leadership and the stark failure of similar development plans in the past. Nigerians in the past two decades alone have witnessed so many of such initiatives as Vision 2020.

The most famous of this is perhaps the Vision 2010 plan by the General Sani Abacha administration in 1997. In the Vision 2010 Main Report, it is stated inter alia that “Our vision statement for Nigeria by the year 2010 is _ “to be a united, industrious, caring and God_fearing democratic  society committed to making the basic needs of life affordable for everyone and creating  Africa’s leading economy.”

The Report is detailed with expected outcomes and time lines. It is therein stated instructively that “The Vision as crafted by the Committee is intended to serve as a compass to guide our collective actions to reach our targets by the year 2010. We can then plan for the period, 2020_ 2050 _ during which we would aim at joining the developed nations in particular, the major powers which are responsible for shaping the future of the entire world.”

It is obvious that the Vision 2020 project had been anticipated in the Vision 2010 document, but to be noted carefully is the fact that all the expectations and the action plans articulated in the Vision 2010 document were not realized.

Still the Nigerian government continued with the Visioning process. In 2004, the Obasanjo Government launched what it called a National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) to cover the period 2004 _2007. NEEDS_1 as it was known was a medium_term strategy “to achieve effective poverty alleviation through wealth creation”, taking into consideration “political socio_cultural and other peculiarities of the nation.”

This was followed up by NEEDS_2 to cover the period 2008 _ 2011 with emphasis on four goals: poverty reduction, wealth creation employment generation and value re_orientation. Not many Nigerians can point to many achievements deriving from NEEDS_ 1 and NEEDS_2 which were even extended to the state and local government levels as SEEDS and LEEDS respectively.

However in the introduction to the NEEDS_2 document, it is declared that “Nigeria aspires to be in the league of the 20 leading economies in the world by the year 2020.

“It is this aspiration, pointed out in the Vision 2010 document, and restated in the NEEDS_2 document, that now forms the substance of the current Vision 2020 process in the context of not four goals but seven. Without the people’s buy_in however, not much may be achieved. The people are frustrated with their leaders. There have been so many reports of corruption and political brigandage since 1999 that even in a democratic context, the people nurse doubts about the future.

Poverty is yet another challenge: Vision 2010, NEEDS, Vision 2020, Re_branding Nigeria sound like slogans to  ordinary Nigerians who are more pre_occupied with survival. There is also a lot of ignorance and alienation in the land. Nigerians at the grassroots level are not easily impressed by reports that the government is dreaming orseeing visions: they are interested in practical, immediate results.

All of these constitute a marketing and communication challenge, and an opportunity for a proper definition of partnership between government and marketing professionals. Marketing plays and can play a central role in the development process.

To sell Vision 2020 to Nigerians, to communicate a sense of where we are, where we should be going and what we need, the midwives of the Vision 2020 process require skills that are in the province of marketing and communications. In this regard, I recommend the expression of partnership at all the key stages of the Visioning Process: (a) Defining the Vision, (b) Communicating the vision, (c) Implementing the Vision, (d) Monitoring and Evaluating the Outcomes.

(a) Defining the Vision: The Federal Government is currently at the stage of defining the  Vision 2020  in terms  of its  content,  priorities  and concrete  deliverables. Advertisers and their firms as key players within the economy can be involved at the various   planning   stages   as   members   of  the   Business   Support   Group,   the Stakeholders Committee and the Technical Working Groups, and where they are not members,  their  inputs  can  be  sought,  or  they  can  as  relevant  groups  make representations.

Assessing the interests of the products and services segment of the economy, as well as market behaviour require marketing research, and the kind of knowledge that marketing experts can place at the disposal of the process. |

The visioning process also requires proper segmentation of sectors and interest groups, an area in which marketing experts can provide useful insights. But more importantly, the participation of the marketing industry in the Visioning Process provides an opportunity to include in the knowledge_pool that is generated, the concerns of the industry and its various audiences in society, as well as the latter’s behaviour and peculiarities. Nigeria seeks to be differentiated from other countries of the world. The definition of that proposition can be supported by the marketing and advertising industry.

(b) Communicating the Vision: This is perhaps the key area in which the advertiser can bring marketing strategies to bear on Vision 2020. At the heart of the entire Vision 2020 idea is the plan by the Nigerian Government that the country can be re_branded. This re_branding objective was a key component of the Vision 2010 document, with the adoption of a Vision 2010 Slogan:

“A great Nigeria., is ours to build.”   Ahead of the official launch of the Vision 2020 document scheduled for October 1, 2009, the Yar’Adua government has since embarked on a re_branding campaign, under the auspices of the Ministry of Information and Communication. The adopted slogan as announced is “Great country, good people” .

The Minister in charge of this campaign, Professor Dora Akunyili had pointed out that the campaign will be mostly driven with private sector support. Advertisers and their firms are primarily engaged in the business of branding, turning products and services into strong brands, packaging symbols and ideas, with the goal of adding value in the market and gaining greater equity. It is the same objective as the Vision 2020 and the re_branding project.