cannot reach rural areas, whether due to a lack of funding or facilities. This limits villagers' access to civic information and political understanding altogether. This violates the rule of communicative action, which holds that everyone affected by a dialogue has the right to participate in it (Amadi &N dianefoo, 2025).

The effect is that unless institutions such as the NOA are reshaped to make communication, rather than lecture, their priority, the fundamental aims of democratic governance - trust, legitimacy and participation - will never be realised. A shift to a Habermasian communicative model would entail granting operational independence to NOA, intensifying its partnerships with civil society, encouraging local participation in decision-making, conducting multilingual policy campaigns, and investing in education on policy matters.

Empirical Review
In examining the role of the National Orientation Agency in Nigeria, several studies show that the institution contributes to governance by ensuring that citizens are fully aware of government policies and administrative processes.

Alarape, Ogunniran, and Omoba (in their article entitled "Assessment of the National Orientation Agency public relations roles in sensitising the public during key national issues in Nigeria ") intended to evaluate whether the National Orientation Agency (NOA) bears fruit in these public-awareness-promoting activities when national emergencies occur. A descriptive survey method was used. 200 questionnaires with structured additional questions were distributed to respondents from three geographic areas. Analysis of the data showed that NOA tried to communicate public health guidelines during COVID-19 and similar crises — but these efforts were inconsistent and reached very few people, especially in rural areas. The study concluded that NOA must undertake a strategic public relations overhaul.

In 2022, Osimen and Akintoye conducted research titled “Repositioning Nigeria Towards Sustainable National Integration Through National Orientation Agency." The purpose was to examine the relationship between NOA and national unity. The authors used qualitative content analysis to collect their primary sources, including documentary materials and policy reviews. They found that the NOA had largely failed to promote national integration. The reasons were that, for the most part, it lacked adequate funding; its operations were politically biased; and society's involvement was limited. The article ends with the opinion that, to have any real effect on the democratic process, NOA needs fundamental change, which means both reforming it structurally and granting administrative authority to branches throughout Nigeria.

Gumbi and Baba's (2024) article titled “Political Trust and Legitimacy Crisis Under COVID-19: An Examination of Nigeria's EndSARS Movement” was mainly to probe into the causes behind public distrust in state organs. Using a mixed-methods study approach that included both content analysis of Chinese media and interviews with demonstrators and opinion leaders, the study found no clear communication, confrontation, or inclusiveness by public agencies such as NOAR, all of which contributed to the impression of the government as illegitimate, and so more people turned against it. The researchers concluded that legitimacy in governance cannot be

achieved without deliberate communicative efforts to create inclusiveness, and that, for this step, which was perceived as only just beginning, correction is now necessary.

Garuba and Mustapha (2023), in their work titled "The Impact of Administrative Corruption on the Democratic Governance System in Nigeria", look at how public officials' corruption seriously affects democratic governance. The research design was quantitative, using questionnaires administered to government employees, civil society members, and other respondents. Their survey findings showed a direct correlation between high levels of corruption and low levels of public trust, and NOA was one institution that lacked operational autonomy and suffered external political interference. The conclusion stated that anti-corruption frameworks should be designed to empower communication agencies, such as NOA, to disseminate civic values that support accountability.

Adeolu-Akande (2022), in his paper “How the Political Trust of Nigerians On COVID-19
Management Was Evaluated: Citizens' Perceptions”, focused on how the government was perceived to perform in terms of transparency and information delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a national survey of 1,000 respondents across all six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, researchers found that trust in government announcements was declining because they were perceived as inconsistent and public institutions were not engaging effectively. NOA was cited for failing to effectively run its campaigns to raise awareness, leading to public misunderstanding. The study concluded that rebuilding trust requires institutions to be much more robust and truthful in their communication.

Mbaegbu (2024)wrote a piece entitled “Nigerians View Religious Leaders as More Trustworthy than Public Institutions” as part of his ongoing focus on institutional trust in Nigeria. When the study gathered and analysed Afrobarometer perception surveys, it was found that Nigerians consistently trust religious and traditional leaders more than NOA, the police, or political parties. The report concluded that if public institutions do not reform their engagement strategies, the lack of transparency in their work will continue to be limited (Northern Nigeria Trust and Confidence Survey 2013).

