THE OFFICIAL LAUNCHING OF THE RE-BRANDING PROJECT IN UNIMAID

"Re-branding project is anchored on attitudinal change, re-orientation, revival of our beautiful old cultural values and instillation of a renewed spirit of patriotism and hope in all Nigerians," said the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Nkem Akunyili during the official launching of the campaign in University of Maiduguri, recently.

Participants at the event could not contain their emotions as Akunyili told the story of how with breadth of vision she plunged into arresting "the negative perception about Nigeria by the international community." The country's image problem compounded by " the bad behavior of a few Nigerians contributed to the discouragement of investors from coming to invest in Nigeria in spite being abundantly blessed with natural resources.

After studying previous efforts at addressing the country's battered image, Akunyili came up with the Re-branding Nigeria Project with a slogan selected from over 3000 entries: "Nigeria- Good People, Great Nation." The uniqueness of the current image clean-up campaign is an obvious departure from the short-comings of the past interventions – Ethical Revolution, Green Revolution, MAMSER, War Against Indiscipline (WAI), and Heart of Africa. Although Akunyili agreed that WAI had the most obvious positive impact on the attitudes of Nigerians, but she however decried the manner in which it died a premature death with the exit of the government that initiated the move.

"This campaign is a holistic one, home grown and people-centred because only Nigerians can truly Re-brand Nigeria," noted Akunyili. It was expected that the campaign would restore international integrity and respect for the green passport. She agreed that Nigeria was not crime-free, but it would be an unpardonable injustice to generalize all Nigerians as criminals or fraudsters.

Akunyili outlined a few of Nigeria's success story to include Nigerians who have excelled in diverse fields such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and many others. She said, "Nigerians are very intelligent, hardworking, industrious, resourceful and hospitable to a fault."

Other success stories of Nigeria include the country's active participation in the peace mission of ECOMOG in war-torn regions of Africa, the impeccable role played by the country toward the decolonization of many African countries and the dismantling of apartheid regime in South Africa. Technical Aids Corps Programme, the massive growth of Nollywood, the establishment of EFCC and ICPC, the country's position as the 6^th largest oil producer in the world, the country's rich cultural heritage, wonderful places and events were among the numerous achievements which the Minister said Nigeria could showcase to the outside world.

In a speech, the highly elated Vice Chancellor of University of Maiduguri, Prof. Mohammed Mala Daura promised the Minister to sustain the campaign by carrying the message of the Re-branding Nigeria Project to the next level.

On his part, Associate Prof Umaru Pate, Head of Mass Communication Department, University of Maiduguri who anchored the event disclosed that University of Maiduguri had already been Re-branded even before the official launch of the campaign. The justification to Pate's disclosure was the punctuality exhibited by the students of the University who were seated before the actual time slated for the commencement of the event patiently waiting for the arrival of the Minister. That was a clear demonstration of a deviation from the hitherto ugly "African time" culture of some Nigerians.

It could be recalled that Akunyili had earlier before assuming office as the Chief Image Maker for Nigeria in December 2008, revamped the country's hopeless illicit drug market in her capacity as the then Director General of NAFDAC.