On July 11, in the boardroom of the Bank of Industry, a groundbreaking partnership was unveiled to the media. The partnership between the Bank of Industry and the Nigeria Olympic Committee is to exploit all the business opportunities that would be available before, during and after the 2012 London Olympics. Our Special Correspondent, IKPO IGBINOBA was at the event and reports.
In 2002, Nigeria squandered a rare opportunity presented on a sliver platter to accelerate the growth of her economy.
In that year, Japanese investors who had hitherto ignored the huge Nigerian market with its abundant resources decided to make a foray into the continent’s biggest market.
And they were to employ the opportunity provided by the FIFA World Cup as a platform to reach out to Nigeria. The Japanese were in the summer of that year co-hosting the FIFA World Cup with their South Korean neighbours.
Beyond hosting the event, the Japanese laid a solid groundwork to use the event as a platform to further fuel their booming economy which was then number three behind that of the United States of America and Germany.
Nigeria was part of the Japanese plan. Having qualified from the African continent and zoned to play in Japan, the Japanese were ready to do business with Nigerian entrepreneurs. They were enthusiastic about doing business with Nigeria for obvious reasons. The country with over a 100 million people is endowed with abundant natural resources from oil and gas to solid minerals.
Hiratsuka, a town of just 250,000 people with a flourishing industry and commerce sector had the assignment to woo the Nigerian business community. The town in the heart of Kanagawa Prefecture as a first step offered free facilities and accommodation to the Super Eagles. They even paid the Nigerian team some money to live in their community. Several months before the kick off, the town had assumed the status of a Nigerian satellite town. They adopted Nigerian meals and those meals including amala, ewedu, edikaikong were served in their schools during lunch time.
On the day the Nigerian delegation finally arrived in Hiratsuka, the town stood still. School children lined the streets waving Nigerian flags to welcome their heroes. Businesses were shut.
All these were just a build-up to what the Hiratsuka business community wanted, which was meeting with the business delegation from Nigeria. At the end of the day the expectation of the Japanese was dashed. There was no business delegation. The leadership of the Hiratsuka Chamber of Commerce waited in vain for their counterparts from Nigeria to arrive.
Nigeria lost what could have translated into massive investments from the Japanese who until then had very little knowledge of the business environment of Africa’s most populous country.
Nigeria lost that chance because those saddled with the responsibility of administering the country’s sports then saw sports from the myopic prism of competing. They did not know that the dynamics of sports had changed from just competing to providing a platform to drive the economy.
That explains why nations battle with several millions of dollars to get the hosting rights of big events and those without the capacity to host break the banks to attend major Games. Sports today is the most strategic public relations tool for nations to showcase not just their athletic prowess, but other aspects of their national life.
It is this understanding that the Nigeria Olympic Committee President, Sani Ndanusa, has decided to launch Nigeria using the London 2012 Olympics as the platform. Ndanusa has developed a blueprint that should put Nigeria on the global radar, before, during and even after the London Olympics 2012. His dream is to showcase to the global audience, Nigerian potentials from oil and gas, solid minerals, tourist sites and investment opportunities.
Ndanusa, former sports minister and the president of the Nigeria Tennis Federation has seen a range of benefits that accrue to nations in major events. But Nigeria since her debut appearance in Rome Olympics in 1960, has never taken advantage of business opportunities provided by such games.
Ndanusa developed a Nigerian Village in Surrey where the contingent would be based in the town’s university. In that village, Nigeria and all her rich endowments would be on display for the global audience to see. This is where the Nigerian business community comes in.
The NOC President presented his proposal to the Bank of Industry and for a bank which is at the forefront of driving the industrialisation of the country, the project is like a dream come true.
On July 11, when the two big brands unveiled their London Olympics 2012 plans at the corporate headquarters of the bank, all the parties were beaming. Ms Evelyn Oputu, the chief executive officer of the bank was full of praise for the NOC. She couldn’t conceal her joy as she outlined what role her bank would play.
She alluded to the fact that this was the first time Nigeria was taking advantage of the opportunities offered by such big events like the Olympics. “Nigeria has been taking part in the Olympics for long,” she said, adding “This is the first time that the Bank of Industry is seeing some level of seriousness for the Olympic Games preparation”
The BOI involvement in the games would be to project all the positive aspects of the country. “Nigeria,” she said, “has so much positive parts and BOI will through this partnership help in promoting them.”
She also promised to use the games as a platform to expand the business horizon of small and medium scale enterprises in the country. According to her, “The BOI is always trying to promote smes and some of these smes will have the opportunity to showcase what they have to offer to the global market during the games”
Oputu added “The project will provide jobs, expose investment opportunities and create the new image that we want for Nigeria.”
Earlier, Ndanusa had enumerated the benefits awaiting Nigerian businesses in the project. He said the leadership of Surrey Chamber of Commerce and Industry was eagerly looking forward to meeting the Nigerian business community to start a relationship that should add value to the economies of Nigeria and the United Kingdom.Ndanusa said the choice of BOI as the driver of the project was not by accident.
He said the credentials of the bank as one that was in the forefront of industrialisation and promoting the smes put it in good stead to bring together major players in corporate Nigeria to be part of the project.
Some investors in the West and Asia have a hazy idea of Nigeria and are therefore skeptical about doing business in the country. To them, Nigeria is a haven for violence, kidnapping and cyber crimes and Boko Haram. These are wrong impressions which the project should change.
The world will through the Nigerian village project be opportune to see all the beautiful sides of Nigeria. They will see Nollywood, the booming film industry which has caught the fancy of the World Bank. The world will get to know the Nigeria that produced literary giants like Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe, musical icons like Sir Victor Uwaifo and Fela. The world would get to know that Nigeria is a country blessed with natural resources beyond just oil and gas, a country blessed with diverse range of tourist sites, a country with plenty of investment opportunities.
For now it is not certain what Nigerian athletes will achieve on the tracks, but what is certain is that through this project, the Nigerian economy has already won the first gold medal. And the smiles on all the faces of those who graced the event at the corporate headquarters of the BOI that Monday will no doubt spread across the nation with new investments, job creations and a new and positive image for the country.