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Dora’s In…Credible Branding

April 9, 2009

I am writing this article on the strength of my inalienable right as a Nigerian citizen, my being an eyewitness to the gross miss-rule inflicted on my country, my two decades of journalism experience at both local and international levels, my understanding of the Dora personae or brand and of course because I am involved. Through the various conversations, strategy sessions and meetings I have had with Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, none struck me as hard as the most recent encounter penultimate Thursday night in Lagos. 
That night, we backed up to talk about her vision and passion for Nigeria, her current re-branding initiative and  her frustrations about a country so blessed, yet in the throes of death. We diced and dissected Nigeria’s challenges; we debated the best alternatives available and exit strategies towards achieving a better Nigeria. We agreed and disagreed. I saw her descend from the height of optimism that Nigeria will overcome someday, to the depths of despair because those with the power to make it possible are clueless and ruthless. All through, the power of her conviction, her depth and grasp of the issues were never in doubt.  Neither was her love for God and country. That encounter and the stories that were told moved me beyond imaginable limits. I mean, I can honestly say that in my four decades of consciousness I have never been as afraid and as optimistic about the future of my country as I am today.



This encounter threw me back in time with recollections of similar lucid conversations with other equally passionate Nigerians, the likes of Prof. Adebayo Williams, Dr. Olatunji Dare, General Yakubu Gowon, Dr. Sam Amadi, Abdulrazaq Bello Barkindo, Bayo Onanuga, Sanya Ojikutu, who love to call Americans  “Ajironu” (early thinkers), Waziri Adio, Ebenezer Obadare, Odia Ofeimum, Ike Okonta, Shehu Sani, Bashir Kurfi, Simon Kolawole, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and a few others who like Akunyili love this country with so much passion and have brilliant ideas about how to fix her. Unfortunately, members of this tribe are hardly given powerful positions through which they can engender change. It is such an irony that in a land where we have thousands of such lucid minds, the not so lucid or untamed buys their way to power and lord it over us.  
But, back to my encounter that night with Akunyili. I know my recount above will sound strange and maybe even delusional to some of you. Yes, I know our economy has been hurting for a long time now. I know that many of our leaders have been stealing tons of our money. I know that many people are unemployed and that many school teachers are yet to collect their salaries. I know that the failure to solve our power problem remains a national embarrassment. I know that grinding poverty now gnaws at millions of Nigerians from Kotangora to the villages of Okitipupa and Abakaliki. Hey, wait a minute; I also know that many members of our legislature, under our new found democracy earn more money than university professors.  What a country! Yes, I also know that while our leaders share a huge dose of the blame, we, the citizens have aided and abated.
 But whose fault is all this? It is our fault.

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We, the people. The elite who manage to stay afloat only as a result of heavy infusion of God’s kindness are the ones that are pulling all of us down. And they are the ones that Dora put her life down to fight at NAFDAC just as she is doing now trying to re-brand our attitudes towards them. Yet they are cajoling us to reject Dora.
We have a scenario today in which Nigeria is facing an existential threat from corruption and the insurgence of rapacious government officials who never fail to take what does not belong to them.  The country approaches a state of anomie after squandering several opportunities at greatness. Anger and fear stalk the land just as millions moan under grinding poverty. In the midst of all these, the few rich and powerful dance away in criminal luxury. The Nigerian state for all intents and purposes has failed its founding fathers and there is enough blame to go around. But that is not to say we should tarry playing the blame game and refuse to do something; about our internal attitudes and our character, about the culture of impunity that stalks the land for which both the leaders and followers are culprits and above all about our collective image and perception as a people. This is what Dora and her re-branding is about. There is yet hope for my country.
So, what is making me so optimistic? Simple. It is the fact that someone whose life has been threatened by the forces of evil before is putting her life yet again in harm’s way, to make Nigeria shine. Of course, the problems of Nigeria have been created by the elite's capture of the economy and the country’s political power structure, which results in the creation of an exceptionally unjust society where resources are appropriated by a few; where the masses are denied their basic rights, like basic education and healthcare. Subsistence opportunities are denied them too, and in many cases they are even robbed of their dignity by the treatment they get while pursuing their daily bread.

