| RE-BRANDING: Can FG
re-brand Nigeria without IT?
By BISI OLALEYE
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
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Prof Akunyili
• Photos: Sun News Publishing
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Nigerians in the last few weeks have been sensitized on the
need and reasons for the coun to re-brand owing to the negative
image stigma on the giant of Africa. There have been many
advertorials, press releases and promotion stunts to launch
the important project initiated by the new Minister of Information
and Communications, Prof.Dora Akunyili, which was expected
to correct some of the misrepresentations the country had
been subjected to at the international scene.
In addition, an indication that the redeemption of the country’s
image should be a joint endeavour is not a bad one.
According to her, she initiated the idea based on the face
of avalanche of criticisms against the country because she
was convinced that giving Nigeria a brand new image was attainable.
However, it appeared that Akunyili was only concerned about
attitude and utterances without actually proffering the real
solution to the age-long mess that put Nigeria in a negative
side of record at the international scene.
The oracle of the IT industry and a stakeholder, Prof.Chris
Uwaje, stressed that Akunyili may have got it all wrong because
without the necessary input from IT, re-branding Nigeria is
zero.
“World statistics shows that Nigeria is the eight largest
countries in the world, so even by analysis she should have
aspired to to maintain her eighth position in any scheme of
things and definitely not the 20th in the world economy. There
are many things that we are not doing and now people are talking
about re-branding Nigeria. Branding is about information and
impression.
Why you want to brand is because there is a negative impression
about the country and that information is residing on the
internet. “There are 117 websites against advanced fee
fraud (popularly referred to as 419) scams in Nigeria promoted
by senators in the United States (US). If you want to re-brand
Nigeria, you must create, at least, 40 million computers and
knowledge workers who can counter the negative image on the
internet. Branding is not about making noise or spending money
unnecessary. It is all about what is in people’s mind.
A quantum of dirts require quantum of water to wash it away,
it is a very simple thing.
So, how do you generate that water without technology because
the dirt is there? Many issues need to be addressed with IT.
How would you encourage software that is the brain box of
government where people are thriving in corruption? Software
is really the tool that governs the whole spheres of life.
How do I mean? For instance, people say they buy recharge
cards but in reality nobody is buying recharge cards because
they still dispose of the used cards, what they are actually
buying is the software that is in the server which is controlled
by operating systems and applications and that is what is
known to drive nations all over the world”.
Continuing Uwaje said, “India for instance has 33 IT
parks that are utilised and for Nigeria to develop software,
at least, the knowledge frontier has to be developed and not
left fallow. Infrastructure is not only about the backbone
or electricity, the human infrastructure has to be included
in IT Park set up in accessible places and interfacing with
execution. How ready is e-learning for education and other
sectors? Lagos should have, at least, five IT parks”.
He stressed that what Akunyili should be after is how to ensure
that, at least, 40 million systems are made available in the
country since Nigeria would need that quantity in the next
three years, if she were serious about re-branding the country.
He said what should be beared in mind is that the United Nations
Organisations (UNO) has said that any educated individual
in the world, who does not have IT knowledge is an illiterate
regardless of any qualification.
The CEO New Horizons training centre, Lagos, Mr. Tim Akano,
buttressed the point that the only thing Nigeria need to earn
respect and be at par with most advanced countries is to embrace
IT and through thisbecome an outsourcing country just like
other countries.
He added that when every aspect of the economy embraced IT,
get used to IT, even youths would be pre-occupied with becoming
part of the knowledge economy and through that crime rate
would reduce to the barest minimum or even completely eradicated.
Another stakeholder, Ayorinde Onabanjo, also reiterated that
the Federal Government may have good intentions on re-branding
Nigeria but it may not really work out without including IT
in the rebranding pack.
“How do you think the 44th president of the United States
of America, Barrack Obama won the seat in the White House
if its not through IT? He recognised the relevance and power
of IT and that was why he was able to pool such a support
because he was always posting several speeches and messages
on the internet. How many speeches of our current president
can we read online? And even if Aso rock has a website,how
often is it updated?
It is quite embarrassing that for a Hon Minister of Information
and Communication to keep hammering on utterances and attitude,
without starting and empowering her constituency for the rebranding.
For instance, if local website hoisters or software developers
were not empowered to paste several mind-boggling positive
issues about us on the internet, then the whole world would
still believe that Nigeria is still in the past doldrum.
“Our re-branding Nigeria slogan still has a long way
to go because I do not see it surviving without IT. It is
just like taking the symptoms of tuberculosis for cholera,”
he stated. |
