Brand Asymmetry: A Disconnection between Yar'Adua and the Masses? - 2008-06-02

Based on the Presidential Media Chat to commemorate Democracy Day and one year anniversary of the President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua-led government, Ofuma Agali takes a cursory look at the Nigerian situation and argues that unlike the president's approach to governance, the country needs a leader to run the nation like a mega corporation eager to deliver satisfaction to consumers and impressive ROI to stakeholder-suggesting the  prevalence of a brand disconnect in the present equation.

In whatever form an observer chooses to look at it, the final analysis will be that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is the face of Nigeria , at least in political leadership terms. Effectively, that will be the situation until the time he will be leaving. All references therefore, as regards his position as Nigerian leader and the aspirations of the generality of the citizenry, will be channeled through him. Yar'Adua as a brand, enjoys a great degree of acceptance by the people, when considering the selection of Nigerians that lined up for the hot seat of the president. As a brand, his antecedents were good. As a brand, his records looked clean. As a brand, and that which the nation were bound to undoubtedly encounter, he was speculated to have the capabilities that will see the nation's much needed overhaul through. Although his was never perceived as a strong brand, but since he was the only available on the shelve, it was thought that he would suffice.

For one, the masses thought he would be a clear cut difference from the stereotyped regimes of government that Nigeria has been subjected to for more than two decades. He was thought, coming from a dignified background devoid of any significant corrupt traits, as one who would make  conscious efforts to veer off from the largely purported unimaginative disposition of his predecessor's regime,  towards channeling a new cause for the new Nigeria that will be capable of playing on a level field with any other country in world.

As a brand, he had a teeming mass of consumers, the Nigerian masses, to convince. And he indeed convinced them by raising their hopes and aspirations. He achieved this through his popular Seven Point Agenda. That was his market penetration strategy. The seven point agenda came into existence in the third quarter of 2007. In that agenda, Yar'Adua pledged to do justice to the following broad areas: Power and Energy, Food Security and Agriculture, Wealth Creation and Employment, Mass Transportation, Land Reform, Security, and Qualitative and Functional Education. The agenda also has additional two special interest issues namely Niger Delta, and Disadvantaged Groups.

With high hopes and optimum expectations, the people of Nigeria have waited patiently to see signs of development and overhauling in these sections of the economy. Uppermost on the rung of desire by the Nigerian populace, is the issue of power and energy. A lot of things cannot work, in actual terms, without power. In fact, availability of power is central to economic development as this drives functionality of business and national development either in small, medium, or large scale terms.

One year after, though, Nigerians have not been able to see any significant improvement in the sector. Rather, the situation has reversed and taken a worsening toll such that the power problem currently is far more in trouble than what it was when Yar'Adua assumed office. Funny enough, what Olusegun Obasanjo, Yar'Adua's immediate predecessor left in terms of power situation in Nigeria was worse than what he met. And people are not happy. As far as they are concerned, this is yet another confirmation of cognitive dissonance which has developed out of the patronage the Nigerian masses has given to the various litany of leadership brands that have found themselves occupying the apex seat of power.

Smiling faces emerged when President Yar'Adua said he will declare a state of emergency on the nation's power situation which will in turn help to speed up whatever form of work that will be done in that sector to bring sanity and normalcy back to it. Close to one year of taking that position, Nigerians are yet to see results. But the president has been full of explanations pointing out the amount of efforts that are going into the dream for stable power in Nigeria . But Nigerians seem to have run out of gas when it comes to talking about efforts being put into developmental projects. They want results!

But still on the talks about efforts, Yar'Adua is talking hard. During a media chat with some key media personalities last week Thursday which was aired on NTA, he explained that declaring a state of emergency will happen only when all the necessary checks have been made and all levels of problems associated with that sector has been ascertained. According to the president, the National Energy Council was inaugurated August last year with Dr. Rilwanu Lukman as helmsman with a view to doing a due diligence towards understanding the magnitude of the problem in that sector. However, he disclosed that the council has concluded its work on this and the report has been forwarded to him. Like a brand that is supposedly exploring the values it will delivers to its consumers, Nigerians are now waiting for the way forward. And for results!

The president also disclosed that the findings of the council will also be scrutinized and discussed by the National Council of States, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Governors of States as well as the National Assembly. To further on these, President Yar'Adua also thinks that it would be nice to have the inputs from stakeholders like Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) as well Civil societies and organisations  before declaring the state of emergency. All of these  sounds great, no doubt, and they give the impression of a set of meticulous efforts which suggests that detailed and due process are factored into consideration in trying to fix the power problem. However, these do not seem to have the same resonance that characterizes expressions like 'state of emergency'. The bureaucracy of the entire issue seems to defy the urgency which Nigerians thought the matter should receive. Although it is well known that bureaucracy is inherent in government, perhaps Nigerians think it is time for innovative process backed up by creativity that can propel a sense of urgency and recognition of the plight of the Nigerian masses.

Even in the heat of the matter, President Yar'Adua, during the media chat  says “the short term situation is to ensure that there will be constant power by 2009 while the long term solution is to meet up with Vision 2020 of 100, 000 Mega Watts.”

With due respect to process, the interpretation of the average Nigerian might be different. 2008 still has its second half untouched. For Nigerians, to think that it will take such a long time to get out of darkness is a lot. Many observers think that these thoughts do not reflect a leadership that understands the level of urgency of the situation. So while the masses think the president is slow on development, the president on the other hand thinks he is going at a good speed suggesting that everything is normal.

But in contemporary branding, which is at the heart of business today, innovation and creativity are key elements for carving a niche or better still for creating a marked differentiation that will ensure that the brand gets continuous loyalists. The brand therefore lives the aspirations of its customers and the generality of the consumers for which it exists.

A brand that does not submit to the needs of consumers and make efforts to create value might simply evaporate from the shelves and written off into the blank pages of history. So who is right and who is wrong? The consumers want action and results. Brand President is living out a process for the long term, a case that sounds like asymmetry and misalignment of interest between the brand and the consumers.