Information and Communication Minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili, on Thursday night in Lagos, called on the private sector to support the current rebranding efforts meant to change negative perceptions about the country.
According to the minister, “For too long, we have allowed other people to define who we are. Now is the time to tell the world who we really are.”
The Minister, speaking at a dinner organised by School of Media and Communication, Pan-African University (PAU), Lagos, in honour of Dr. Christopher Kolade, the university’s new Chancellor, said Nigerians had been portrayed as fraudsters, while the country was perceived as a place where nothing worked.
“It is our responsibility to reject these appellations and tell the world who we know ourselves to be. We are good people of a great nation. We are hospitable, hardworking, creative and intelligent. ”
Akunyili, who spoke on the Role of Private Sector in Rebranding Nigeria, generously laced her address with quotations from the works of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whom she described as one of the greatest Nigerians ever.
She called on the private sector to support the rebranding efforts, adding that when the country was properly branded, investors would throng the country leading to the creation of employment opportunities and engendering a boost of the nation’s economy.
The minister encouraged members of the private sector to put the “Good People, Great Country” logo on their letter-headed papers and advertisements as a way of identifying with the project. She also asked them to lend financial support to the project just as she asked company chiefs to donate campaign materials and other items to support the campaign.
Source: Nigeria Tribune
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