Rebranding Nigeria: In response to District 9

This blog just went political, and I am swinging left wing with this one. Some years ago Nike rebranded their image because of the accusations of its’ lack of social responsibility when it comes to sweatshops, what does Nike produce shoes that sell for $100 making their profit margin over God knows what 200% (vague estimate)

When it comes to a nation or country what do we have to offer? What is our brand? Collectively in Nigeria and to the world it SEEMS it is the “419” scam, corruption and more. It was recently announced by the president of Nigeria to have a re-branding ministry headed by the former food and drug administration chair a professor in pharmacy.

Am I the only one that sees flaws in such a ministry and who it is headed by? Is she trying to rebrand Panadol so it is shiny and expensive, even if Panadol is just for headache? Did Panadol all of a sudden cure arthritis? If I wanted Panadol to cure Arthritis, I would change the formula, probably change the name and to rebrand Nigeria maybe that’s what we need to do.

Nigeria is Nigeria, with lots of development issues to over come, currently ASUU (university union of professors) is on strike, they are offering amnesty to Niger-Delta terrorists yes the country is relatively safe but I still fear for my life every evening after 7pm.

I can’t cash a check with my newly acquired license, I can’t watch District 9 at the movie theatre because it is banned for slander of a nation (which by the way is extremely fictional), I cannot listen to “Kerewa” on the radio because it is about a mother committing adultery, every time I pass a police checkpoint I have to convince the officer to let me go because I don’t want to add to his official monthly earnings.

It is almost impossible for a moral conscience to exist in the presence of extreme poverty. Ask nations at war, they turn to cannibalism when hunger strikes, take a look at Katrina wouldn’t you have broken into the store. In the US, of course there are corrupt people we can even argue that everyone is corrupt but once caught they should face extreme consequences of shame and punishment because their consciences have failed them.

So fellow Nigerians (Abacha accent), let us awaken our spirits, elevate our consciousness and let us be mindful of our consciences. Let us be open to criticism, shun hypocrisy because adultery is an age-old sin and so is GREED. Let us be aware of how our actions affect others but still, never be scared to be yourself. Let our creativity be original and transformative and finally let our work speak for itself.

I AM NIGERIA. BIMPE IS NIGERIA. EMEKA IS NIGERIA. UDUAK IS NIGERIA. KEVIN IS NIGERIA. MOHAMMED IS NIGERIA


....Sholla