Over 50 communities have been submerged in Isoko land resulting in the creation of five relief camps for displaced person.
Disclosing this yesterday, Secretary to the State Government, Comrade Ovuzuorie Macaulay confirmed that over 6, 500 adults, excluding children which far outnumber the adults have successfully been evacuated and registered in the camps.
Meanwhile, the Isoko nation has commended Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and the Isoko political class led by the Secretary to the State Government, Comrade Ovuzuorie Macaulay for the prompt action taken to rescue and rehabilitate victims of the floods ravaging over 50 communities in Isokoland.
Making the commendation today during an emergency meeting of all Isoko stakeholders at Oleh, President General of Isoko Development Union (IDU), Chief Greg Akpojene said the government’s prompt response and initiative of the political class have saved lives in the communities affected.
The meeting was attended by Senator James Manager, member representing Isoko Federal Constituency, Hon. Leo Ogor, member representing Isoko North State constituency, Hon. Tim Owhofere, NDDC Commissioner, Chief Solomon Ogba, Commissioner for Lands and Surveys, Sir Patrick Ferife, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Chief (Mrs.) betty Efekodha, Commissioner for Infrastructure, Barr. Orezi Esievo, pioneer Speaker, DTHA, RT. Hon. Emma Okoro among others
Briefing the meeting earlier, Comrade Macaulay enumerated the efforts of the Government since the crisis began to include setting up of five relief camps in Isoko with two at Ozoro, two at Oleh and one in Irri. adding that there was an ongoing operation to evacuate more people from Ivrogbo jetty.
He said that as the last count, over 4000 people, excluding children are living in the camps while more are still been evacuated with the possibility of setting up another camp at the Enwhe/Olomoro axis of Isoko.
Stating that state resources alone cannot cope with the situation, the SSG said, “What we are doing has no political platform. We are all working for the general interest of the Isoko nation. I therefore enjoin all to see this as effort geared towards saving the lives of our people. The Isoko man does not know boundaries in emergencies but some of us are behaving strangely. What has happened to our values? We need to change for the sake of posterity.”
He said one of the major problems being faced is that some of the affected people are resisting relocation despite the dangers they are facing, appealing to traditional rulers to help to talk to their subjects to lend support in various ways, especially in areas where the camps are located.
Comrade Macaulay also called on religious bodies to also assist in ensuring that the displaced persons have maximum comfort, urging all well meaning Isoko sons and daughters in the Diaspora to contribute their quota towards the rehabilitation of the affected citizens.
Also at the meeting were all Isoko traditional rulers, Christian Association of Nigeria and Presidents-General of all Isoko communities as well as the members of the Isoko political class.
Worried about the widespread application of what it called lynch mob justice and arbitrary killings of crime suspects by mobs all acrooss the country the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA [HURIWA] has canvassed the trial of all those involved in such unconstitutional conducts for murder just as it called on the River State Government to produce without further delay the members of Umuokiri Community, Aluu in Ikwerre Local Government Area near Port Harcourt, River State who were captured in the video participating in the bestial killing recently of four University of PortHarcourt Students accused of allegedly pilfering mobile phones and laptop computers.
Media reports gave the names of the four University Students killed by angry mobs in Aluu Community near PorHarcourt, River State recently for alleged theft of computers and mobile phones as Mr. Ugonna, Mr.Lloyd, Mr. Tamukena and Mr. Chidiaka even as the video of the dastardly criminal act of lynch mob killing of these four Nigerian youth and Students of the Universityf PortHarcourt, River State were captured and uploaded on the internet by some of the eye witnesses who saw the mob action take place.
The development focused Non-Governmental Organization- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA [HURIWA] in a statement to the media endorsed jointly by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media officer Miss. Zainab Yusuf condemned the vicious show of shame demonstrated by members of the Aluu Community near PortHarcout who took the law into their hands by attacking and gruesomely subjecting the four young Nigerians to their untimely death in the most crudest of fashions which must be comprehensively probed by the Federal and River State Governments so that all those who actually participated in this crime against humanity are arrested and prosecuted in the competent court of law formass murder to serve as deterrent to other would be mass murderers.
