By Salimon Maruf Gbadebo, PhD
Marketing is a wide course that covers almost all areas of life and phenomena. Its concept of branding is equally applicable to all facets of life- products, services, individuals, places, destinations, and countries. Anything can be branded! Branding is important because it improves the image and perception of people about a given subject. Branding makes people love and associate themselves with an organization, buy its products, and lift it to a higher pedestal. An organization with good branding possesses people’s brand equity. Brand equity makes people to be emotionally attached to that organization while the organization carries a huge value, and possesses immeasurable goodwill.
Rebranding Nigeria at this time is urgently needed and very important to repair its battered image and make it reoccupy its place in Africa and the world at large. Nigeria used to be known as a giant of Africa; the so-called largest black nation in the world, a peaceful country, the hope of the African continent, and a country with a huge potential for growth and development. A few decades ago, Nigeria was known to be a center of tourism attracting millions of tourists across the globe; it was a place that the so-called ‘whites’ and other people of the world wanted to visit, to explore its magnificent artifacts and to take a rest.
However, considering different and recent incidents such as corruption, insecurity, ethnic crises, kidnapping, youth gangsterism, decayed infrastructures and facilities, and a host of others, the image of the country has been battered. These sad events are largely the makings of the leaders of the country while every other citizenry equally participates in the acts in one way or the other. These incidents are repelling the tourists and making the investors take their businesses elsewhere.
While preparing for the 60th independence anniversary of the country, the present government unveiled a new logo which it claims to be “a product of choice from the Nigerian people.” The president, Mohammed Buhari, equally said the logo is an appreciation of the fact that Nigerians as a people are the most valuable assets of the country as we succeed anywhere and in all facets of life: “academia, business, innovation, music, movie, entertainment, and culture.”
A logo is part of branding as it represents the way an organization or a country wanted to be seen, known, called, and be represented. The logo says everything about an enterprise and like Mr. President said, and indicated on the logo, it is a clarion call for togetherness to all Nigerians. In essence, the new logo unravels new branding for Nigeria. With the logo, a new era is here and as we marked our 60th independence anniversary, we must turn a new leave.
Together, we must work to lift Nigeria and Nigerians out of poverty, corruption, ethnicity, insecurity, and a host of other vices. Starting with the citizenries, we must begin to act the right way in all we do. We must reassess our activities at home, work or even at the playing ground. We must remember that we are a great ambassador of the country and represent the brand called Nigeria. The parents must start to re-inculcate ethical values into their children. Religious leaders must begin to preach ethical values and the love of the country to their people. They must also live what they preach. The schools and all other learning institutions must re-adjust their curricula and incorporate ethical values and norms into their teachings. Those carrying arms must shun acts of violence. Kidnappers must cease-fire. All these are acts of rebranding the country and not just about the logo alone.
Moving forward and very sacrosanct, the leaders who are entrusted with the resources of the country must act in good faith. Corruption largely thrives in the country today, because the leaders are at the forefront. The effects of corruption are dangerous and manifest in different ways such as, underdevelopment, insecurity and others. The leaders starting from the president, governors, senators, local government chairmen, ambassadors, head of government ministries and parastatals, police, army and all others must therefore remember that the country belongs to all of us and the resources placed or entrusted in their disposals must be managed with sincerity and transparently. The leaders should stop taking the advantage of the people. They must remember that corruption in any form ruins the hope of the people and puts the entire masses in bondage. The government, either at the Local, State or Federal levels must revisit its fight against corruption. The fight must not just be a lip service rather an action that will bring all those caught in the acts of corruption to book and be punished severely. This is what rebranding is also about.
Coming to infrastructure, the government must wake up from its slumber. Good infrastructures: accident proof-roads, good hospitals, stable electricity, etc. are essential and part of branding. Most of the infrastructures in Nigeria today are decayed. The government must accelerate its efforts to repair and build good roads for the people. All government must put their hands on deck to ensure that all public hospitals are provided with all required facilities to treat patients. The hospitals must be equally updated with the recent information technology tools that will assist the doctors to be effective while treating their customers.
Education is a great branding tool for any country. The Nigerian government must do more in this regard. The government must pump more than enough money into the schooling system in the country as it is practiced in some other nations. Nigeria has always allocated less than 15%-20% required and recommended budget to education over the years. That is catastrophic as the development of any country is majorly dependent on its education system. Lack of enough budget implies that research cannot be done effectively while required schooling facilities cannot be provided. A country that refuses to fund its education will soon realize that it is funding criminality, underdevelopment, and, mediocrity. To rebrand the country effectively the government must urgently do something about this.
Employment, especially for youth is another face of branding that must be addressed urgently. Youths are the tools of development and a vital part of branding for the country. Nigeria has one of the most vibrant, energy driven, committed, and intelligent youth in the world. Just like Mr. President admitted, the youths are excelling in all the sectors, especially in the diaspora. However, coming back home, quite a large number of youths are unemployed. Generally, the official unemployment figure says about 22 million Nigerians are unemployed with youths accounting for about 59% (about 14 million) of that figure. While that figure may seem so low of about 200 million people in Nigeria, the effect of being unemployed is catastrophic. For the country to be properly branded more good jobs must be provided or created for the youths and others by creating a good atmosphere for the industry to thrive. The government should equally revisit the remunerations being paid to those who are employed.
Security is an essential part of branding for any country. One of the factors being considered by any tourists or investors is security. Lack of it is equally a major concern for all the citizens in Nigeria today. An unsecured land creates instability, repels investments, and developments. The government must renew its energy in this regard and continue to work with the stakeholders to ensure that all forms of insecurity are abated. Efforts being instituted by each State of the federation to secure their regions and communities should be welcomed by the Federal government while some checks and balances are also put in place to avoid any form of abuse. As a member of a community, we all have our roles to play by being our brothers’ keepers.
Rebranding is a must to move forward. The government has a major role to play by revising and revisiting most of its activities. The citizenry are also saddled with the great responsibilities of representing the brand called Nigeria by displaying a good attitude where ever we go and just like the former slogan of our branding, we are good people residing in a great Nation. Let’s rebrand Nigeria for a greater height.
Salimon PhD, is an international Senior Lecturer at the Department Marketing, School of Business Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia.