The minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, has reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to building strategic global partnerships to counter negative narratives aimed at damaging the country’s reputation.

Mr Idris stated this at the UK Edition of the Renewed Hope Global Dialogue with the theme:“Strengthening Global Partnerships for Economic Renewal and National Rebranding under the Renewed Hope Administration”.

This is contained in a statement by the minister’s special assistant on media, Rabiu Ibrahim, on Saturday in Abuja.

According to him, partnerships and collaboration remain central to Nigeria’s efforts to rebrand and reposition itself on the world stage.

“Let me now highlight one of the reputational challenges we are currently confronting, which is a disinformation campaign, falsely and maliciously alleging state-sponsored and targeted religious attacks and discrimination in Nigeria.

“We have been very robust in our rebuttals, making it clear that these are despicable narratives being peddled by people who know nothing about Nigeria.

“We need international friends and partners who know our country very well and understand our nuances and complexities and who can add their voices to ours, to present an accurate, believable and credible picture of the country,” he said.

Mr Idris emphasised that the federal ministry of information and national orientation, was deeply involved in the task of national rebranding, working with strategic partners to project Nigeria positively.

“A national brand does not emerge by accident; it has to be designed, crafted and marketed in a deliberate and painstaking way,” he said.

The minister revealed that the ministry, in partnership with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), had launched the Nigeria Reputation Management Group (NRMG).

According to him, the partnership aims to maximise national pride among Nigerians and promote a positive global reputation across all spheres.

“The NRMG has recently unveiled the Nigeria Global Reputation Management Project, managed by renowned branding experts and professionals, and you will hear much more about it in the coming weeks and months,” he said.

Mr Idris further disclosed that the federal government had designated October 15 every year  as Nigeria Reputation Day, to commemorate and raise awareness about the importance of national reputation.

He also announced that Nigeria would host the 2026 African Public Relations Association (APRA) Conference and the 2026 World Public Relations Forum (WPRF) in Abuja, making Nigeria the first African country to host both global events in the same year.

Highlighting key diplomatic and economic milestones, the minister said that President Bola Tinubu’s foreign policy vision is encapsulated and anchored on the 4Ds.

“They are, Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora; and are already yielding tangible results.

“At the beginning of this year, Nigeria was admitted as a BRICS partner country, opening up a new chapter of cooperation with some of the world’s biggest and fastest-developing nations.

“Just this week, a Nigerian was elected Secretary-General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).

“Another Nigerian, my colleague, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) emerged as president of the 2026 GECF Ministerial Meeting,” he added.

The minister added that only yesterday (Friday), Nigeria was delisted from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List, affirming the success of Mr Tinubu’s bold reforms to strengthen the nation’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism framework.

He commended the efforts of government agencies and international partners whose collaboration under Mr Tinubu’s leadership made these achievements possible.

“This demonstrates very clearly to the world that Nigeria is serious about financial transparency and enforcement,” he stated.

On the domestic front, Mr Idris highlighted the administration’s reform momentum, noting that Nigeria currently has a unified exchange rate regime, a national student loans program that has benefited over half a million students and counting.

He added that there was a new national minimum wage, a national consumer credit programme, a presidential CNG initiative, four new Tax Acts, five new regional development commissions and a federal ministry of livestock development.

He reiterated that these initiatives were fast-tracking the country’s ambitions to be a leading global economy.

He expressed confidence that Nigeria was reclaiming lost ground, at home and abroad, under Mr Tinubu’s leadership.

“The country will continue to forge and strengthen strategic partnerships to sustain and accelerate the progress being achieved.

“We are a listening, engaging government and we invite you to seek out more information about the fantastic things happening in Nigeria and to explore ways of partnering with us to take the transformation to the next level,” he stated.

(NAN)