HURIWA stated thus; “We hereby condemn in totality the show of bestiality, and the crude enforcement by an angry mob of the most irrational and unconstitutional penalty to a group of young Nigerians caught for allegedly offending the law. We totally condemn this lynch mob justice and the setting ablaze of these young boys by members of Aluu community who were captured in the video evidence celebrating the actual killing through the most gruesome manner of fellow human beings for allegedly committing offences that at best can not attract more than six months prison terms if the proper constitutional channels are followed in compliance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
HURIWA also stated; “Nigeria being a nation governed by law and not by the whims and caprices of the mobs, HURIWA hereby give the Federal Government and the River State Government seventy eight hours hours to apprehend and prosecute these mass murderers for these dastardly crime against humanity to serve as effective deterrent to other would be mass murderers in any part of Nigeria. If the Nigerian Government fails to carry out this legal obligation we will begin series of campaign in the mass media drawing the attention of the World to the reign of impunity with Government tacit approval going on in Nigeria”.
The Rights group also blamed the failure of security on the part of the Nigerian Police Force and the State Security Services for allowing this sort of crude form of punishment to take place in an open field for a very long period of time without the security operatives rescuing these young Nigerians who certainly do not deserve this kind of inhuman extra-legal execution by this primitive crowd. The River State police commissioner AND THE River State SSS Director must be penalized for allowing this bestiality to happen in theirstate of jurisdiction even when section 33[1] provides for right to life to Nigerians.
As more local government councils and communities are affected in the devastating flood in Delta State, a team from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has so registered 8790 internally displaced persons as at the weekend who have been squatting in various Internally Displaced Peoples Camps (IDPCs). In the state
While presenting relief materials to the victims of the flood in the state, the Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi said that more camps would be established to accommodate the increasing numbers of displaced people.
Represented by the Deputy Director Relief, Mr. Mike Adeyanju, NEMA boss said emergency workers are in the state for rapid response assessment where they discovered that the water level in the coastal communities had continued to rise, thereby affecting more persons and posing a threat to lives and properties.
He further disclosed that the agency hired boats to evacuate trapped person at Okpai Obeze, Okpai Umuaguru, Akarai Ekiti, Azagba , Power line and Forest Guard communities to nearby IDP camps.
While presenting relief materials to the victims of the flood in the state, Mr. Adeyanju said the agency is involved in the administration of the camps and offering technical assistance to local emergency workers and volunteers. He urged the state government to engage all critical stakeholders in the management of the natural disaster for for effectively addressing the plights of the affected people, especially those in the caps.
Some of the Internally Displaced People Camps inspected by the NEMA officials include those in St. Patrick’s College, Asaba; Institute for continuing Education Asaba; Ossissa Camp, Ndokwa East; Utagba-egbe camp, Ndokwa east LGA; St. Michael College Oleh camp Isoko South LGA; Ewulu Camp, Aniocha south and Illah camp in Oshimili North LGA.
Receiving the relief items on behalf of Delta State government, the state commissioner for special duties, Hon. Tony Nwaka expressed appreciation for the prompt intervention of the agency in the provision of skilled rescue officers, technical assistance to volunteers and timely distribution of relief materials.
It was with a deep sense of shock that the All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP] received the sad and jolting news of the mindless massacre of more than forty students of three higher institutions in Mubi, the commercial nerve centre of Adamawa State, last week, on the same fateful day that our great nation marked her fifty-second anniversary as an independent country, by yet-to-be identified gunmen. It is a sad statement on the evolution of our higher education; and we vehemently condemn such wicked, vicious and inhuman act. It is disheartening that actions that should belong only to the imaginations of fiction writers and movie producers have found their way to the streets of our great nation.
Bearing in mind that the gunmen invaded the students’ hostels in a town under curfew disguised in military uniform, we are reminded of the fundamental breach impersonation of security personnel could cause in a nation. Anywhere in the world, government-issue uniforms and equipment for military and paramilitary personnel are almost sacrosanct. It is high time that the Nigerian security sector woke up to the reality that criminal elements are camouflaging with their exclusive identity marks to unleash mayhem on innocent citizens.
