Category: Brand week

A PUBLIC Relations consultancy firm, Mediacraft Associates, has launched an online news and business intelligence platformwww.bizwatchnigeria.com.

It caters for over 30 sectors, taking into cognizance the increasing need for easier access to news and information on various industry sectors of the economy.

During the presentation of the portal, Mr John E. Ehiguese, Group Chief Executive Officer of Mediacraft Associates, said his organisation’s would raise the bar in public relations practice. He described the portal as a major reason for the development of the online news platform.

The Editor-in-Chief, Mr Elcee McEdwards, said: “Our pre-occupation at Bizwatchnigeria.com is to build a top-of-the-range platform that will serve as a point of recourse for upwardly mobile young men and women, as well as business executives, playing in the various sectors of the Nigerian economy. More than anything else, Bizwatchnigeria.com is a kind of ‘one-stop-shop’ news platform for busy executives.”

Speaking further, McEdwards said: “We run a free daily email newsletter for people interested in the specific business sectors, bringing the relevant news and articles straight to the inbox of our registered subscribers.”

We are atypical nation. It is baffling how we have come this far with out the establishment of some basic infrastructures such as a national emergency number. For instance, Nigeria does not have a national emergency number. The emergency numbers we have are in silos. Lagos has its own emergency number. Ogun State has its own.

The National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) has its own number. The Fire Service has its own unique number. The Ambulance Corps has its own number. Police has its own number. Your family has its own special emergency number, which is linked to your pastor and doctor, depending on the situation!

Do not call my number and ask me to give you an emergency number because I would not. What is available is not what we need. What we need is a unified national emergency number, one that would serve all-purpose and situation, one that would be as easy as 121; not some odd set of numbers you cannot remember in an emergency. According to research, during an emergency, the brain goes into a panic mode, and would be too busy searching for solution; as such, it would not have time recollecting some odd set of numbers.

That is why, globally, emergency number is usually a set of simple figures that can be dialled using two keys on the phone. Ok, it is confusing, but it is not. Pick up your mobile phone now. Dial 121. You would notice that you punched just two keys – one and two. However, you dialled one twice. You see, it is easy. So, come on, tell me, why do we not have one national emergency number that would be available to you, to me, to everyone?  The answer is in a file, the file is in an office, and one man who does not appreciate the importance of having a functional emergency number owns the office.

That is why Lagos State introduced a dedicated 767 and 112-call centre for emergency government services in 2009. The call centre manages five million calls monthly. Lagos residents are using the service because it worked. Ogun State followed suit in August last year. The state introduced an emergency toll free number 211 call centres. What is happening to the national emergency number? Do not ask me.

However, recent reports indicated that the project to install a single emergency number nationwide is in various stages of completion across Nigeria. Over N4 billion has been spent on it, yet the project is still in the embryo stage, bogged down by bureaucratic nonsense, being supervised by bureaucrats. The project entails citing Emergency Communication Centres (ECCs) in each state and Abuja. This would enable the public alert security agencies in case of emergencies, threats to lives or to volunteer useful information to various authorities.

Let us have the sharing formula: Huawei got a $13.572 million contract to install communication infrastructure centre. It would install the centres with the required gadgets for exchange of information with various security agencies. The facilities would have 11 workstations for call takers in each state; system servers and switches in each state; UPS battery bank in each state; Universal Access Platform in each state; Array Storage Systems and Raised Platforms in each state.

Another 22 companies got N2.44 billion contracts to construct bungalows to house the ECCs in 37 states plus Abuja. Audit reports had it the number of states allotted per contract ranged from one to three. The contracts have been executed in 23 states.

Plans are underway for the development of a coordinated strategy for effective response to the ECCs by the designated response agencies i.e. fire departments, Federal Road Safety Commission, NEMA, Civil Defence Corps, Police blah blah blah. This is the summary: Having a unified emergency number in Nigeria is not an emergency.

Banking blues

The other day, the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, revealed in Abuja at the yearly Isaac Moghalu Foundation (IMOF) lecture that banks over-charged customers over N6 billion. He followed up by saying that the newly established Consumer Protection Department of the CBN had recovered the amount and returned it to customers.