Adaba (2024), in “Africans' Trust in Key Institutions and Leaders is Weakening,” examined broader African trends, with Nigeria noted parenthetically. Using survey data from successive Afrobarometer rounds (2016–2022), his study found that citizens' trust in democratic institutions had been steadily declining. This was due to perceived failures of responsiveness and value communications. Specifically, the NOA was criticised for being passive and reactive rather than proactive in dealing with political crises or in setting national norms. The report recommended communication innovation in institutions.

Nnamani, Odeh, and Eze (2023) conducted research titled “Citizens Participation and Local Government Responsiveness in Enugu State, Nigeria (2008–2015)” to evaluate how well the state's local governments responded to their communities' concerns. The study employed techniques like qualitative interviews and participatory observation. However, it was not an examination of NOA itself. Rather, they pointed out that at the federal and below-central levels, orientation and communication agencies failed to engage in active dialogue with local people, resulting in low participation. The conclusion was an intergovernmental communication chain that included agencies like NOAA to serve the locality.

In their paper "Challenges and Prospects of National Security, Legitimation, and Democratic Sustenance in Nigeria's Fourth Republic", recently published by Oyekanmi & Rosenje (2022), they discussed legitimacy and democratic sustainability. In the study, the researchers employed mixed methods, collecting data from national surveys and conducting documentary research. They found that, in fact, national orientation efforts have been fragmentary, and, if anything, it is far from the case that the NOA can boast. They did not succeed in forging a narrative appropriate for all of China's people—people who should then think entirely in terms of their own home partners, rather than any new foreign acquaintance today.

In their research, "Citizens' Preference for Electronic Participatory Governance," Kaya, Oludu, and Karagozlu (2025) seek to examine the extent to which people participate digitally in democratic processes. The experiments conducted across six African states, including Nigeria, show that an increasingly powerful platform and mode for citizens to interact with government policy have already emerged. Traditional communicators like NOA have been cast aside in digital strategy, unable to compete successfully online, even when they try their hardest or quit trying altogether; as a result, they are losing out on reach and relevance. The report concludes that without modernisation and the embrace of digital engagement methods, traditional mouthpieces such as NOA will continue to lose their democratic value.

Despite extensive empirical studies and their addressing political trust, citizen participation, and the role of communication in democratic governance, few studies have directly assessed the impact on public trust and faith in the legitimacy of communication operations by the National Orientation Agency) based on participatory theory. While the agency is often mentioned in broader critiques, there is insufficient empirical work on its effectiveness, especially in the digital governance age and post -pandemic socio-political transition era. Additionally, the existing literature fails to cover citizens' voices at the grassroots level. It does not fully examine NOA's use of communications models with works such as Habermas 'Communicative Action Theory as frames for argument. Hence, there is a lack of links between state-mediated communication and trust building and force formation, especially in a country like Nigeria under decentralised governance structures.

Methodology
This paper uses a qualitative research approach, and it is characterised by its exclusive reliance on pre-existing secondary data. The paper involves combining evidence from the existing literature, institutional reports, scholarly articles, official documents, and survey-based publications with empirical or theoretical content that may shed light on the operational role of the  National  Orientation Agency  (NOA)  in  Nigeria  as  a  source  that  further  democratic governance. This approach is crucial as it compels us to promote a higher level of synthesis and analysis. The research explores relationships in Nigeria between citizens' political knowledge and people's general feelings about politics and policy. However, it is a separate matter from full democracy. The analysis takes a methodological perspective. It is based on a survey of published articles from the last three years, official documents, statements and relevant polling data. Regions of inquiry include value reorientation and building trust in public servants and the administration.