Early this year, the 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army arrested illegal military and paramilitary uniforms dealers in Nsulu market, Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State. The 14 Brigade’s Army Public Relations [APR] officer, Lieutenant Obabisi Olalekan Ayeni, explained then that one of the suspects confirmed they have been in the illegal business for over three years, also that ‘‘it is believed they are supplying these items to suspected armed robbers, kidnappers and political thugs who usually impersonate security agencies.’’
Therefore, while we commiserate with the family and friends of the victims of the horrible manslaughter, our great party, the ANPP, calls on the nation’s security operatives to urgently muster efforts at flushing out impersonators, both within its ranks and those hiding among the civilians, and also to concentrate on securing our national borders. We also suggest that peculiar distinguishing features be introduced to the regalia of the military and paramilitary with proper enlightenment on the masses on how to recognize genuine government-issue insignia. As a party, we believe it is the duty of the government to make its people feel secure in their own country. Moreover, the citizens of this great nation are entitled to feel the positive effects of the huge money apportioned for security in this year’s national budget.
Crusader against South-east marginalization and former Abia state governor Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu believes the Yoruba are better positioned now more than ever before to back the emergence of an Igbo as President of Nigeria in 2015.
Fresh from consultations with eminent countrymen across the south, Kalu declared that the Yoruba by nature abhor injustice. And having realized that the South-east had suffered pathetic neglect for so long, some strong individuals from that region could lead the campaign for change.
According to Kalu, “Give it to the South-west. They always raise personalities against injustice. It did not just start with Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was ready to confront colonialism with bare hands. Prof. Wole Soyinka risked his life and went to jail not really because his friend Christopher Okigbo died in Biafra; he had a soft spot for the Igbo who suffered so much persecution. The road to 2015 will throw up more such men and women.”
He maintained that the perceived cat and mouse game between the two largest groups in the south did not mean they could not come together for more than political convenience, arguing that both understood themselves beyond power sharing.
“There is so much between us. During the war, you found some Igbo living in Lagos. Chief Philip Asiodu even served in the Federal Government inspite of the loss of his brother Sidney to the bullets of Nigerian troops. Tony Igwe was busy playing soccer and Obisia Nwankpa sweated out in the gym. At the same time, Prof. Vincent Ike’s wife a Yoruba was part of the Biafran war efforts. Even the daughter of Lagos Oba Adeyinka Oyekan was married to a Biafran naval officer, Ohiaeri-Duru. To cap it all, one of the gallant Yoruba officers who saw the war, Lt. General Alani Akinrinade had since condemned it as unnecessary. That is why the Yoruba stand out,” said the ex-governor.
Speaking further, Kalu explained that the long sought after handshake across the Niger will be witnessed in the 2015 Presidential elections since the Yoruba may not have eyes on Aso Villa following Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s unprecedented goodluck.
“Let me point out that the South-west will prove their love for the South-east in 2015.That is the best way to bury all the accumulated suspicion between both groups. For me, I know the Yoruba could stand up and be counted. The war years showed it. There was this Yoruba soldier who applied the brakes of his army truck to save the life of an Igbo pedestrian near Orlu at the end of the war in January 1970.An accompanying officer was so furious that he took control of the vehicle,drove for about 10 kilometers and forced the driver out into the dark. Time was 1.00a.m.’Ejoo oo, ejoo oo'[please, please] the soldier pleaded. All to no avail. Fortunately, the drop zone was in Isu right in front of the house of the first Igbo Dental-Surgeon who had worked in Ibadan before the crisis. And he took the soldier in. The lesson is that there are more Yoruba out there who cannot kill Igbo dreams in 2015,”Kalu summed up.
The Obama campaign announced Saturday on Twitter its biggest fundraising number of the campaign cycle – $181 million, brought in by Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee in September.
That brings the total tally, including money from Super PACs, to the edge of $1 billion.
While it was long thought that the Obama campaign would reach that milestone during this cycle, back in December campaign manager Jim Messina tried to tamp down billion-dollar expectations, going as far as to say in a campaign video, “People have speculated this is a billion dollar campaign – that’s bull****.”
