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Boosting Brand Nigeria
With the Golden Eaglets Win
By
Uche Nworah
If there were any such team or group responsible for
managing the internal and external images of Brand
Nigeria, perhaps they would be thanking the gods now for
the opportunities they have laid out for them on a
golden platter, or rather on a golden cup. This can only
be the stuff that brand management dreams are made of;
to have your brand being thrust onto the global stage by
the activities of a few young men still in their teenage
years who through sheer endeavour have used their
God-given talent to do themselves, their families and
country proud.
Brand Nigeria received the biggest boost it could ever
receive in its quest to put some shine on its already
globally battered image on Sunday, September 9th 2007
when the Under-17 football team – the Golden Eaglets
beat Spain’s Under -17 in the finals of the FIFA
Under-17 World Championship in Seoul, South Korea.
The victory was hard fought though and came after
120-minutes of full-time play. The goalless stalemate
then led to a penalty shoot – out but by then, the gods
had already decided that it was Nigeria’s turn to shine
once again. Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets scored all three of
their spot kicks while Spain’s Under -17 were wasteful
in front of the goal, one shot went wild while the
Eaglets’ goalkeeper Oladele Ajiboye saved two of the
Spanish side's spot kicks.
For the records, Nigeria had previously won the Under-17
championships in 1985 (China) and 1993 (Japan) but has
not managed to sustain the promise shown at the youth
level and carrying over the same prowess to the Under-21
and senior teams.
This particular victory is important in many respects;
it comes a few weeks ahead of Nigeria’s 47th
independence anniversary scheduled for October 1st 2007,
a much better birthday present therefore could not be
more appropriate. The victory will help unite Nigerians
and give them something positive to talk about in the
coming months. The past few months have not been
particularly cheerful ones, especially the disappointing
conduct of the April 2007 general elections. The
desperate situation has not been helped by the rising
hopelessness in the land, increasing cases of crime and
insecurity to lives and properties, poverty, killings
and kidnappings arising from mass unrest in the Niger
Delta region, etc.
The victory will also help to enhance the image of
Nigeria as a country, and reinforce its reputation as
not only a football loving nation, but also as a strong
African and emerging market brand. The worth in
advertising or PR dollars of the reports and mentioning
of this victory in several global media platforms is
actually unquantifiable, and beats the botched attempts
by the former president Olusegun Obasanjo to sell
Nigeria through paid-for spot advertisements on CNN.
One can only hope that the new government in Nigeria
will capitalise on the feel-good factor resulting from
this victory by engaging Nigerians in constructive
discussions with the aim of finding out important areas
of needs to be addressed through sound socio-economic
policies. The Yar’Adua government should build on the
euphoria of this victory and not let this opportunity
pass Nigerians by.
Just like the patriotic tidal wave that swept through
Germany as a result of the Jurgen Klinsman effect during
the FIFA world cup hosted by Germany in 2006, Nigerian
governments at the three tiers – federal, state and
local should key into this victory and use it to whip up
an avalanche of patriotic emotions and feelings amongst
Nigerians, they should tap into their now dulled and
lulled senses of nationalism and patriotism as we all
march towards a Nigerian national rebirth.
This victory by the Coaches Yemi Tella and Ben Iroha led Under-17 team should be used to rekindle the ‘Can
Do’ spirit amongst Nigerians once again. There is no
better way to bring back our national self-belief than
by showing how our indigenous coaches and home-grown
talents can beat the best and hold their own anywhere in
the world. The underlying theme should be that such
winning ways are influenced by an enterprising spirit,
that this is possible not only in football but that it
can also be replicated across all the sectors.
For Brand Nigeria, this is a priceless PR coup and this
is good as it gets. This is indeed Nigeria’s chance not
only in PR terms but also in economic terms. Not only
will the Under-17 team be poached by foreign football
clubs from where they would eventually start remitting
some of their earnings back to Nigeria to boost the
economy, but a recharged and self-believing nation will
also be more productive, creative and enterprising in
the long run. The victory will also further enhance the
marketability of the next Under-17 championships which
Nigeria will be hosting.
For the government and their officials, including the
several communication advisers including the Heart of
Africa project team, the time to do this is actually
now, before the euphoria of the win dies down and we all
get back to our ways again.
This article was
first published at
http://nigerianbrands.blogspot.com/
info@uchenworah.com
posted 10 September 2007
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Super Rich: A Guide to Having it All
By Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons knows firsthand that
wealth is rooted in much more than the
stock
market. True wealth has more to do with
what's in your heart than what's in your
wallet. Using this knowledge, Simmons
became one of America's shrewdest
entrepreneurs, achieving a level of
success that most investors only dream
about. No matter how much material gain
he accumulated, he never stopped lending
a hand to those less fortunate. In
Super Rich, Simmons uses his rare
blend of spiritual savvy and
street-smart wisdom to offer a new
definition of wealth-and share timeless
principles for developing an unshakable
sense of self that can weather any
financial storm. As Simmons says, "Happy
can make you money, but money can't make
you happy." |
* * * * *
|
The New Jim Crow
Mass Incarceration in the Age of
Colorblindness
By Michele Alexander
Contrary to the
rosy picture of race embodied in Barack
Obama's political success and Oprah
Winfrey's financial success, legal
scholar Alexander argues vigorously and
persuasively that [w]e have not ended
racial caste in America; we have merely
redesigned it. Jim Crow and legal racial
segregation has been replaced by mass
incarceration as a system of social
control (More African Americans are
under correctional control today... than
were enslaved in 1850). Alexander
reviews American racial history from the
colonies to the Clinton administration,
delineating its transformation into the
war on drugs. She offers an acute
analysis of the effect of this mass
incarceration upon former inmates who
will be discriminated against, legally,
for the rest of their lives, denied
employment, housing, education, and
public benefits. Most provocatively, she
reveals how both the move toward
colorblindness and affirmative action
may blur our vision of injustice: most
Americans know and don't know the truth
about mass incarceration—but her
carefully researched, deeply engaging,
and thoroughly readable book should
change that.—Publishers
Weekly |
 |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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If you like this page consider making a donation
* * * * *
Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
____ 2005
Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update 14 December
2011
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