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Good People… Great Nation… By Joshua ocheja
A brand is an idea that exists in the mind. Your mind needs to categorize information that presents its self in order to make sense out of chaos. The human brain cannot function with disorder and confusion. So what your mind does when presented in such situation is to categorize and try to associate it with an idea. A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or any other artifact or entity. Brands have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy, now being described as "cultural accessories and personal philosophies" A brand is driven by vision; it sets its mind on a specific goal and works towards achieving it. To build a strong brand you need to be driven by vision and passion.
What readily comes to mind at the mention of Nigeria?
The thoughts that come to mind are Bad leadership, fraudulent acts (419), corruption, greed, a failed state battling with the reverberation of our past misdemeanor.
These attributes combined together calls for sober reflection in Nigeria. All hope is not lost; you will agree with me that a lot of work needs to be done paramount a perception change about how Nigerians view Nigeria through the re brand Nigeria project.
This when embraced will open doors to a mental and psychological reorientation of our way of life, actions and inactions. It will go a long way to change the way we are viewed outside the country too. The change we so yearn for, must originate from home and that’s why the rebrand project should be given a chance to flourish.
A factor I could deduce to have left us disintegrated is our culture orientation. A situation where ethnic groups organize themselves into a sect of sort and view public policies from the prism of their sectional interest is an albatross that will continue to constitute a clog in the wheel of progress for our dear nation.
Ethnic divide, debauchery, poverty, marginalization, greed, corruption, mendaciousness, to mention but a few are at heart of the putrefaction we have found ourselves as a nation.
Funny as it may sound, the primary school pupil has been infected with this noxious orientation and the long time effect is our today and tomorrow that has been compromised at the detriment of the unborn generation.
We all owe this great nation its continued existence as a strong and viable entity because there is no place like home and as such it behooves on us to begin the salvaging of what is left by lending credence to the re brand Nigeria project embarked upon by the present dispensation.
The re brand Nigeria project is believed to have failed already in some quarters citing factors like misplacement of priorities, another avenue for embezzlement of public funds and so on and forth. This is most embarrassing and sad. Suffice to mention that the re brand project aims amongst others to change the way Nigerians feel about Nigeria and to lift the image of the country abroad.
Nigerians must believe in Nigeria for Nigeria to make progress, the Americans will not do that for us. We shout change! We want change! Filled the air in the aftermath of the Obama victory, clearly forgetting that his victory was not an instant phenomenon, it was predicated on years of hard work, trails, challenges and because Americans believed in America that brought about the much deserved change.
Just like the American dream we must have faith in our country and believe in the Nigerian dream that envisage a better standard of living for all, a functionality of social amenities manifest in shelter, electricity, pipe borne water, excellent road network across the federation and a host of others.
The potential for hope, peace and prosperity lies in the inside of every citizen of Nigeria. Our actions and inactions, beliefs and disbeliefs, strengths and weakness are veritable tools for our advancement from the clutch of despondency.
Yes we can and we shall get there if only we begin to believe in the Nigerian polity. This is no time for trading blames on who did what when and how, rather this is a time for sober reflection by that individual in you and me, that has engaged in one act or the other that was inimical to the interest of the nation.
The import of getting our acts together in our quest to move forward does not rest on the table of the president alone. It starts from our homes down to schools and offices. We need to disabuse our minds from the erroneous belief that nothing good can come out from this nation. This is wrong in the sense that our thought towards our leaders tend to affect their actions and inactions.
We owe them a duty to pray for them as every decision they take will make or mar us. Suffice to mention that every Nigerian has the inherent potential to lead one day.
Our collective conscience should be awaken to realize that for every word we say wrong, for everything we do wrong will continue to haunt us for as long as we live.
Doing the right thing at the right time should occupy our thought pattern. We refuse to be subjected to defeatist thoughts. We have risen above the worse era of our existence even the industrialized nations of Europe and America were once like us
We need to exhibit an undying love for one another and for the country. We should not be quick to write-off every government policy, as there is a tendency for humans to become that which we habitually imagine ourselves to be.
The beauty of embracing the above mentioned is that positive event will begin to fall into place, i.e. Good leadership, equal and fair representation regardless of ethnic and religious affiliations.
Nigeria belongs to all and not a select few. The harm that comes our way occasionally comes from our utterances every day. We need to begin to talk positive about our country for the sake of tomorrow.
Those saddled with the responsibility of leading us has to lead by example.
Embracing and supporting government policies gives it an 80% chance of success, which will in turn affect the ordinary citizen on the streets.
The re brand Nigeria project is a project by Nigerians for Nigeria, we must see to it that the intended outcome is archived for the betterment of our country.
Nigeria! Good people….. Great nation!
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