The Presidents around the World are supposed to be solemn looking men or women.  In case they are the ceremonial Heads of State, they are required to pass their time by being the Chief Guests of the government sponsored functions. They normally make none-too-strong statements which generally reflect the policies of the executive of the country. 

Burqua Versus Breast Power: Sarkozy likes the latter

Earth, a Shopping arcade and all nations are its decorated shops

Recently the Government of Nigeria has launched an image correction campaign that aims at wiping out the wrong image that some people seem to propagate about this great country. However the exercise has drawn a barrage of criticism from quite a few people. I have been living in Nigeria for past few years and I feel that the branding exercise is a step in the right direction. I want to tell with full conviction that my support to the campaign is based upon healthy logic and lengthy research.

All nations need to be branded because nations compete with one another for several things. If the world has become a global market then the nations are the brands that compete with one another to get the most Television rating points (TRPs) on this amazing television that this globe is. Nations must compete to get the maximum hits in this world of internet marketing and all nations must vie with one another to get the maximum footfalls in the crowded shopping mall that the Planet Earth represents.

It is impossible to achieve the maximum TRPs, the most hits and the highest footfalls if you aren't even a brand.

Let me explain this further. A place in the UN security council, a seat in the elite G-20, a status of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) with other nations are some of the positions for which nations compete with one another, knowing or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously. Nations compete for foreign investments, for foreign tourists and nations do launch campaigns to imbibe a sense of confidence and goodness among its own citizenry. This is what precisely the "Good people, Great Nation" campaign aims to achieve.

Nations as Brand

Different nations have tried to brand them differently. As I rattle these motifs that have come to be associated with these countries, let me say here that these themes started as a ploy for attracting the tourists and the travellers of this world but soon these themes became the face of their respective nations.

So you have Malaysia which is "Truly Asia"; Croatia is "The Mediterranean As it Once Was". Kenya is the "Magical Kenya". Thailand is "Amazing Thailand". And Senegal is “The Land of Teranga”.

Look further in the encyclopedia. Google for more nation-brands and you find that Venezuela is never alone. It is always "Think Venezuela". Romania is always "Simply Surprising". South Africa is always "Alive with Possibilities" and India is now "Incredible India"

So is it not time that Nigeria also gets a theme?

But most detractors of Nigeria have always been calling it a land of corruption, a land of people who make a living out of Yahoo scams. The propaganda has been so shrill that I am afraid that even the average Nigerian has come to believe it!

So it is very timely on the part of the Nigerians to say, "Hey Guys. Stop painting us in such bad light. We are good people and a Great Nation". This I believe is the right branding strategy for the time being.

The Economic significance of a nation's Brand Value:

Let us take a hypothetical case to know how important branding is for a nation. Imagine that a large food processing company targets the West African market to set up a huge factory to cater to the growing demand in the region. As there is an ECOWAS treaty among the countries in West Africa, the stuff produced will attract ZERO import duty if it is manufactured in Nigeria and is exported to any of the ECOWAS nations. The market is largest in Nigeria and the logistics cost of moving goods from factory to the markets would be lower if the factory were in Nigeria. So it is very easy to say that the company would set up its manufacturing base in Nigeria. The truth however is that the company may choose to go to Ghana.

Why, you may ask?

Why not? The manufacturer would tell you.

It is a matter of image. People perceive Ghana as a more stable country. Nigeria is perceived to be a nation where thefts, robberies, day-light murders are common place. Foreigners have this image but this image is not formed on any research. It is based upon media reports and is a product of collective lamentations of Nigeria's own children about how bad their country is! The image that goes around in everyone's mind is that Nigeria is a country where ten fraudulent activities take place every 2 seconds, where billions of Naira are spent on maintenance and upkeep of roads that exist only on papers, where pothole filling passes for borehole digging, where contractors use one part cement and mix it with ten parts of sand to build the housing complexes and where every email offer that comes to your inbox is 419!