Content Analysis for simple data processing Content analysis is a systematic way of dealing with qualitative data, by identifying patterns, themes and frequency buses and classifying them into

textual matter, so that the researcher can obtain trends across the documents reviewed, such as institution performances, holes in public communication, amount of citizen participation or whether own people give trust. Notes which were essential to the study's purposes were critically analysed in all documents reviewed. Interview data were tagged into broader categories such as strategy, administrative legitimacy, and people's participation in public life. These tags provide a framework for future NOA treatments within Nigeria's emerging democratic institutional structure. Coverage of the appropriate materials to review took on a flavour of inclusion and exclusion: in the middle ground, it displayed respect for scholarship. The review materials used were from 2016 to 2025 to reflect only contemporary Nigerian events and cultural frames. Only peer-reviewed articles, reports and policy studies from reputable institutions, and public surveys were found to provide reliable or verifiable information on research subjects. Materials selected for Review were to bear direct relevance to Nigeria's political communication activities, democratic governance and organs of society, or the National Orientation Agency in particular. In the review, only works published in English were included to maintain a consistent level of interpretation and debate.

Conversely, sources that did not pass muster were scrapped. These included blogs, newspaper commentaries, and anonymous opinions; those lacking academic or institutional credibility were not considered. Additionally, literature published before 2016 was omitted unless it provided an essential backdrop to understanding NOA's introduction, legal structure, or foundational goals.

National Orientation Agency and Democratic Governance in Nigeria
In the structure of democratic governance, institutions responsible for public communication are crucial for shaping civic consciousness, creating public trust, and legitimising policy action. In Nigeria, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) was established to convey government guidelines, give instructions on civic duties to citizens, and promote national togetherness. However, in recent years, doubts have grown about the Agency's effectiveness in fulfilling these functions – particularly amid Nigeria's democratic challenges; policy communication from the government remains leader-led and unconvincing; citizens know relatively little about their duties or the obligations owed by governments. Against that background, this paper examines the role and impact of Chinese media in shaping political awareness and promoting trust in institutions, as reflected only in the current official document. Below is the role of the NOA in Nigeria as expected of citizens.

NOA and Citizens' Awareness
The  National  Orientation Agency  (NOA)  was  proposed  as  a  civic  body  to  disseminate information and encourage civic engagement among Nigerians in a democracy. However, very few citizens are aware of its work. Alarape, Ogunniran, and Omoba (2023) examined the NOA's public relations activities and found them particularly ungainly during the COVID-19 pandemic, lacking in all directions. Their research showed that the outreach work done had limited coverage and failed dismally to reach rural populations. Thus, the entire countryside was left largely untouched by public awareness campaigns. Similarly, Osimen, Akintoye, and Adi (2022) argue that NOA's initial task of national integrity through civic education has never been achieved due to the organisation's poor performance at the grassroots level and its politicisation of communication. NOA's communications operations take no top-level direction, since media campaigns seeking to gain agreement rarely allow for dialogic exchange and feedback. This

method is not conducive to the fostering of democratic education among members of work units, because one of the essentials of representative democracy is a two-way path to information and participation.

Oyekanmi and Rosenje (2022) supply an interesting insight, linking the failure of public institutions such as the NOA to larger issues of governance and national security. They believe that without a coherent strategy to reach out to different socio-cultural communities within Nigeria's geopolitical zones, the agency remains outside a sizable portion of the population. This lack of decentralisation also undermines its ability to provide the in-depth nationwide awareness required to keep a diverse country together. The nation will do what to narrow down to the acid test of results”. These are institutional vulnerabilities from which the VK inbox is suffering today, if Garuba and Mustapha (2023) would have us know—especially in contacting youth shrink and their felt repulsion for public life. However, perhaps this is not the answer.

There are virtually no Service customers who reside in any local government area (Mbaegbu,
2024). Instead, most Nigerians rely on non-state actors — bourgeois institutions like churches and traditional chiefs whom they revere in their village councils — to provide information. Such an extreme credibility gap between public agencies and the public persists today. It is worth noting that, notwithstanding these limitations, the NOA provides new strategic approaches: Osimen et al. (2022) argue that, with some degree of autonomy and appropriate strategic resources, it would be a force for Nigeria's transformation. They emphasise that the NOA's vast, grassroots network is an “unprecedented anywhere in the world” chance to mould enlightened citizens ready to utilise the information through new developments in multilingual materials, digital tools and community-based pluralist efforts.

