Nigeria, Africa losing out due to wrong perception — Daniel

A former Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel, has said Africa, especially, Nigeria is losing out economically due to wrong perceptions about the continent.

 He said unlike the developed countries, Africans were in the habit of ‘showcasing’ their dark side to the world.

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 Daniel spoke in Abeokuta at a lecture jointly organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Ogun State chapter, and the PR Primus Ltd with the theme, “Turning Around The Nation: the leadership question.”

 Daniel stated that public relations “is virtually everything” and that “perception is a reality.” 

The former governor, now the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Ogun East, challenged professionals to always project the image of Nigeria in a way that would attract socio-economic development.

 He said, “We are not happy about what is happening here (Nigeria ) regarding security, how people are being kidnapped, but somebody was saying that in the United States, this year alone, there have been over 50 shootouts, senseless shootouts where people just go to schools. 

 “They are not kidnapping; they just shoot at children. You wonder whether they are perverse or if something is wrong with their brains. Ordinarily, without the advent of social media, we would not have known things like this happen in locations like that.”

 The President of the African Public Relations Association (APRA), Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, who spoke virtually at the lecture, submitted that Nigeria needed a disruptive leader if the country must get it right in 2023. 

Six prominent personalities were honoured at the occasion including the immediate past Rector of the Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbesa, Dr Olufunke Akinkurolere, who was decorated with the “outstanding innovation leadership award of the year.” 

Others are the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Dr Olusegun Aluko; Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Prof Felix Salako; Vice Chancellor of Crescent University, Prof Ibraheem Gbajabiamila, Chief Fassy Yusuf and Rasheed Bolawinwa.