But after this month’s haul, in a thankful email to supporters, Messina wrote, “Day in and day out, what gives the President confidence and inspiration is knowing that you have his back – that matters. We’re all going to do the best we can over next 31 days to honor that support.”
In total, the campaign says it has passed 10 million donations from 3,922,420 people. This month, 1,825,813 gave money; 567,000 of those were new, small donors.
It’s not an all-time record for the Obama team, but it comes close. Four years ago, in September 2008, the campaign brought in $193 million.
Mitt Romney’s campaign has not yet announced its September fundraising haul, but has released the amount it raised in the 48 hours after Wednesday’s debate: $12 million dollars online, which, according to the campaign, surpasses online donations made after Paul Ryan was announced as Romney’s running mate.
HARARE – President Robert Mugabe’s outrider who met a painful death as he engulfed in flames on Wednesday could have been saved as he was breathing when the motorcade zoomed past his smoking body, to the chagrin of onlookers.
The Daily News saw video footage of the horror crash and the footage leaves even the steel-hearted shell-shocked. Eyewitnesses shot the video.
Just before 10am on the fateful day, Mugabe’s lengthy convoy made its way to the city centre from his residence in Harare’s leafy suburb of Borrowdale, led as usual, by the siren-blaring outriders.
However, one of the pacesetting outriders failed to make it into the city as the motorbike caught fire at the intersection of Borrowdale and Garth roads. The video footage seen by the Daily News is gory and captures the last moments of the cop.
In agony and breathing heavily, the biker battled for dear life as the motorbike which was lying by his side was consumed by a raging fire. He was consumed by the fire moments later. Efforts to get the name of the deceased cop from police spokesperson Charity Charamba were futile yesterday.
Attempts by civilians to save him were futile. Some motorists can be seen pulling out fire extinguishers which every vehicle is now required to have by law in the video. But the light-duty extinguishers were no match for the inferno which was stoked by petrol leaking from the accident-damaged BMW bike.
The injured cop was writhing in pain and that was before he caught fire. At least 10 fire extinguisher canisters were emptied by motorists who stopped to help but failed to put out the inferno.
So intense was the heat from the combustion that the fire easily spread to nearby pine trees that canopy Borrowdale Road close to the up market Sam Levy’s Village. Witnesses said although the outrider’s right side was severely injured with bones exposed, he could have been saved had he received immediate attention from experts.
“We tried to pull his body away from the bike but we failed because of the heat and then the motorbike started to leak petrol forcing us to retreat further from the body,” said one witness.
But Mugabe and his entourage swept past the accident scene while the biker was charred to death moments later as petrified witnesses looked on helplessly. For security reasons, the motorcade is not supposed to stop until it reaches its destination.
As witnesses watched helplessly as the cop lost his battle to live, some sobbed openly, overcome by emotion. A white couple was traumatised with the death. After Mugabe’s fleet had passed, an ambulance which traditionally tails the convoy stopped. But the driver could not assist the outrider.
“The ambulance guy just came and stood there; he did not do anything and did not even have a blanket. It was so sad to watch because this guy could have been easily saved,” said a witness.
This week’s accident is the fourth in as many months. In June a police lead vehicle sent to clear traffic rammed into a commuter minibus carrying 22 passengers. A male passenger in the minibus died on impact with the police Mercedes while 15 others — including two police officers — were injured.
On another trip to Zvimba in the same month, the presidential convoy was involved in two accidents. In the first crash, a homeless man was knocked down by a police motorbike in Harare. The police outrider and the victim were both hospitalised with the vagrant later dying.
As the convoy left Kutama on the return journey, an open-top army Land Cruiser carrying members of the presidential guard burst a tyre and overturned, killing Jeoffrey Mukotekwa and wounding several others. On all occasions, police blamed negligent motorists accusing the public of ignoring police signals.
In the quest for a more just and equitable international order, Zimbabwe strongly opposed to unilateralism, is committed to multilateralism. We therefore would like to see a UN that continues to be a guarantor of world peace and security, and a bulwark in the fight for justice and equality among nations.
