News
From
Patrick Egwu, Enugu
A professor of Mass
Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nnayelugo Okoro has identified
leadership and lack of respect for core values in the country as bane to
national development.
Professor Okoro who is
also the Chairman, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Nsukka LGA also added that secession is not
the solution to Nigeria's problem, adding that all and sundry should come
together to move the country forward.
The don made this known as
the 119th inaugral lecturer of the University which held at the Princess Alexandra
Auditorium.
Speaking on the topic:
"Positioning Nigeria as a brand for global conpetitiveness in the 21st
century: Roadmap to best practice", Okoro said that the country has
continued to lag behind because there has not been attempts to position her to
meet global standards.
"It was Chinua Achebe
in his book "The trouble with Nigeria" who said that our problem is
leadership and once we get that correctly, then we must have solved majority of
our problems in this country.
"We have abandoned
our core values of truth, respect and hospitality and embraced foreign values
which have continued to have negative effects the country."
"The problem with
Nigeria is made worse as a result of the fact that we are not interested in the
kind of feedback we get fron other countries of the world."
According to him, the
county is portrayed as a place where disrespect
for the rule of law, corruption, insurgency drug trafficking and armed
robbery are held in high exteme.
"We are only famed
for fighting corruption and other social
vices on the pages of our national
newspapers," he said.
On the way forward, he
called on the federal government to as a matter of urgency establish a ministry
of National branding and public diplomacy with the mandate of addressing the
image problem in the country.
"No country can stand
alone in the global village hence the need for us to adapt fast by finding new
ways of penetrating the global market as a brand.
"Every citizen must
strive to be a brand ambassador, advocate and champion as we cannot own a space
in the mind of the consumer when we don't have anything to offer," he
said.
Earlier, in his opening
remarks, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Benjamin Ozumba who was
represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Prof James Ogbonna, said
inaugural lecture is a period of academic harvest when a professor takes the
audience through an academic discourse with a view of showing past achievements
or ongoing research projects.
A post graduate student at
the lecture, Mr John Chukwu expressed delight at the lecture, adding that he
has been impacted positively.
Highlight of the occasion
was a presentation of certificate of presentation to the inaugural lecturer.
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