And the question is, have you received your portion of the fund? Who are these customers? You and I are bank customers, are we not? Have you got any notifications from your bank about this refund? I have checked my accounts and there is no such thing as a refund. Hello, who do I report to that I have been overcharged?

Since there is no national emergency service number, and there is no one to call in cases of bank overcharge, who will help me recover my fund from my banks? Sanusi has spoken. What is next? On several occasions, the banks have carried on as if the customers do not have choices. And do you have a choice? Do you really have a choice? You do not have a choice because all the banks are alike. The banks have the same mentality.

A typical bank teller is bored stiff because she is over worked, overpaid, over indulged to the extent that she does not have the luxury of looking at your face. The teller is probably thinking about her next job where she would be paid higher than what she is earning at her place of work. Therefore, when she resigns and gets another job, she comes with the same attitude. And the beat goes on…

 

Legend is offering consumers a lifetime experience in  Dubai in its ongoing promo. In this report, winners share their experience with WALE ALABI 

The excitement is in the air. The adrenaline of consumers going to Dubai has shot up. It’s already one month since what many described as “The deal of the year”, The Legend Real Deal National Consumer Promotion, began.

Of the 25 consumers, which Legend Extra Stout promised to take to Dubai, 17 have emerged in two raffle draws in Lagos and Port Harcourt.

While on the free trip, the winners would visit some important places and shop for gift items worth N1 million at one of the city’s biggest shopping malls.

The first raffle draw held in Egbeda, Lagos produced nine winners. Of these nine, seven have gone to Dubai and have returned. They are: Uchechukwu Dennis Chukwu from Ebonyi State, Nwabuoke Ikechukwu Ambrose from Delta State, Oluwabusuyi Kelvin Olubusuyi from Ekiti State, Solomon Okoro Ike from Owerri, Imo state, John Akoji from Abuja, and Temitope Ogunyemi and Austin Nwakaife, from Lagos State.

James Nweke from Kano State and Aghedo Cyril Sadiq Ehinoria from Lagos could not make the first trip. They, however, joined the next batch of winners.

The eight lucky consumers are: Ozioko Bethran Ikechukwu from Kogi, Okotie Oritsuwa from Warri, Tom Madaki from Kaduna, Omoleye Folasade Grace from Ekiti, Wilson Prince Osah from Port Harcourt, Sunny Odomoke from Ebonyi, Ishalaiye Ayodele Aghedo from Lagos and Emuejevoke Oputu, also from Port Harcourt.

They returned from Dubai, where they shopped for items worth N1 million in one minute.

Twenty-eight-year-old James Nwaoyama Nweke is a bouncer, who relocated to Kano in the quest for greener pasture. He said: “The day I bought the Legend beer that won me the Dubai trip was boring for me. I then decided to stroll down to International Hotel on Enugu Road to have a drink. Getting there, I saw that a promo was on, and I ordered for Legend Stout. I became upset when I didn’t win any of the instant prizes, but a lady sitting close to me persuaded me to send the code on my crown cork, and I just gave it to her to assist me. To be honest, I didn’t expect to win, as I was planning to go back to my home state, Anambra. I was shocked when they called me that I had won a trip to Dubai. I could not hold my excitement.”

The trip was Nweke’s first outside Nigeria. He also got his first international passport and visa courtesy of Legend Extra Stout.

He further said: “I neither had an international passport, nor money to procure one, not to talk of travelling abroad. Nigerian Breweries made provision for all our travel documents without collecting any dime from me. If not for Legend, there is no way I could have been what I am today, because all this happened when I was on the verge of losing hope.”

Wilson Osah, an aluminium fabricator in Port Harcourt, said he was yet to wake up from the dream. He doubted when he was informed that he won. According to him, it sounded like a scam. He was only convinced when he received the money from the Legend brand team to get himself an international passport. Like James, this was his first international passport.

On his activities in Dubai he said: “I dined with many tourists from around the world, visited interesting places like the museum, the tallest building in the world and a boat cruise before we went for the Real Deal which is the shopping. We dined in two of the biggest restaurants in Dubai – Brazilian and Chinese Restaurants.”

He described the experience as awesome. He said: “First, I picked a lot of valuable items, such as 39 Inch LG LED TV, a massive LG Home Theatre, printer and other home appliances that will be useful to my family. I think pictures should give people out there an idea of what I got. Again, the trip was an eye opener for and I long for a repeat of that show. It was like a reality show. If I had another chance, I will love to do it again.”