It behooves us all, therefore, to take the necessary steps to ensure that the UN is not marginalised on international issues. Equally important, the United Nations must in future never allow itself to be abused by any member state or group of States that seeks to achieve parochial partisan goals. The Charter of the United Nations clearly stipulates it as an international body that should work for the good of all the peoples of the world.
We recognise that there are existing and emerging threats and challenges that continue to frustrate our individual and collective efforts to attain greater economic development and social progress, as well as peace and security.
But the increasing trend by the NATO States inspired by the arrogant belief that they are the most powerful among us, which has demonstrated itself through their recent resort to unilateralism and military hegemony in Libya, is the very antithesis of the basic principles of the UN.
In that case of Libya, the African Union and its peace-making role was defied, ignored and humiliated. May we urge the international community to collectively nip this dangerous and unwelcome aggressive development before it festers.
The warmongers of our world have done us enough harm. Wherever they have imposed themselves, chaos in place of peace has been the result. The situation created by the Bush-Blair illegal campaign of aggression against Iraq has made worse the conflict between the Sunnis and Shias.
Leave alone the disastrous economic consequences of that unlawful invasion.
Libya has been made equally unstable, following NATO’s deceitful intervention under the sham cover of Chapter VII of the Charter of the UN and the phony principle of the responsibility to protect.
Zimbabwe firmly believes in the peaceful settlement of disputes between and among States, in a manner that is consistent with the principles and purposes of the UN.
In the maintenance of international peace and security, much more needs to be done to prevent conflicts from erupting in the first place, and to prevent relapses once a situation has been stabilised.
Beyond deploying adequate resources to manage conflicts, it is important to address their underlying causes, and to pursue, more proactively, a comprehensive approach focusing on conflict prevention, peace-building, peace-sustenance and development.
In pursuing this cause, my delegation strongly believes that adherence to the Charter of the UN should be a solemn obligation of all Member States. We have noticed, with deep regret, that the provisions of the UN Charter dealing with the peaceful settlement of disputes, have, on occasion, been ignored by the Security Council.
In contrast, there appears to be an insatiable appetite for war, embargos, sanctions and other punitive actions, even on matters that are better resolved through multilateral cooperation.
Instead of resorting to the peaceful resolution of disputes, we are daily witnessing a situation where might is now right. We need to take stock of the inspiring preamble to the UN Charter, where the plenipotentiaries who met in San Francisco in 1945 undertook to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”
This is especially so when global events represent a radical departure from that solemn and noble declaration as is happening at present. What do the NATO Alliance members say about this? One may ask.
It is therefore important that the UN Security Council should respect and support the decisions, processes and priorities of regional organisations. In contrast, recent events, as has already been stated particularly with reference to Africa, have demonstrated the scant regard that is given by the UN and certain powerful members of the international community to the pivotal role of regional organisations.
Effective cooperation between the UN and regional organisations will only become viable and sustainable when developed on the basis of mutual respect and support, as well as on shared responsibility and commitment.
It is regrettable to note that certain unacceptable concepts are currently being foisted upon the UN membership, in the absence of inter-governmental mandates. For instance, there is no agreement yet on the concept of “responsibility to protect,” especially with respect to the circumstances under which it might be evoked.
We are concerned by the clear mad growing evidence that the concept of “responsibility to protect” has begun to be applied and seriously abused, thus inevitably compromising and undermining the cardinal principle of the sovereignty of states and the UN Charter principles of territorial integrity and non-interference in the domestic affairs of countries.
For the international community to successfully deal with global economic, social, security and environmental challenges, the existence of international institutions to handle them and a culture of genuine multilateralism are critical.
Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly last month passed a supplementary budget of N125b purportedly to finance government activities till the end of this year. Before now, a supplementary budget of over N100b was also passed still to finance expenditure of government. It is worthy of note too that a budget of N407b was passed into law by Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly early this year. From January to September, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has sat and passed budgets three times totaling over N600b.