Added to all this injury is the insult that we are a nation of bad people.
Besides all these, the elite, in order to protect their interests, have not just been acquiescent but keen to harm Nigeria to please their overlords. As a result, the country often ends up with policies that are deeply unpopular. So re-branding is a sustainable turnaround of the nation that will entail the people of Nigeria taking their destiny in their own hands. It is a renaissance by another name.
The first step in any such renaissance has to come from creation of awareness and an understanding of how the country is governed. This process is why I support Prof. Akunyili in her new effort to re-brand Nigeria. A lot can be improved in Nigeria. I know that service delivery in this country needs re-branding. But, the most invaluable service is to start by re-branding us, citizens. And this is what seems to be misunderstood.  Re-branding in business phalanx is to improve the packaging of a product which is not doing well but looks promising. At the moment, Nigeria in all estimation, is not measuring up. In particular, there is lack of awareness in the way and manner we treat our country and one another, and the understanding of the well from which all the rights of citizens derive. It is what Dora’s re-branding is addressing. It is only half about our image abroad and more about how we look at ourselves here at home. Charity they say begins at home. It is a return to the starting blocks to go over our liberties before one and all. Re-branding is meant to deepen our democracy. For starters, re-branding wants us to know that the constitution is a living document and not a piece of paper, which could be thrown into the dustbin. Re-branding wants to educate us that democracy is defended not with tanks and guns but with ideas from people who are willing to stand up and defend their country. Once awareness has been created the next step is to get people to engage actively in the affairs of state and issues of governance. 


There is an absurd argument being floated by those threatened by Dora that re-branding is dangerous for the country and a waste of resources. But that is wrong. Having spent a lifetime in an elite-controlled society these people are aware that re-branding is here to give to the people what has for long been taken from them. And they are doing everything within their powers to discredit it. For a long time they have reaped from people’s passivity and they want to retain the status quo. They are used to having citizens vote once every four years, then put a masking tape on their mouths and wait till it's time to vote again! I remember a tribute by Dora herself when she credited the media with winning our independence and yanking our democracy from under the jackboots of the military. We have to also guard this movement against our rapacious elite and their agents.

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We need to think for ourselves. We do not have to wait until the situation degenerates into pitch battles before we know that we are in deep trouble. What re-branding means is that we need mature democratic institutions and popularly elected governments. Citizens are supposed to be re-branded to be active participants in issues of national importance, not remain passive viewers.


Re-branding is designed to get everyone actively engaged in cause based advocacy through entirely peaceful and constitutional means; to jettison blind support for a person or a leader or even a political party and fight for a just cause. A cause not linked to any particular ethnicity or class or special privileges, but for the supremacy of the constitution, our fundamental rights and the rule of law. This call to citizen activism and instilling in them the belief that they hold the power to bring about change will probably be the most enduring legacy of this government. The people of Nigeria would have tasted victory and will not forget it in a hurry.


I have been saying this for a year now, but it's still worth repeating: Nigeria has changed, and changed forever. The status quo by which this country has been run will not survive the onslaught re-branding is bringing home. Right now, there are two challenges being thrown at the status quo. One is from the overwhelming mass of citizens who want a Nigeria that is just, prosperous, peaceful and egalitarian, and run according to the constitution of the country where supremacy is of law, not of persons. The other challenge comes from a small minority with a raging vision which is willing to use force. However, do not be misled by the rhetoric of their message. It is just as much a rebellion against injustice.
They are simply using the paradigm that they can relate to. The best defence against this threat is the creation of a just society. That is what is required to undercut the very foundation on which this inhuman system is built. Once Nigerians feel that the system is designed to protect, and not to exploit them, they will repel any attempt to smear them or their country either by fraudulent politicians or external aggressors.


The traditional power brokers of Nigeria, and their foolish backers, have a choice to make, once the re-branding crusade that Dora has started sits well. They can either voluntarily cede power to the people, or they will be forced to submit to the violent forces cloaked in a voter. The existing power structure, controlled by a people in golden parachutes with their stolen wealth and fortified mansions, is too hollow from the inside to be able to withstand the onslaught of re-branding. It is this beginning of the journey of citizen engagement and activism that gives me hope. It makes me optimistic about the future of our country. The people of Nigeria are a talented, hardworking lot who have the ability to overcome what may seem like insurmountable odds. We are a good people. And we have a great country. Now that someone seems to remind us to seize our destiny with our own hands, it is only a question of time before we prevail and lead Nigeria to a future that all of us will cherish. It is why I think Dora’s is incredible re-branding. 
–Dare is the Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and Communications.

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