N3.4 billion ($10 million) has been approved and released by the President Muhammad Buhari administration for the controversial Change Begins With Me scheme.
This information was divulged by Daily Independent. According to the publication N1.7 billion ($5 million) was made available to a Lagos based advertising agency for the deal, by the Ministry of Information. Civil Society Organizations have been earmarked N700 million for the deal. Brand ambassadors comprising of Nollywood stars, musicians and other miscellaneous celebrities were said to also be due to receive N100 million from the largesse.
There was no further breakdown on the way the balance N900 million of the N3.4 billion is to be spent from the Ministry of Information, according to the source.
Nigerians and the international community are reacting with contempt to the grey elephant project of the Federal Government, at a time where economic hardship is ravaging the land.
The project is receiving a lot of backlash after it was discovered that President Muhammad Buhari’s speech was plagiarized from a speech delivered by US President Barack Obama in 2008.