Nigeria’s poor reputation fueling brain drain among youths — Expert

Poor reputation management has been described as a major force driving the foreign direct investments apathy and brain drain (locally termed japa) among youths.

Real estate entrepreneur and CEO, Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited, Babatunde Adeyemo, who revealed this, urged the nation’s real estate developers and its handlers to pay attention to the country’s reputation, especially its perception by Nigerians abroad.

Adeyemo disclosed this while fielding questions from newsmen in Abeokuta, Ogun State after delivering a lecture titled, “Reputation Management: The Experience in Real Estate,” during the monthly business meeting of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR),
Ogun State chapter.

He expressed the concern that the nation’s youths appeared to have reached a junction where they no longer see or say anything good about their country, adding that many youths live with the wrong impression that it is only through sharp practices or brain drain that the country’s seemingly hopeless situation can be changed for the better.

While lamenting the inconsistencies in government’s land policies and bureaucratic, Adeyemo urged developers to concentrate on value addition and always buy more time so as to get high returns on investment for both their clients and the developers.

“The situation in the country is not making things easier for an average developer but when you know that real estate is a long distance race propelled by value addition, you will look like a magician.

“There are still opportunities in Nigeria for the average Nigerian youth to build a solid foundation and that is why I am here to show the youth that it is not over yet for them. There is hope and you can always grow in this challenging business environment.

“I will want to call on an average Nigerian youth to be patient, to persevere and build a solid foundation for growth. Definitely, things will get better with time and commitment to worthy and legitimate ventures,” he said.

In his lecture on reputation management in the real estate sector, Adeyemo harped on building a strong brand reputation involves monitoring what people think and say about the organisation, responding to misleading information, malicious allegations, negative reviews, and generally looking out for and acting on opportunities to boost the organisation’s reputation.

He also disclosed that his firm has not been involved in any court case in over ten years of existence because it prides on carrying out its due diligence before acquiring any land.

According to him, the due diligence involves investigating and making sure that the said lands do not fall on government acquisition areas, proper documentation, tracing the true and original owners of the land and establishing a presence noted for value-addition.

The business meeting had in attendance, communication scholar and Olota of Ota, Oba (Professor) Adeyemi Obalanlege; state chapter chairman of NIPR, Mrs Seun Boye; Vice Chairman, Mr Waheed Ogunjobi; Secretary, Mr Kunle Olayeni; former chairman, Tope Adaramola; former Chief Press Secretary to Governor Gbenga Daniel, Pastor Dare Folarin; his counterpart during Governor DA po Abiodun’s first term in office, Mr Kunle Somorin, amongst others.