“If Lookman had been patient, he would have played for England instead of Nigeria,” Peter Crouch said about the star kid.
When I first read this in an article, I was livid, I was mad, who on earth is Peter Crouch? what temerity, what effrontery…
I could just picture myself with Crouch in a room and me reaching out for his his jugular, with many people dragging me back and finding it difficult to stop me from pouncing on him.
My first instinct was to lash out at him with an article but when the tempest had subsided, I gave it a serious dispassionate thought and I concluded that even though that was a hurtful statement, it had some substance in it.
Over the years and through great discipline, England have invested billions of pounds in managing their brand and in the process gained equity.
This equity (bankable) is redistributed to individuals, entrepreneurs, corporate bodies etc.
This is not the same with most African nations that in most cases engineer deductions from potential value due to poor Nation Brand Index (NBI)
Let me put it in context, Wigwe University is poised to rank (in terms of facility and quality) as one of the top 100 global institutions of learning, however, it would not place a premium pricing that equals that of its peers in locations like UK, US, Canada etc.
If you could airlift the entire university and place it somewhere in the UK or America, several things will change in the way it is perceived and the value it would attract.
The differential occasioned by location is the value gifted the organisation by the Nation Brand Index built by their government.
Destination Brand Index is one of the factors considered by brands and corporations before arriving at a decision to invest.
When I listen to some of our officials especially the ones saddled with the responsibility of managing information and by extension the nation’s image, I am amazed at the display of such buffoonery, nothing short of a ridiculous phantasmagloria. Do they really know the cost of their obnoxious choreography to citizens?
It has always been my position that until mother Africa is developed, Africans in the diaspora including Black Americans will continue to face disparaging treatment.
To Peter Crouch, it is the sacrifices of English heroes that bequeathed them the brand equity they enjoy today.
To Ademola Lookman you are one of the heroes tirelessly contributing to our perception bank account.
The labours of our heroes past and present will never be in vain…
By Ken Ebbi, a Brand Activist /strategist and the Lead Narrator of the House of Parables.
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