Nigeria @ 59: A brand taking too long to “load”
Nigeria has so many heroes, within and outside the country, doing great things across the globe. They are young, gifted, educated and industrious. The records are simply amazing. Adebayo Alonge, a Nigerian, is the grand winner of the Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge 2019. The designer of the car Chevrolet Vilt, Jelani Aliyu, is a Nigerian.
Read Also: Christ Embassy to launch pidgin version of Holy Bible soon
The Imafidon family, officially designated the smartest family in the United Kingdom, are Nigerians. Every act of these heroes is virtue in pure patriotism and service to humanity. These are the basis to build a national brand. There are very strong basis to build a cohesive whole.
The act of Barrister Allen Oyeama, Chairman, Airpeace airline, is in the public domain. He single handedly rescued Nigerians stranded in South Africa in the wake of xenophobic attacks, and brought them back to Nigeria safely.
In the plane, about to take off, as Onyeama began to address the returnees, trying to encourage and give them hope again, the unexpected happened. All Nigerians on board, as on cue, burst into a spontaneous rendition of the National Anthem, in a moment of ultra-identity with the nation. No act of patriotism is ever demonstrated better than this. Onyeama, overwhelmed, could not hold hack his emotion, as he wept openly before his compatriots in the plane. It was a classic.
We also know also that each time Nigeria is involved in international football competition, every Nigerian is at one with each other. Everybody forgets about ethnicity and other divisive tendencies.
Truth is Nigeria has all the potentials to become a great brand, if only we could resolve our internal contradictions.
While it is perhaps true that no nation has lived up to its aspirational brand, Nigeria at 59, deserves to begin to work to evolve into a brand, to convert potentials to the reality. If a new Nigeria is to be born, as professed by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Oshibajo, Nigeria should find a way to deal with its internal contradiction and evolve into a national brand.