Twenty-four-year-old Ayodele Ishalaiye, based in Lagos is a Youth Corps member serving in Ebonyi State. When he got the call that he had won in the Legend Real Deal promo, he did not believe it.

He did not see himself travelling in the year, neither did he have a passport, because he didn’t have any need for it yet.

He said: “When the call first came in, I thought it was a swindle me.They got me my passport and two months Dubai visa, and flew us on Emirates Airline to Dubai.

“Initially, I was apprehensive, because I didn’t know what was in stock for me. But I thank God I was able to pick valuables that are useful for my immediate needs. I picked 39’ LED TV, Home Theatre, and other expensive home appliances.”

He has kind words for Legend Extra Stout.

Oritsuwa Okotie from Delta State has visited some African countries. Yet, he described his trip to Dubai as an eye-opener.

“In Dubai, I saw a very beautiful city, with a likeable nationality that has a culture of self-sustenance. The lifestyle of the people and the way they relate, the level of development and many other monumental legacies the city possess.”

On his experience in Dubai, he said: “Legend is real. As you can see, I just came back from an all-expense paid trip to Dubai where I went to shop for free, after drinking two bottles of Legend Extra Stout.

Fifty-four-year-old Tom Madaki, a native of Kaduna is a pensioner, who served in the Nigerian Army. He described Dubai trip as the biggest reward of his life. The veteran, after quiting the military service also worked as an accountant in the Kaduna State Civil Service for 10 years. All through these years, he never travelled abroad until Legend Extra Stout offered him the opportunity.

Nobel Carpet has rewarded its trade partners. It held parties for them in four key cities in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano.

The high points of the events were the presentation of the star prizes to five winners. They were Mrs. Adesina Olukemi (Kess Carpets) and Mr. Surajudeen Oladokun (Obokun Carpets), winners from Lagos and Ibadan, got a brand new Honda City and Hyundai Elentra cars. Sir R.C. Oforukwuga (RC Ofor Carpets) and Mr Tony Ogu (Tony International Carpets), winners from the Port Harcourt zone got a brand new Honda City and Hyundai Accent cars, while Alhaji Lawan Abubakar (Beli Ventures Nigeria Enterprises), winner from Kano got a Hyundai Accent car.

Speaking at the Lagos party, Mr Kunal Malhotra, General Manager, Nobel Carpet and Rugs, said the firm rewarded the distributors for their support for the brand. He said the success the brand has achieved is hinged on the support it enjoyed from the distributors.

He said: “We are here to celebrate our valued partners who have proven themselves consistent and reliable over the years. Our brand, Nobel Carpet, is the preferred carpet and rug brand not only in Nigeria, but also in sub-Saharan Africa. We can affirm that that this achievement would be impossible without the continued support of our distributors”.

Assistant Sales Manager, Nobel Carpet & Rugs, Mrs. Bunmi Odunoye, said: ‘‘We congratulate and celebrate with the distributors who have won the star prizes at this year’s distributors’ party, we are very happy to be associated with them and we hope it will continue to be a mutually beneficial relationship.’’ She reaffirmed the company’s commitment to producing the best quality made-in-Nigeria goods.

You have a right to privacy.

No other human has the right

to deny you the right to privacy. No one, not even technology by any name, has the right to step on your right to privacy. However, if your right to privacy becomes an issue of public discourse, and advocacy group stepped in to defend your right to privacy, then your right to privacy is on the wane. However, your right is your right. Your privacy is your privacy.

Technology has its boundary, and by design or accident, it should not intrude on your right to privacy and by extension your right to life. The right to privacy is yours one hundred per cent. You can choose to do whatever you deem necessary in closet. No one, no one, has the right to deny you the right to your privacy, unless if you are fighting the state and the society. However, then, even, prisoners have some sort of privacy. Likewise, the dead have privacy. The living has privacy too. There is no contest. On the one hand, your right to privacy cannot be guaranteed in a public place like stadium, cinema, conference centre or a classroom.