National Orientation Agency and the Building of Public Trust in Nigeria
Trust is fundamental to democratic governance. The minute people lose faith in government institutions, their willingness to comply with the law, cooperate with fellow citizens, and participate in government diminishes drastically. At First National, as an entity meant to promote that trust but seen by some as failing in both roles, this has drawn significant public attention and criticism. Citizens' trust in institutions was falling apart, a principal force behind last year's ENDSARS protests, according to Gumbi and Baba (2024). The government was perceived as unresponsive and manipulative; agencies like NOA saw very little de-escalation of these tensions or of the networking that citizens provided, in part because no official followed up. People perceive political intervention and administrative inefficiency in the exercise of NOA, as noted by Garuba and Mustapha (2023). Corruption and administrative inefficiency are major eroding factors of trust, they say further down in their report. Citizens associate almost all government bodies with political intervention and inefficiency, and NOA is no exception. Due to its lack of independence and low efficiency, this government-designed service cannot serve as a true voice of public participation, leaving the public many steps further away.

Elsewhere, Mbaegbu (2024) found that citizens trust local or traditional leaders more than the government. This is a particular problem in a democracy, where the institutional credibility that comes from such a trust relationship is crucial to the exercise of political force. NOA's disregard for or refusal to use these more trusted intermediaries in its work is a serious mistake (Moy & Lin, 2025). Credibility and proximity are both necessary prerequisites for communication — two elements that have been lacking in NOA's work in this regard (Ginseng, 2025). During the

COVID-19 pandemic, research by Adeolu-Akande (2022) indicates that the public does not trust official data about where to get inoculations. This lack of confidence is largely due to conflicting, economically motivated messages from authorities. There is no Local Provision on a matter of both real national emergency and such scale; NOA hardly appears in health education, and this only further undermines confidence (Date & Lin 2026). It stresses that without an active and credible communications apparatus, citizens will not cooperate with government instructions or operate the system or governance.

To say it another way, a platform for restoring trust must be built if the NOA wants any future. However, if this trust is to be rebuilt, the agency must be absolutely beyond criticism in both message and delivery. Whom to say it and how they are going about the saying: With AT&T in charge of public relations instead of community leaders, plus NGOs within such a historically autonomous set-up, much greater effort is needed. Trust can only be nurtured again in the long term among common people, within the broader normative framework of democracy, and finally re-embodied in the rule of law.

NOA and the Legitimacy of Government Policy in Nigeria
Policy legitimacy concerns the extent to which citizens regard and consent to governmental policies as right and properly enforceable. In a democratic society, legitimacy permeates much of the public decision-making process, while also giving people from different walks of life a chance to voice their opinions and providing information that is fed back one way or another, helping inform those making policy decisions. This organisation primarily promotes communication to ensure that the political programme or policy objectives are understood, accepted, and acted upon by society as a whole. However, a review of the literature reveals a possible divergence between its stated goal and its actual occurrence. It also illustrates that the dissemination of policy and information are not interchangeable ideas; informing about the position a plan takes does not necessarily improve one's chances of being received well.

For  example, Adeolu-Akande  (2022)  argues  that  the  state's  handling  of  the  COVID-19 pandemic, specifically implementing lockdowns and conducting local vaccination campaigns, suffers from a severe legitimacy crisis. They favoured people they trusted. Moreover, because only those whose opinions we trusted were making decisions, NOA, expected to play a major role in building policy frameworks and underscoring their necessity, failed to engage with many people. Not only did this magnify resistance, but it also fueled the belief that public policy can be arbitrary and removed from the lives of ordinary people. In themselves, Alarape et al. (2023) argue, the very core of NOA lies in its lack of an adaptable communication strategy. When they go wrong, government policies in Nigeria do not go astray because they are wrong, down to their very core--they misfire because of the method of communication being unenlightened policy messages are often fed to people in a monologic format, which ignores any potential input, hearing nothing but acclamations of national content. Osimen et al. (2022) clearly state that the legitimacy of national policies also depends on whether citizens accept them as consistent with national values and development goals. NOA is crucial in underwriting the moral basis for policy as well as its development potential. However, it has rarely been found in attempting to permeate the fabric of this country's moral discourse that underlies public policy. Without that framework, policy outcomes become elite impositions rather than collective imperatives for all citizens.

