INSIDE MY HEAD

Forget all the other reasons, the main reason why I love to write is because writing allows me to document the thoughts in my head. Most times, I am awed by the many different thoughts that go through my head in a 24 hour day. Alarming sometimes, to say the least. I know for sure that if I manage to write down a third of the thoughts that are processed inside my head… lets hit the nail on its head and cut the chase.
Pardon me if the things in my head as I write this appear somewhat haphazard and disorganized. Don’t blame the text you read, for it is only a reflection of its source – my head. Hopefully, it will be a series. Hope I can keep up though.

1. Fuel subsidy, Baba suwe and NDLEA, National awards, PDP vs Sylva, Farida Waziri… and the list go on. Can I get a breather please? I mean, a day without any silly headline that will make me unprovoked? What one story that made headline in the dailies found a way to inspire me? The death of Alex Ibru. Exactly what is inspring about the death of Alex Ibru? Recall that on 2 February 1996 this man his car was sprayed with machine gun fire from unidentified men who had trailed him in a deep-blue Peugeot. Both Ibru and the editor-in-chief Femi Kusa were flown to England for treatment of their injuries. This man hung unto life and stunned the doctors who were skeptical of his chances of survival in the first place. Lesson: the man who will die is he who has been appointed and commissioned to die by the creator. A new sense of hope and joy came upon me as I read about his death. The Nigerian ruler who kills, loots, lies and lives off all manners of evil practices should know that death is inevitable. No amount of protection, whether physical or spiritual can shield you from death when it beckons. The Nigerian populace will cheat death for as long as it is necessary just as Alex Ibru did, against all odds until that day salvation steers us in the face. RIP Alex Ibru.


2. Once engaged in a discussion with a friend, he said: “but these Libyans were gullible and naïve. How could they allow one man to rule and dominate them for over 40 years?” well, my good friend, I hope you also classify Nigerians in that category as well. The PDP can boast of ruling Nigeria for 23 out of the 51 years of Nigeria’s self rule. Muammar Gaddafi on the other hand led Libya for 42 out of the 60 years of Libya’s self rule. Talking about the difference between 6 and half dozen. Remember who said this: ‘We will continue to make it and PDP will continue forever as the dominant political party in Nigeria?’ Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party {PDP}, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, Wednesday 7 September 2011. Maybe Libyans were naïve and gullible, but right now they have made a strong case for themselves. They have made a point. They set themselves from the shackles of torture and inequality. They demanded for independence and they got it. They wanted liberation and they got it. Can we say the same for Nigeria and her kwashiorkor stricken people? Can we say the same for the wailing Nigerians? Like the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti said: “we are suffering and smiling”. How long will this last? When will Nigerians decide to stop tweeting, writing, talking, wishing, hoping and start acting? Until that day the PDP can as well continue their jolly ride. I hope it won’t be forever though.

Nation Branding and Place Marketing

I. The Marketing Plan

In the decades since World War II, economics prowess replaced military power as the crucial geopolitical determinant. The resilience of a country is measured by its inflows of foreign investment and by the balance of its current account - not by the number of its tanks and brigades.

Inevitably, polities the world over - regions, states, countries, and multinational clubs - behave as only commercial businesses once did. They actively market themselves, their relative advantages, their history and culture, their endowments and assets, their mentality and affiliations. In short, they aggressively promote their brand names ("brands" throughout this article).

To cast countries in the role of brands implies that they act as "producers" to some "consumers" out there. But what do countries - as distinct from firms - produce? And who are the consumers enticed by said statal brand placement and regional location marketing? And how does the process of exchange take place - who gives what to whom and where?

Few governments know the answers to these economically crucial questions. Ministers of finance and industry the world over religiously repeat the mantras of "attracting foreign direct investment" and "encouraging entrepreneurship". They recite the list of advantages proffered by their country to the lucky investor, manager, scientist, expatriate, or businessman. But they lack a deep understanding of the process and meaning of nation branding.