Budgets are governance tool which tailors, guide and serves as yardstick of government financial activities within the span of twelve months, one year period. It puts government off financial recklessness, measures performance and those performances must be visible and seen to be commensurate with the sum expended on it. Above all, it must be seen to have solved the basic problems of the people it is targeted at. Because of economic exigencies, the Constitution and Acts of State Houses of Assembly provides for Supplementary Budgets and expenditure. But when this is taken for granted and more so at bogus sums as is seen in the budgets of Akwa Ibom State government without complementary performance in terms of empowerment, poverty reduction and security, it calls for questioning and in dept probe behind what those monies are used for.
As we comment on this huge sum of 125b supplementary budget, hunger and deprivation, insecurity and unemployment, lack of industries, are alarming in Akwa Ibom State. While young men have gone into crimes of arm robbery and kidnapping, Akwa Ibom young women are into prostitution. This would have been curtailed if government within the last five years of financial boom in Akwa Ibom State had revived industries and provided other employment opportunities to her citizenry.
Akwa Ibom State must re-order her priorities to drive away from carting the commonwealth through unimplemented budgetary allocations which are not accounted for. It does not make it a responsible government.
We are calling for a probe into how the 2012 appropriation bill has been implemented and the utility derive from same by Akwa Ibom people. When His Excellency, Governor Godswill Akpabio defended the budget in the floor of the House before it was passed into law, he had said that there will be reduction in youth unemployment and hunger as there will be industries springing up in the state within the year. Funds to that effect were slated.
This and others provided for in the budget are missing in the state. Nobody finds them. No new road except those provided for in the 2009 budget of the state. Where are the monies provided for these projects?
For just passing budgets sent to it by the state governor without asking questions about implementation and the justification for need of more monies by government, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has betrayed Akwa Ibom People and does not worth the salt of her existence. Their oversight functions of checking the executive as provided for by the Constitution of Nigeria has been ignored obviously because they may be sharing in the loots of these sumptuous budgets.
Rt. Hon Sam Ikon and his colleagues can save themselves the embarrassment of conspiring with the executive arm in the state to rape Akwa Ibom people of their resources. We urge Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly to probe the implementation of the 2012’s N407b budgetary allocation of Akwa Ibom State government to see whether its provisions have been implemented as well as the supplementary budget she passed mid this year. we urge the House also reverse herself in the N125b supplementary budget she passed few days ago. If within two months, October and November Akwa Ibom State spends N125b, and the House approves of it, what will she pass in December when the 2013 Appropriation bill gets to her? To be mild, this is fraud which the good people of Akwa Ibom State do not deserve.
As long as Abia State is been positively branded, it is anew page for the State. Already, the State have in the past developed wrong impression as a place where fake products are been made, both imitation of other company’s product. But, what feelers don’t know about Abia is that it has the necessary prerequisites for effective economic development. It is a state blessed with abundant resources, both physical and human. All that remains is for investors to come to the state and harness these resources, even with the industrial layouts that have been established in the two major towns, Aba and Umuahia.
The local governments have also zoned areas for commercial and industrial purposes. The industrial areas have been provided with the necessary infrastructure such as good roads, power supply, water supply and communication facilities. Abia State is also endowed with manpower resources. With the last population figure of 1,976,805 people, both skilled, semi-skilled and un- skilled labour are available for industrial development. In addition, the workforce is peaceful and industrious and interested in partnership with investors.
With the establishment of banks and other financial institutions all over the State, credit for industrial development can be assured. The question is no longer if the state government is willing to go into partnership with prospective investors, as every good government has the interest of the people at heart. But what seem to be far from the state is its strength in awareness, which mostly rallies around branding. The fact that people breed the thought that Abia is the home of kidnappers, criminals and counterfeit manufacturers would forever scare investors from partnering with the government and people of the state.
Abians are very intelligent, hardworking, industrious, resourceful and hospitable to a fault. Abia as a state has done a lot for the global community especially for Nigeria and Africa at large, which the government must bring to the consciousness of Nigerians and the international community. If they do not blow trumpet, nobody will know. The Abia State government should know that Governments in other states in Nigeria have realized the notion of the world being a global village where competition among nations has reached a new level of sophistication. In other states, branding has become more relevant than ever. Other States are beginning to employ branding and marketing techniques to sell their regions and zones to the rest of the world, in order to increase their international profile, attract foreign direct investments and create desirable destinations for tourism and trade.