Lessening the tax requirement of enterprises in difficulty because of the war system, increasing the supply of merchant products or raw materials which could be exchanged for foreign currency--thus reducing demands on industrial workers and peasants for half their produce to feed themselves. The latter rearguard action does, however, appeal to Ye. However, NOA still plays an important role in promoting policy legitimacy. If it can change from simply an information government to one that engages the public in dialogue and discussion of policy, then a part of that legitimacy shall be brought home through actions that endorse such efforts, though not in name or form. Oyekanmi and Rosenje (2022) argue that policy legitimacy is constructed through long-run public communication and that institutions such as the NOA should facilitate this process. For the idea to be adopted by this institution, which needs reorientation in its manner of operation, the elements of better communication, away from strategies that compromise truthfulness and inclusion without responsiveness, and from exclusion from decision-making processes, are all crucial.

NOA and the fulfilment of its Democratic Mandate
Despite an immensely popular mandate and a presence that spans the nation, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has yet to fulfil the goals of democracy because it unavoidably confronts many systemic, operational, and strategic challenges. Without any doubt, politicisation is one of its most serious complaints. As Osimen et al. (2022) point out, the NOA sometimes actually acts as a tool for one party rather than a neutral and independent civic body. In general, as is often the case, and specifically in this case, political patronage is the rule. When a service orienting the public is seen as nothing more than a puppet of the ruling party's propaganda, it loses much of its legitimacy.

Lack of funds is another major barrier. Prescriptions Garuba and Mustapha (2023) provide a more detailed analysis, explaining that financial constraints significantly impede the NOA's capacity to deliver programs, tap grassroots linkages for ripple-up innovation, and invest in communications infrastructure in Nigeria. While the agency's brief is nationwide (all of its 774
LGAs are covered), as the weight of its allocations shows, it finds itself designing minimalist strategies that surpass even a police department whose designs are often reactive rather than proactive. This has tarnished its reputation nationally.

In addition, institutional double structures and inter-agency cooperation problems have rendered the NOA ineffective. Oyekanmi and Rosenje (2022) observe that public agencies frequently do not act in concert even when they have shared tasks, leading to fractured communication, mixed signals and citizens who do not know what to think. With no federal comms network, NOA's efforts there have been cut to their core in much of the policy space.

Personnel challenges are also a stumbling block. According to Alarape et al. (2023), far too many NOA staff are not up to speed on the most progressive communication methods and lag in the technological capabilities associated with digital outreach programs. The case for an agency to use “old-school” techniques when over 60% of the population reads newspapers and goes online to stay informed is hard to accept, from either an external or an internal perspective. It also leaves the service, in ways that are less and less defensible over time politically, severed from an entire large age group.

The strategy is also a pattern and a distribution of messages. Mbaegbu (2024) has observed that many of NOA's enlightenment and promotional campaigns have failed to resonate with Nigeria's diverse cultures and languages. Things are equated at the national level and implemented without context; as such, they do not really penetrate or apply properly. This top- down communication pattern, though, does not account for the fact that the problems are numerous and difficult to measure. The NOA's reading of the sources suggests that its physical presence makes all the difference. Reconfigured and repositioned, the agency could be instrumental in advancing democracy in Nigeria. It would depend, lamentably enough, on the depoliticisation of its work, greater financial autonomy and the reeducation of its staff. just as important, hip and progressive communication strategies must be woven into the fundamentals." However, the writer has discovered that integration is a complete quagmire of issues.

Strategies for Repositioning the NOA in Democratic Governance
With piles of problems on its shoulders, therefore, no question is more important here than how we make it a truly democratic institution that works for all before getting rid of it. Through literary sources, several strategic avenues are available which may provide direction to revival. Firstly, independence is a prerequisite. Osimen et al. (2022) serve as an example that we should remember that NOA ought to be refunded as a party-neutral institution with a clear civic purpose. The head may not even be a direct political appointee of it, and its governance regime should allow decisions to be held up to the light.

Second, securing more money in the budget must be an absolute priority. As Garuba and Mustapha (2023) put it, “the well-funded NOA will have the reach to roll its programmes everywhere, put money in modern infrastructure and keep good announcers”. The government needs to understand that civics education is not simply a probable cost, but a part of democracy. The only thing is to modify the numbers in their budget; setting performance objectives related to actual goals accomplishes that and compels the organisation to pay its fair dues for what it sponges from our resources.