There can't be better theme than "Good people, Great Nation"

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Nigeria is a nation of honest, sincere and hard working people. In my four years in Lagos and around, I have roamed around everywhere. I have been to the Seme Border and the Idiroko Border. I have been to Ajah and I have been to Epe town. I have slept in Ijebu Ode and I have played in Agoshasha. I have been to Abule Egba, Abule Taylor, Shasha, Aguda, Ijebu Mushin, Siun junction, Ikorodu, Ejigbo, Mosimi, Pagbon, Adatan and Lafenwa. I have been to Ajegunle and I have been to Ijanikin. I have moved around in Okada, in a yellow taxi and in my new cool Toyota. I haven't felt one bit unsafe anywhere. Well I have felt unsafe in Lagos as the daylight begins to fade but I have felt the same way in many other nations!

I have gone about being myself here in Nigeria, just as I did it in India. In a fearless and ethical manner. I have sought help from complete strangers and got it for free.

I see the poor of Nigeria toiling the same way they toil all over the world, from Malaysia to Pakistan; from Iraq to Turkey; From South Africa to Brazil. If all Nigerians were making a living out of fraudulent activities then we wouldn't see the street hawkers running hard to sell their wares, sweating profusely under the harsh sun. We won't see the farmers who give us our daily yam and we won't see the workers who rise at 4 am to be in the office by eight. And most people of Nigeria are like this only. Isn't it?

So if a country has 90% of its population which is hard working and honest under some of the harshest economic conditions then why shouldn't such a country be called a Great Nation? Nigeria is a country inhabited by great people and Nigeria's people are some of the Best people in the world. And that is why none can stop me from calling this country, a Great Nation.

Is it not ironical that a certain small cold country in Europe, where corrupt people from all over the globe stash their ill gotten wealth is considered a paradise on earth?

And people raise alarm when someone terms Nigeria as "Good People, Great Nation".

This is what I mean by the term, "Travesty of Justice".

So "Good People, Great Nation" is a natural slogan for Nigeria. There is no hyperbole here. We are not saying that Nigeria is "Best People, Greatest Nation". We know that no single group of people can lay a claim to being the Best people. No country is full of angels and hence no single nation can call itself the Greatest Nation.

We should be happy with the "Good People, Great Nation" theme. We should believe in it and we should respect this theme.

I am a foreigner living in Nigeria for the past five years. Nigeria is a great country to live in and Nigerians are fantastic people to work with.

Nigeria is also the most populous nation in Africa but most of my Nigerian brothers and sisters are unconcerned about this challenge.

The Population Trend: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

The world population in 1998 was 5.93 billion. It rose to 6.71 billion in 2008, an increase of 13.1 %.   In 2050 the world population is expected to be 9.53 billion, an increase of  42%  % over 2008. Please remember that this isn't an year-on-year growth but cumulative growth between 1998 and 2008 and projections for cumulative growth between 2008 and 2050.

Against the backdrop of world population Nigeria’s population in 1998  was 117,599,565. In the year 2008, it rose to 146,255,312, showing a 24.36% growth (as against the world's population growth of 13.1%) . Nigeria was the 10th most populated nation in the world in 1998 but as at today, it stand at 8th position in the world and it is feared that in 2050, Nigeria will climb up to the 7th spot with a population of 264,262,405. This growth of 80.6% population growth by the year 2050  over 2008 is most worrisome to me. In fact it is alarming. But I find that most of my Nigerian brothers and sisters are not too bothered about it. This is one achievement which no Nigerian should be proud of. Just as no Indian should be proud of the fact that his/her country would overtake China before the year 2050, to become the most populous nation of the planet. But the growth in India between 1998 and 2008 has been 18% only and the growth between the years 2008 and 2050 is expected to be 57% as opposed to 80% that Nigeria will exhibit.

Are we really aware of the problem?

I have been writing to many editors and columnists to stop their obsession with politics, politics and more politics all the time and devote a fraction of the newspaper space to the issue of population but none listens. Some friends in the media have whispered to me that the issue of population is a highly emotive issue and it is politically incorrect to talk about it.

I find this most strange, to put it mildly. I know that in Nigeria, it very OK to have four children but it is time that people knew that to have four children is having two, too many. The couples must stop at one or maximum two if they want to give their children the best of education, health services and other benefits in life.

Before we proceed further, it would be good to look at a chart below:

The information has been collated from various websites but the chief source of information is U.S. Census Bureau, International  Data Base

From the table above we can find that China has been able to keep the population growth  less than 7% between 1998 and 2008 as against 18% population growth of India  and 24% of  Nigeria. The success of China in keeping population growth at such a low level can be attributed to the relentless follow up by the State machinery which levies heavy fines on couples who produce more than one child.

