By Jet Stanley Madu
In a bid to reduce rising unemployment rate in Nigeria, Guinness Nigeria has selected 100 youths with innovations and entrepreneurial spirit to develop the Origin brand of alcohol.
Speaking during an interactive session with youths and media representatives, the Senior Brand Manager of Nigeria’s brewing giant, Guinness Nigeria , Auraro Monya, said that the company, in an effort to reduce rising unemployment rate in the country, beamed its searchlight through all crannies of the geopolitical areas in search of talents to develop Origin.
“The brand does not just aim at developing but, to empower. In that bid, it scouted and brought to the Centre of Excellence, 99 youths from across the country. The objective was to transform them to be positively and gainfully engaged, and to empower and prepare them for the task of nation-building, the likes of Tonye Kelvin from Bayelsa; Yestin who joined the team from Warri, Onuoha Uche, from Imo State; Akate from Abuja, including Jessy Koje and Jobboson Christian who travelled from Kaduna and Enugu States respectively. The enterprising youths were to team up with Nigeria’s music maestro, Reminisce to form what were tagged 100 original influencers” she said.
On the economic value of the product, she said that ‘Origin’ is the sole alcoholic brand that is native to Nigeria and by extension, Africa. She revealed that the product is being exported from Nigeria and has markets in Ghana and other countries.
“Everything we are today as Origin has added to Nigeria’s economy. That fact that we have a product that is wholly Nigerian is a fantastic thing. Origin is proudly ours. We should be proud of it. The benefits are truly ours” she noted, adding that all the ingredients in the product are sourced from Nigerian soil, Africa. Aurora described the ingenuity of the product thus: “it is everything we are. We believe in our roots and tradition. We believe in origin. That is why we’re so proud of this product because it is our own. The name is our own. Everything about it is proudly Nigerian.
The brand executive revealed that the product is a mix of alcohol, fruits and herbs derived from street corners and villages of Africa with no scientifically or artificially engineered flavoring or colouring. It is balance of bitter and sweets, with the bitterness and sweets derived from herbs and fruits respectively. And it has a blend of spices which other variants do not have” the brand manager, said.
She gave the assurance that the firm will continue to innovate and give the best quality products to Nigeria.
“That’s the only way you will make it. The mode for selecting the 100 original influencers began a few months ago when the firm rolled out its #100originalinfluencers campaign. The campaign was on social media, within the industry as well as below the line. Interested candidates were implored to make a video of 140 characters displaying their originality. Volume of likes and shares derived from such video were part of the criteria” she said.