Good People, Great Nation

I’ve been following keenly the new efforts being channeled at laundering the image of this our so great a Nation, Nigeria. In fact, earlier this week, there was a conference of some sort in Abuja where very important personalities in Nigeria where invited for an official Rebranding session of this great country.

A brand like I simply know it is what you or your product relates to or how it’s perceived in the mind of your customers or consumers.

A logo was unveiled which had the “i” in Nigeria looking very much like the Nike sign. I wouldn’t say much of what I think about the logo but I want to applaud conservatively the Minister of Information’s efforts at rebranding the Nation. Dora Akunyili seems to be shooting from all guns this desire to give a different image about Nigeria from what it’s been known to be.

Interestingly, while searching through the guest list, I found wanting loads of Nigerians who’s life’s assignment has become making a good image out of Nigeria. That is not to say there weren’t some others present, I just didn’t feel the guest list cut across like it should have.  

Some Nigerians who have excelled in different endeavours both nationally and internationally where exempted from the guest list. Most of those who graced the occasion where those who would have been present if the meeting was to rebrand Nigeria negatively.

Anyway, that’s by the side. The slogan “Good People, Great Nation” accompanied the logo I described briefly earlier. I kinda liked it but wondered what may have precluded the “Good People” part. I agree that good people make a great nation, but what makes a good people? Where are the set of values that those people need to imbibe as a culture before they can be regarded as good. What are they good at?

One of my colleagues said it reminded him of a former advert of Toyota – “Good Thinking, Good Product”. I had a big laugh and said “You only need to look at a Toyota and you’ll agree totally with that statement”. Even if you didn’t see a Toyota and heard that it was produced in Japan and you went to Japan or had been to Japan, you’d agree without a fuss with the statement.

Having said that, I believe we need to rebuild more than we need to rebrand. We need to rebuild salient values – Problem-Solving attitudes, Aspirational, Timely, Role Model, Impactful, Outstanding, Trustworthy, Integrity, Compassionate. Values like this will go a long way in rebuilding this Nation. There’s no way we’ll rebuild the Nation and it won’t have another brand attached to it. Lagos is already getting rebranded as a state because it’s getting rebuilt.

What about our infrastructure? If we achieved 12-hour consistent power supply everyday in the whole nation, wouldn’t that change our perception in the minds of the world? How come our election process is so flawed? If we totally overhauled that alone, wouldn’t our brand be rebranded automatically.

While I believe that we need to see ourselves positively before we can be seen as such by others, I also believe that we need to draw out a blueprint of how we will achieve this positive image in reality.

I am a New Nigerian and believe in the future of a New Nigeria. If you do as well please sign up with us believers at www.newnigeriaclub.net/ododooro and www.thefuturemovement.org

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