Public sector organizations as representatives of the people of a nation have been called upon to play a key role in nation branding strategy and extol the virtues of true citizenship through committed civic responsibilities as their private sector counterparts do not, on their own possess the legitimacy to lead the direction of nation brand strategy.
This assertion was made recently in Abuja by the Executive Secretary, Engr. Ernest Nwapa who was Guest Speaker at the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) Centenary Dinner for CEOs and Top Executives as part of activities to mark the nation’s centenary celebrations. Engr. Nwapa who spoke on the theme, ‘Being in Love with Nigeria: The Role of Public Private Sectors’ Decision Makers in Building and Managing World Class Reputation for Nigeria’, noted that the public sector must play a role, on par with the private sector to ensure the success of nation branding campaign.
The Executive Secretary who spoke through the General Manager, Monitoring and Evaluation, Engr. Chijioke Okorie, disclosed that a country’s reputation ranking is important because it has to compete for support from tourists looking to spend leisure dollars, private businesses deciding where to invest, consumers buying quality products, and governments looking to place aids and investment funds.
He attributed that in recognition of these, the President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) signed into law a Bill on Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act in April 2010 to regulate activities of the Nigerian oil and gas industry for value creation. The law, he said, established the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) with a mandate to ensure among others in-country manufacture of quality goods and services, encouragement of capacity building initiatives and establishment of investment friendly environment that will improve on the nation’s reputation ranking amongst the comity of nations.
The Nigerian Content chieftain concluded by urging NIPR as an umbrella institute of public relations practitioners from both public and private sectors to see itself as representative of the people and take the country’s reputation ranking seriously by taking advantage of existing opportunities in the campaign to improve Nigeria’s reputation before soliciting private sector support .
Speaking earlier, the President and Chairman, Governing Council of NIPR, Dr. Rotimi Oladele expressed the uniqueness of the occasion as an opportunity to celebrate the centenary of the amalgamation of Nigeria as a nation-state, and to review individual commitment as top executives and decision makers in building and managing a world class reputation for Nigeria.
Dr. Oladele reiterated that since 1963, the institute has been committed and passionately advocating for a better Nigeria with a great hope that the nation will be better than where we are today. He also dropped the hint that the collective decision to change the perspective of our dear country can be a great step towards building a greater Nigeria, in which generations will be proud of.
The institute’s president called on guests to renew their individual and collective expectations for Nigeria and her leaders urging that the centenary should provide the foundation upon which to build an enduring cultural and educational legacy, to put young people in front and centre in the commemoration to ensure the sacrifice and service of a hundred years ago are remembered.
He reminded guests that peace and security, economic and social development, and governance and human rights are the three inter-connected pillars on which Nigeria’s continued progress rests. Participants at the dinners, however, were a representative of the Honorable Minister of Information, and Special Guest of Honor at the occasion, Mr. Labaran Maku, a proxy of the Director General, National Centre for Women Development and Chairperson of occasion, Lady Onyeka Onwenu, Chairman of Small and Medium Entrepreneurial Development Association of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Col. Shehu Ibrahim (Rtd.) who chaired the event and a host of public relations professionals drawn from public and private sector concerns.