There are many factors that determine the success of any branding efforts of any state, country or geographical location– ease of traveling to and from the destination, interesting tourist sites, infrastructure, economic power and many others. To put succinctly, the goal of every nation or place branding effort is to attract investment, attention as well as create a favourable reputation for the brand. In order for a state or city to be a good brand, it must possess defining and distinctive characteristics that can be readily identified. These include appearance, people’s experience of the city, people’s belief in the city, what the city stands for and the kind of people that populate the city.
One thing that brings the former Imo State governor, Ikedi Ohakim to the minds of the people today is that of his “New Face of Imo,” a re-branding initiative of the state government to ensure a clean break from the state’s ugly past, also been complemented with the “Clean & Green” initiative. If you must know, the brand manager, Prof. Cona Asinu-Anosike and his team of experts controlled it that it became an African project. Already, the Cona firm that is known for total branding has never failed in discharge of duties, and I think his unique style and professionalism has kept the firm going; even with his branding activities in some of the South East states which is worth recommending.
For many who never understood the ex-governor’s vision saw it that Ohakim built projects on the internet that were not on ground. But the case study was to project the State into being the dream land where investors could come down and invest into. As we all know, a cleaner environment attract investors. Ohakim on his own aimed at re-branding and redefining Imo that has nothing to write home about in the past. Consequently, I would admit that the projection the State received during the administrative era of Ohakim, made it a public discourse during the last general election.
Meanwhile, the case of branding or image making of a State like Abia should be anchored on attitudinal change, re-orientation, revival of the State’s beautiful old cultural values and instilling a renewed spirit of patriotism and hope in all citizens. The people have to believe in themselves so that they can define who they are, and also tell their stories by themselves. Like Aba in Abia, for too long now, the people residing there have allowed outsiders to define them the way they want. The Abia State government should do whatever they can to project Aba positively and responsibly. With the new step the governor has taken now on branding, I think it will emphasize on the strong points and de-emphasize on the people’s weak points.
However, Nation or State branding is not destination branding or marketing initiatives; it’s not image makeover, nor an advertising campaign or a marketing strategy; and it’s most emphatically not just a logo. Rather, all of these things are part and parcel of the totality of the nation brand; but they aren’t in themselves constitutive. In simple terms, your brand is what they say about you when you’re not in the room, just like the “Clean & Green” initiative.
Even the billboard which situates at the Diagnostic and Specialist hospital Annex in Amachara, one could understand that the Abia monthly allocation that comes from the Federal Government is actually working. Not only that the billboard stands as a sign to an ongoing project in the state, professionally the brand consultants were able to urge the people with the written statement: “Please pay your taxes” and alongsidethe prototype of the ongoing projects, into buying the idea and it would make Abia people to also accept the fact that their resources is being invested properly, whereby endearingthem to pay their taxes regularly.
The issue of branding in governance should not be taken for granted. A positive branding will go a long way into informing the people on the government plans for them. If for example a new policy is made by the government, the people should be the first to be informed; if not they will perceive it as being a policy that is imposed on them by the steer-man in power, whereby giving wrong signal on the present government in power.
Let’s take the case of Dora Akunyili while as the Information Minister for an example, when she thought of how to do things differently in addressing Nigeria’s image problem so she could not only succeed, but have it sustained. She conceived of a systematic approach to deal with this negative perception and Re-branding was born. To her, the campaign was a holistic one, home grown and people-centered because only Nigerians can truly Re-brand Nigeria. That is to say that buying the idea of any Ochendo’s policy, the people must first be informed and carried along. Building projects without the peoplebeing informed on the gains and effect of it, it shows the sign of arrogance andautocracy.
I must encourage the state governor into investing his time and resources towards branding that will go a long way into informing and educating the people with the realities of his projects and policies on ground. Already, with much of well designed billboards situating around the major areas in Umuahia and with well crafted photos of Governor Theodore Ahamefula Orji, I would at this point rest my pen because the Ochendo as a man of style seems to have woken from his slump, and that I think should be encouraged.
Ugochukwu Favour-Mayor is a Media Consultant in Owerri. 08037534509
