NOA Honours Buhari’s Legacy, Enforces National Mourning Protocol
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has joined the nation in mourning the death of former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, vowing to ensure full national compliance with the directive to fly the Nigerian flag at half-mast for seven days.
Following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s order for a national period of mourning, the Director General of the NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, announced that the agency will monitor public institutions across the country to ensure strict adherence to the flag observance. He also appealed to private organizations and citizens to partake in the symbolic gesture of respect.
“This is more than protocol, it is a collective expression of our nation’s respect for a man who served with deep conviction,” Issa-Onilu said in a statement issued through NOA Deputy Director of Communications, Mr. Paul Odenyi.
The statement called on Nigerians to reflect on Buhari’s legacy by upholding values he was associated with, discipline, integrity, and patriotic service. Buhari, who served as both a military Head of State (1983–1985) and later as a democratically elected president (2015–2023), was a prominent figure in Nigeria’s political history, known for his focus on anti-corruption and national unity.
“Let this mourning period also inspire a recommitment to the ideals that can move Nigeria forward,” the statement read.
The move underscores how national institutions, like the NOA, play a vital role in uniting citizens during moments of national grief. It also highlights how symbolic gestures such as flying the flag at half-mast serve not just as rituals, but as reminders of the values that leaders are remembered for, and the collective hope for national cohesion moving forward.
The NOA emphasized that flying the national flag at half-mast is not merely a formality but a meaningful gesture that symbolizes gratitude, remembrance, and unity at a time of collective national reflection.