In democracies like India and Nigeria these kind of measure will lead to instant revolt against the state and very rightly so. However from the table above, it can be seen  that even democracies like South Korea and South Africa have been able to keep the population growth less at less than 10%.

Nigeria certainly takes the cake among all developing nations when it comes to  rise in population.  Only Uganda (39%), Ethiopia (36%) , Afghanistan (42%), Congo (36%) grew faster than Nigeria.

Any lessons from others?

One needs to know as to how other countries have been able to achieve what Nigeria didn't. To achieve lowering of population growth, the government of India launched a sustained socio-economic campaign to reduce the birth rate (while at the same time reducing the infant mortality). There were incentives to those who adopted family planning measures like male vasectomy and female tubectomy. The contraceptives were made available free-of-cost at all primary government health centres. In spite of the fact that India is a very conservative society when it comes to discussing issues like sex, a series of government paid radio adverts were aired advising people to use contraceptives as a means to limit the family size. There were appeals by the leaders who had strong social influence on the people. Many NGOs were given financial support by the government to help them  spread the message of keeping the family size small. The media played a very active role in educating people about the perils of having large families. Street-plays were organized in the worker colonies to drive home the message of family planning. Specials stalls were set up in numerous village fairs to remind people that if they produced more than two children, they would be adding burden to the nation already burdened by a huge population.

With all the above activities, Indians still  managed to procreate more than the average growth of world population. But what about Nigeria? What have been the combined efforts of the intellectuals, the state, the press and the social reformers in ensuring that the population doesn't grow by leaps and bounds?

From my 5 year stay in Nigeria, I find that Nigeria is yet to acknowledge that the rising population is a problem at all. The general public doesn't seem to be aware that huge population can no longer be treated as an asset. In fact the whole concept of treating large population as an asset was a carefully crafted campaign by the rich countries faced with shrinking population. These rich countries wanted poor countries to keep producing more children so that there was never a shortage of those who were to do the menial, lowly paid jobs. Some countries realized  this in the last three decades of the 20^th  century and made an conscious efforts to check the population growth.

Since Nigeria doesn't acknowledge the rising population as an issue worth giving so much attention to, there is an absence of high decibel, high profile, mass campaign to educate the people about the ways and means to keep birth-rates down. When India got independence in 1947 the leaders had hoped that as in the developed countries, with the rapid advancement in industrialization and urbanization, the population growth rate would decline but this line of approach didn't yield the desired result. The Government of India then launched an extensive family planning campaign which reached at the village level. India was able to achieve some semblance of control after pouring in billions of rupees in the campaign. The message of  keeping the family size of four, comprising Mom, Dad and 2 kids, was drummed into the ears of every Indian throughout the sixties, seventies, eighties and it still is going strong. In India, at least in the big and small cities, a couple with more than 2 children is an oddity. This is in total contrast with Nigeria  where the rich Nigerians take pride in counting the number of children they have. Even the educated and working class Nigerians in the age group of 35-45 feel comfortable in having 4 children, unmindful of the fact that with the rise in cost of living and absence of  very strong state social security, they can't guarantee that they would be able to give their 4 children the best of education and health care. I find this disturbing trend in Nigeria, when educated young men and women of my age (I am 44) want to have 4 children. My dad’s generation in India stopped at 2, max. 3 and my generation doesn’t want to go further than 2 (and many are going for just one child). I tell this to all my Nigerian brothers, especially who are less resourceful in terms of money (like the bus drivers, the Okada riders, the housekeepers and the security guards) but they all seem to believe that they are “entitled” to at least 4.

What can be done now? Who should do it?

Who then would raise the issue of population and make it important enough so that each and every Nigerian becomes aware about it, begins to ponder over it and eventually tries to empower himself/ herself to be able to ensure that he/ she doesn't contribute more than one or two young lives to the society?

