Minister urges Nigerians to utilise technology, social media for new businesses

The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has urged Nigerians to utilise technology and social media revolution to create new businesses and contribute to national growth.

Mr Shittu gave the advice on Thursday at Nigeria’s first edition of the Glocalisation and Branding Summit in Abuja.

The event was organised by a global Public Relations firm, Vivacity PR, to help SME brands expand to global markets by focusing more on creating compelling content, using local creativity and personal branding.

Mr Shittu said the revolution is giving rise to new ways of creating and enhancing services.

The minister said many important techno-political and socio-economic questions are accessing the global markets, using local creativity and personal branding centres on the prevalent connectivity.

He described the theme of the event, “Accessing Global Markets Using Local Creativity and Personal Branding”, as “apt, coming at a time when we are intensifying our efforts at economic developing our local contents and brands.”

“The present drive of President Buhari-led government to restructure and rebuild the pillars on which stable political institutions can give birth to sustainable socio-economic growth and change, has to be simultaneously complimented with an aggressive drive towards diversification of the economy from dependency on oil and focus on putting Made in Nigeria goods, services and products on the global market place,” he said.

The Special Adviser on New Media to the Minister, Oluwakemi Areola, in her remarks at the event, said a lot of businesses are working in silos in Nigeria. She said they can do better if they network and co-promote themselves.

“Nigerian SMEs can export their services and product to the world only if they will make effective use of their smartphones and social media correctly,” Ms Areola said.

“Everyone looking for a visa out of the country while you can work here and earn foreign currency.”

She said she decided to bring the stakeholders together at the event “because a lot of people complain about registering their businesses, tax, postal services.”

In his remark, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on ICT, Lanre Osibona, advised Nigerians to stop amplifying the negative on social media. He said Nigerians need to move away from consumers on social media to become creators on digital space.

Tola Johnson, the Special Assistant to the Vice President on MSMEs, said the government will work with registered business owners and help them access loans through the SMSE clinics.

The event had in attendance representatives of organisations like the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).

PR and media consultancy experts were also at the event. They include Charles O’Tudor, Adeola Ademokoya, Goke Dokun, Abuyere Elvis and Efosa Onyezebe.