However, if any one or technology impinges on your right to privacy, as is the case with the advent of Google Glass, you have a right to stand up and scream! If you choose to shut up, some right advocacy group would rather take it up, and on your behalf, would shout on the rooftops, raise concerns regarding the intrusion of your privacy. Lately, privacy advocates are concerned that people wearing Google’s latest innovation, Glass – a wearable computer with a heads-up display – may be able to identify strangers in public using facial recognition or surreptitiously record and broadcast private conversations.

Other concerns have been raised regarding legality of the Glass in some countries, particularly in Russia, Ukraine, and other post-USSR countries.  According to reports, in February, this year, a Google+ user noticed legal issues with Glass and posted in the Glass Explorers community about the issues, stating that the device may be illegal to use according to the current legislation in Russia and Ukraine.  Concerns have also been raised regarding operating motor vehicles while wearing Glass.

To give it a bite, West Virginia State representative Gary Howell has introduced to legislation an amendment to the law against texting while driving to include bans against “using a wearable computer with head mounted display.” Howell said the primary thing is a safety concern, Glass headset, he said could project text or video into a driver’s field of vision, which is a potential for distraction.

He opined that since the youths are tech-savvy they tend to try new things. The youths, he said, are the most vulnerable and under-skilled drivers in the UK. According to him, many car crashes caused by texting and driving occurred mostly among the youngest drivers. “It was argued that the Glass and other similar wearable types of technology will create a world where ‘privacy is impossible’. A London-based campaign group has warned that the “The Cyborgs” should be stopped while calling for limits on when the Glasses can be used – along with guidelines to inform the public when they are being filmed.

While speaking to the BBC, one of the campaigners stressed that their aim was not to bring about a ban on the technology but instead they want people to “actively set social and physical bounds around the use of technologies and not just fatalistically accept the direction technology is heading in”. That is the idea. Society watchdogs are there to ginger people’s consciousness to real or perceived dangers. And Glass, as it is designed right now, consists a perceived danger, as its usage might cause “distractions” to living and life.

On its website, the campaign group, formed in February this year, said its aim is to “encourage individual people to think about the impact of new technologies, to set bounds on how technologies are used (and) proactively negotiate their relationship with the future. We want people to be selective adopters.” The group’s website features downloadable Google Glass ‘ban signs’, which the group encourage readers to put up “to ban people from wearing the Glass to help “protect your privacy.”

Issues surrounding privacy in relation to Google Glass are being debated ahead of its expected launch date in 2014. The five-Point Cafe in Seattle has famously banned the use of the Glass posting a sign for patrons reading kicking will be encouraged for violators’ of the rule. Google’s co-founder, said, “We are putting a lot of thought into how we design Glass because new technology always raises important new issues for society. Our Glass Explorer programme will give all of us the chance to be active participants in shaping the future of this technology, including its features and social norms.”

For argument’s sake, the Glass could be useful in a case of hit and run mishap where a reckless driver knocks down a pedestrian and decides not to stop. In such a situation, if bystanders were wearing the Glass, they might record the scene instead of employing the smartphones. Later, the wearer would reveal the identity of the offender during investigation by the police. This instance and other similar situations would benefit greatly from usage of Glass. That is where it ends.

In Nigeria, Glass could turn out to be a weapon of blackmail. For example, if a wearer of the Glass has sinister motive, such as monitoring the movement of a woman, a wealthy individual or a child within an estate, street or other area with the purpose of executing dastard act, the Glass could become a weapon in the hands of crime-minded individuals. Any way you look at it, the Glass is another sure means to invade individual’s privacy, to rob innocent people of the right to private and decent living.

On the other hand, in the hands of professionals, such as broadcast journalists, secret service agents etc, the Glass becomes a miniature outside broadcasting unit, a surveillance tool and monitoring device. In the hands of politicians, the Glass becomes an object of blackmail, witch-hunting and invasion of privacy. Whatever way it is viewed, the Glass may be a masterpiece, but its usage raises several social issues, which the inventor needs to consider before the release date.

In addition, as Google co-founder noted, ‘society’ must accept the product and adopt it; but if it encroaches on the right of individual, the Glass may spend the rest of its life in the laboratory. Since no technology can succeed if the society does not accept and adopt it, every successful technology or innovation worships on the altar of societal acceptance. If the society turns against Google’s invention, the Glass will be broken.