I want to appeal to the most influential social leaders of Nigeria to sensitize their followers about the issue of curbing the fast rise in population. Pastor E. A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God(RCGG) has been listed in the first 50 Global Elite listing of U.S. and international news magazine, Newsweek, emerging as the only African on the list now making the waves in the world. If the Reverend takes it upon himself to include in as many discourses as possible the need to keep the family size small, the chances that his followers will follow his advice are very bright. Similarly there are leading icons who can contribute to the issue. Names which come to mind immediately are Professor Pat Utomi the highly respected intellectual whose words are heard in rapt attention whenever he speaks,  Mrs Dora Akunyili whose charisma cuts across all sections of the society, Chief Gani Fawehinmi one of the most respected persons in West Africa. There are young wealth creators like Jim Ovia who are a toast to the middle class men and women who want to think big and do things creatively. There are others people who are popular writers and editors who can do their bit by this writing about this issue in their dailies.

God Bless Nigeria.

Too much heat has been generated and too much dust has been raised by the 60 minute detention of SRK by the US airport authorities. The Page 3 crowd has been vociferous in condemning the "evil empire" and the whole episode is being portrayed as it an assault to India's dignity by some over- zealous US officers. SRK doesn't represent the collective honour of 1 billion people.

( Nor does Dhoni or Rahul Gandhi for that matter!)

I have 10 lines of arguments to prove that SRK's detention is a complete non-issue:

1. A sixty minute interrogation must have been caused by some suspicious aberration on the computer screen of the clearing officer. It is one thing by the fans of the Superstar to say that their icon was insulted but come to think of the mental state of the guy who dared to stop him. He felt suspicious about a passenger whose superstardom in India was none of his concerns. In the matters of security, one must err on the side of caution. Better to search a celebrity rather than letting a suspect go out and cause the mayhem.

2. If a former Defence Minister of India can be searched and a most revered ex-President of India can be frisked, then surely SRK can be detained too. Is a film star to be attached more importance than the former President of our republic?

3. Does anyone recall a movie titled, "Sarfrosh". The story revolved around a famous singer from Pakistan who was much loved in India and was a toast to the millions of Indian fans but he eventually turned out to be a terrorist. Now we all know that that was a movie but sometimes the reel life can resemble the real life. If a Hansie Crownie, the much respected South African cricketer can be a match-fixing enabler then anyone can be anything. At least theoretically! Nobody should be exempt from detailed scrutiny if the initial checks point out that more detailed checks are required. After all who could have imagined that the loveable Munna Bhai once kept an AK 47 in his house!

4. OK fine, SRK was detained and interrogated and he came out clean, so why should the matter not end there itself. Is it because there is a certain film "My Name is Khan" that is yet to be released and all the current publicity will help the film which may have a similar theme. Sorry guys, just thinking aloud. No insinuations meant!

5. The recent Hindi movie, New York, portrays the fundamentalists in a rather "none too bad light." It tries to create sympathy for the terrorists by saying that all those who are terrorists are terrorists a result of bashing received at the hands of FBI. And the movie is a big hit, I hear. Anyone by the name Khan from India then becomes a suspect for the US state. I am really surprised that the movie didn't get the condemnation that it deserved. What else do you want the US authorities to do?

6. All the bigwigs of Bollywood are up in arms against the US. They say that US suffers from fear psychosis. That is correct my dear Bollywood biggies. Any country which suffers a man-made calamity like the 9/11 will have fear psychosis. Anything less than would make them more vulnerable and the US is determined to let its people feel safe once again.

7. SRK says that he doesn't feel like going to the US again. Well he can't avoid it. The US represents more than 1/4^th of the huge overseas market for Bollywood movies. In fact he shouldn't have made this remark. And why don't you want to go to US? Just because you were detained for 60 minutes. I think SRK made these utterances so that he escapes such detailed scrutiny the next time. Indian film stars find it demeaning to be standing in queues along with the ordinary folks. They would rather strut out majestically letting others gasp at their swagger!

8. SRK felt insulted by being detailed for a routine interrogation! This is most unbelievable. For a man who routinely insults fellow celebrities when he anchors some award ceremony, this was a like him getting a taste of his own medicine.

9. Spare a thought for some of the producers and directors in whose sets, SRK reaches late. They are virtually detained in their own sets by the star's tantrums. Good revenge for them.

10. And finally it's time these film stars started to think of themselves as mortals. From dust we all came and to dust we all shall go. There aren't any superstars really. We are all children of One God. My thirteen year daughter says, "Dilip Kumar who?" when I tell her that Dillip Saab was the greatest actors of all time. In twenty years time, my grandchildren will say, "SRK who?"

So Mr. Khan dear, just chill man.