The NOA must transition from monologue to dialogue. As Gumbi and Hlale (2024) put it: “a two-way Golden Highway[communication] between government and its people is essential. So that means holding town hall meetings, engaging with civil society organisations, and even using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to get feedback from citizens on possible policy changes. However, the point here and this is true for how we organise citizen encounters, too, is that these agencies no longer treat the model by which they engage with citizens as something monolithic.

Fourth, the agency should roll out more local and digital platforms. Alarape et al. (2023) believe NOA should design a comprehensive digital media strategy that provides content in youth and minority languages, using WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, and radio as platforms. In addition, they say, content needs to come out in different dialects - if not straight pictorially but at least represented by images - to bridge gaps in literacy and make policy communicated from above readier instead.

Finally, the agency must join forces with trusted go-betweens. As Mbaegbu (2024) and Adeolu- Akande (2022) put it, the public is more apt to believe in what it hears from religious and community leaders. NOA can extend its impact through community members who collaborate

with it, passing along civic directives and explaining policy changes in culturally acceptable ways for different communities.

Conclusion
The study investigates the role of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in promoting citizen awareness, fostering trust between the public and government, and enhancing accountability within Nigeria's democratic process. Drawing on the Agency's documented history, research outputs, and collaborations with recognised institutions, the paper critically evaluates its statutory functions. It identifies notable irregularities that appear to weaken the Agency's legal mandate, pointing to structural and operational deficiencies that warrant sustained scholarly and policy attention.

Despite these limitations, the NOA has made incremental progress in advancing civic consciousness. The Agency has established administrative structures across the country, thereby extending its institutional presence to multiple regions. However, its operations remain largely centralised and urban-focused. As a result, many public enlightenment initiatives fail to reach rural communities and linguistically diverse populations effectively. This gap restricts access to civic education and  political awareness,  creating a  persistent  disconnect between  policy communication and grassroots realities.

Furthermore, NOA programmes often lack coherence and strategic coordination. Initiatives are frequently implemented in a fragmented manner, with limited adaptation to the specific needs of local audiences. The absence of structured feedback mechanisms and accessible points of engagement constrains meaningful interaction between the Agency and citizens. Consequently, communication tends to be unidirectional, with citizens positioned as passive recipients rather than active participants in governance processes. This undermines inclusive policy implementation and weakens democratic engagement.

Structural deficiencies and declining public trust in state institutions further challenge the Agency's credibility. Empirical studies indicate that confidence in public agencies, including the NOA, has diminished significantly in recent years. Its perceived limited visibility during critical national events—such as the EndSARS protests and the COVID-19 pandemic—has contributed to scepticism regarding its effectiveness and neutrality. In an increasingly pluralistic and religiously influenced society, citizens often rely more on non-state actors, including religious and traditional leaders, for guidance. This widening trust deficit further constrains the NOA's capacity to function as a credible intermediary.

In terms of policy legitimacy, the Agency's performance remains inadequate. Public resistance to government policies is less a function of policy content than of insufficient communication and limited citizen participation. The NOA has yet to fully assume its role as a bridging institution capable of translating policy into accessible and relatable terms for the public. The absence of robust mechanisms for two-way communication reinforces perceptions of policies as top-down impositions rather than collectively negotiated outcomes.

Organisational and managerial weaknesses, including politicised leadership, inadequate funding, institutional overlap with other government bodies, reliance on outdated communication strategies, and insufficient integration of digital technologies, compound these

challenges. Nonetheless, the Agency retains significant potential for reform. Its nationwide presence, statutory mandate, and existing collaborations across sectors provide a foundation for developing more effective engagement strategies.

For the NOA to fulfil its critical role in democratic governance, it must operate as a more autonomous and adequately resourced institution. Communication strategies should be modernised to reflect contemporary media environments, incorporating digital platforms and participatory approaches that resonate with diverse audiences. Strengthening partnerships with civil society organisations and community-based actors—particularly religious and traditional institutions—could enhance outreach and improve public trust. Ultimately, repositioning the NOA as an inclusive, responsive, and technologically adaptive institution is essential for deepening democratic governance and strengthening state–society relations in Nigeria.

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