Few countries - Britain being the notable exception in the past decade - conduct serious market research and bang heads together in think tanks or inter-ministerial committees to redesign the national brand. Even fewer maintain long-term, sustained branding campaigns supported by proper advertising. Only recently did a few pioneering polities hire the services of nation branding experts. None has in place the equivalent of a corporate "brand manager".

One of the critical mistakes of countries the world over is the self-centered lack of emphasis on customer satisfaction. Meeting and exceeding the "client's" expectations is merely an afterthought - rather than the axis around which the planning, evaluation, control, and revision of the marketing mix revolve. At best, countries concentrate on concluding specific transactions instead of on the development and cultivation of long-term relationships with their "clients".

It is as though countries arrogantly refuse to acknowledge their dependence on the goodwill of individuals and firms the world over. The traditional and impregnable supremacy of the sovereign nation-state has gone the way of the dodo - but decision-makers still have to be appraised of this startling development. Most countries - and nowadays there is a surfeit  of sovereigns - are nothing more than bit players in the global marketplace. It takes getting used to.

Many politicians mentally equate self-marketing with humiliating mendicancy.

Instead, decision makers should hire marketing (and, more specifically, brand name) experts to prepare a thorough and comprehensive place marketing and nation branding plan for them:

Strategic Marketing Analysis

I. Identify what needs and whose needs can the country meet and satisfy. What preference groups (of investors, for instance) or even market niches (e.g., stem cell scientists) should be targeted to optimize economic outcomes?

II. Compile databases of past clients of the state, its resources, offerings, laws, regulations, international treaties, and economic opportunities (e.g., state companies to be privatized). These allow for micro-branding (or segment branding as opposed to mass branding): tweaking the national brand to suit the preferences, likes, dislikes, and wishes of specific target groups, down to single, important, individuals.

III. Position the country in relation to its competitors, emphasizing its natural and human endowments and its relative advantages. The process of positioning aims to identify the nation with an image, perception, concept, or trait which capture its essence and further its appeal to the clients it had identified in stage I above (investors, other countries, diplomats, scientists, and so on). Great care should be taken to align the positioning messages with realities on the ground. Anything perceived by the preference groups as being a lie or an exaggeration will backfire.

IV. Marketing is about optimal allocation of resources in view of objectives and opportunities.

The classic STP model calls for:

I. Segmentation - Identify potential customers - for instance, foreign direct investors, or expatriates and the diaspora.

II. Targeting - Concentrate on those "clients" you can serve most effectively, to whom you are most valuable and thus can "charge" the most for your offerings

III. Positioning - Communicate effectively the main benefits you offer to the targeted group.

The marketing mix comprises 4 P's which are perfectly applicable to nations as they are to businesses:

Product - Your "products" as a country being tax incentives, infrastructure, natural endowments, human resources, a geographic vantage point, helpful laws and regulations (or absence thereof), etc.

Price - Demonstrate a relative or absolute advantage in terms of return on investment

Place - Facilitate the unhindered exchange of goods, services, and capital (tax holidays, free processing zones, no red tape, double taxation treaties and free trade agreements with other countries, etc.)

Promotion - The advertising and dissemination of news and information, lobbying, public relations, media campaigns, etc.

But what products do countries offer and market and how are they tailored to the needs of specific market segments?

This is the topic of our next article.

