Stakeholders have identified functionality, finishing, adequate packaging and presentation of Nigeria products as a means of achieving good value at the international market viz-a-viz positioning the country’s brands for export.
This was disclosed at an investment forum at the ongoing International Arts and Crafts (INAC) Expo in Abuja, calling on the stakeholders in private and public sector to show originality in their product finishing for a good presentation.
According to Professor Jerry Buhari, who deliver a paper on the imperatives of creativity and product design in networking Nigeria arts and crafts said “Gone are the days when creativity was viewed as relating to art alone, today every discipline acknowledges the importance of creativity in any form national development.
Speaking during the panel discussion, one of the panellists, Dr Ojo Ranti from University of Abuja, who spoke with candour said people perish because of neglect of their culture, calling for cultural orientation to re-engage people in cultural norms and value.
“We should give special attention and interest to indigenous technologies by making a thing of all times than making it an object of exhibition alone.
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He added that to make a rapid away in building a business frontier for made in Nigeria products, Nigerians must make indigenous technology a way of life just as it is done in other parts of the world.
For another panellist, Mrs Maureen Chukura, a food entrepreneur that repackage Nigeria staple food in a presentable pack for domestic and international market said presentation is a key factor in attracting patronage.
“The only way to brace up with the market trend is to engage passionately in right packaging of our art and craft products as well as other areas of business endeavour to be able to make a remarkable in the global market.”
Also the chief executive officer of Le Look, Mrs Chinwe Ezenwa, a proudly made in Nigeria entrepreneur, who believed that Nigeria private and public sector must rise to the global trend of doing business, challenged the Federal Government and other relevant agencies to sit up to their statutory mandate of creating a structurally threshold for Nigeria products to fit into the market global standards through adequate packaging.
Ezenwa frown at the insensitivity of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) towards some area of national concern that falls within its purview but neglected thereby creating information gap in the brand positioning of made in Nigeria products.
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According to her “With due respect to the person in charge of the NOA, I am not happy with the non-performance of the agency when it comes to adequate information to the public on the need orientate people on functionality, finishing, adequate packaging and presentation of Nigeria products.
“I am sending a preposition to the government to create an educate-the-educators platform where the NOA will be re-orientated on its statutory mandate of being a national educator on the issue that link the private drivers of the economy with different market information and brand positioning.
“The NOA has been quiet for too long that people now ask if the agency even exit.”
Speaking during the panel discussion, the Director of Water Stone Project Limited, Christie Adejoh, who is particular about brand identification called on the NCAC to organise a seminar on brand packaging and presentation, saying that many of the brand producers in Nigeria have little or no knowledge of the brand and international business etiquette.
“We need a platform to educate people on brand etiquette so that our products will not be bought by other countries and repackage it and present them as their countries’ products.
“For instance, Ghanaians have taken the lead in selling other countries products which were repackaged and branded with the country’s name as made in Ghana products. They have to take all the global market platform where people source for African goods.
“We can start by doing the right thing to reposition our marketing strength through adequate packaging and presentation.”
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