Some Lagos-based lawyers have urged the Federal Government not to allow the re-branding policy, introduced by erstwhile Minister of Information, Prof. Dora Akunyili, to be abandoned.
The lawyers, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos, said that the policy was a necessary impetus for the nation`s growth and development.
They lamented the fact that after Akunyili's exit, the policy had gone underground with nobody in the ministry pursuing it any more.
One of the legal practitioners, Mr Kola Afolayan, said that for the nation to move forward, there was the need for Nigerians to be re-awakened in the many areas, including politics, economics, education and general information.
He said that re-branding would assist in re-conditioning the minds of Nigerians, their feelings of patriotism and moral uprightness, adding that it would also re-create the image of the country in the minds of foreigners.
“If the minds of the people are structured toward having great respect and preserving the dignity of? their country, there will be less cases of bombings and killings, as we now have,“ he said.
Another lawyer, Mr Gbolahan Adesuyi, said that re-branding would create a country where leaders were aware of their political obligations to the people, while the people would also give the best they could for the country to advance positively.
Adesuyi expressed dissatisfaction at the way the re-branding policy had been neglected, stressing that all efforts must be made to ensure the workability of the policy rather than paying lip service to it.
On his part, Mr Chukwuemeka Ibe, said that every Nigerian should be made to embrace the policy.
Ibe said that our leaders should make the citizens to imbibe the attitude of hope and belief in government’s programmes and policies, adding that this would make the country healthier and more progressive.
He said that Nigeria’s positive image needed to be redeemed in the eyes of other nations which had wrong perceptions of the country and its citizens.
“Nigeria really needs a better image. In the eyes of the world, every Nigerian is a potential criminal and the country is regarded as unruly and difficult to lead“, he said
Ibe said that re-branding Nigeria was necessary and called on the Federal Government to get all stakeholders to be involved in it.
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