Speed up your PC/Laptop ( Boot Faster )

~*-*~

There are few basic ( Manual ) tips to make your PC/laptop run faster.
Follow all the steps given below one after another

First Step :

Click on Start button
Click on Run or under START TYPE HERE type the command "%temp%" without quotes (")
Click OK
A Window will pop-up ( Temporary folder )
Click on Edit from Menu bar and click Select All ( or short cut method to select all the files is Press CRTL + A
Press Shift + Del key to delete the files
Few files may not get deleted so skip those files as you can delete them later

( The files and folder listed in the folder will not harm any data/document/files on your PC as they are just temporary files and can be deleted )

Second Step :

Click on Start button
Click on Run or under START TYPE HERE type the command "prefetch" without quotes (")
Click OK
A Window will pop-up ( Prefetch Folder )
Click on Edit from Menu bar and click Select All ( or short cut method to select all the files is Press CRTL + A
Press Shift + Del key to delete the files

Third Step :

Open Internet Explorer

Click on Tools on right side of window and select Internet Options
OR
Click on TOOLS from Menu bar on top and click on Internet Options
Under General TAB - Click on Delete button
Click on Delete Files button and click Yes for the message
Likewise Click on Delete Cookies, Delete History ( if you do not want the list of websites to be displayed when you type www and the website name in address bar ), Click on Delete forms
Click Close

  ( By doing this you will be able to get rid of any unwanted files and website data that is stored on your pc to make you access Internet much faster )

For Mozilla Firefox
Click on TOOLS
Click on Clear Recent History
Select Everything from RECENT TIME
Click Clear Now to clear the temporary files and folder

Fourth Step :

Click on START -> ALL PROGRAMS -> ACCESSORIES -> System Tools
Click on Disk Cleanup

It will display the Local C: drive
Click OK
Wait for sometime
It will analyze the unwanted data to be removed from your pc
Click on to Delete

To Make PC open faster after you login ( there is delay in accessing the PC after you login and see the desktop or till you are able to access your PC files )

Fifth Step :

Click on Start button
Click on Run or under START TYPE HERE type the command "msconfig" without quotes (")
Click OK
A Window will popup ( Microsoft Configuration )
Click on STARTUP tab
You will find list of programs with check mark on left side
uncheck any program listed which is related to Update or Software ( for ex. Adobe, Java, MSN, Yahoo, Google talk, etc )
UNCHECK these programs
( Do not uncheck any program you are not sure or is related to your PC like Wireless/router etc )
Click OK
You will get a message to Restart the PC - Click OK to Restart
You will observe change in speed the PC boots
Incase you find any trouble after you have unchecked, follow the same process to open MSCONFIG and put check mark back on the programs that gives you Error

Sixth Step :

If you still find your pc running slow after following all these steps, this is final step to make it work faster

Click on START -> ALL PROGRAMS -> ACCESSORIES -> System Tools
Click on Disk Defragmenter

You will find a Disk Defragmenter window open
click on Defragment and leave the PC idle till it completes the process

Defragmenter will check for any unwanted space created on the hard disk and stores the Files back to their original position in hard disk for quick access.
This is helpful when the PC takes lot of time to open a file or when it makes noise while accessing the hard drive to open/launch software/files

  Incase you find trouble to follow any instructions please consult ME.

THE EARTH, MAN, LIFE; CYCLE

…Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday… that’s all there is to the life we live on earth. Seven (7) days, and it’s a cycle; so we have to do it again.

Each day, we have an opportunity to do something different on a day we once lived in. Simply put: in the past one month, if you were alive then and still alive now, you would have lived in 4 Mondays. You would have witnessed 4 Sundays (if you are a Christian and you go to church, you would have gone to church 4 times). You would have observed 4 Fridays (translating to 4 Jumat if you are Islam).

Deriving the best out of our lives and living each day as a happy being is borne out of what we make off each day. We live in a world where we go back and forth. We live in a world where nothing is really new. We live in a world of Déjà vu.

We cope and avoid a state of insanity by getting involved in diverse activities. Try we may, but the fact is ‘we have to face each day knowing that we are in a cycle’. The Earth rotates around its own axis. It rotates with us in it. The truth is that at the end of the day, we are all on a conveyor belt of life. You will come and go. We are at different portions of the conveyor belt. We drop at different points.

…Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday… that’s all there is to the life we live on earth. Seven (7) days, and it’s a cycle; so we have to do it again.