A professor of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nnayelugo Okoro has identified that secession is not the solution to Nigeria’s problem.
Okoro who is also the Chairman, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Nsukka LGA also added that leadership and lack of respect for core values in the country contributes majorly as the bane of Nigeria’s national development.
The don made this known at the 119th inaugral lecture 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.
The lecture attracted principal officers of the institution and academics from different universities in the country.
Highlight of the occasion was a presentation of certificate of presentation to the inaugural lecturer.