PDP Professionals FCT Chapter

My Own Take

IN THIS DIGITAL AGE, AVOID PROBLEMATIC BRAND NAMES

I came across a company online this morning with the name, TWELVE, and I googled it. In my first search I drew blank. I needed to add TECH to the name for Google to pop it up. The name TWELVE for a brand is a problematic one in this digital age. When majority of humans see it, they immediately think that you are talking about the number 12! You complicate things for Google Search because, by default, it would pop up TWLEVE as the name of the number 12, and not the name of a company.

This was also my reasoning concerning Twitter when, upon purchasing the company, Mr. Elon Musk changed its name to X. Guess what, people are compelled to write X and then put in parenthesis (formerly known as Twitter). Why put the consumer out there through this unnecessary stress? Musk as a matter of fact threw away his company's name (worth more than gold in branding power), replacing it with a trashy one. I guess he did it, all in an attempt to look and sound cool. So sorry Elon. All you needed to have done was to bounce the idea of replacing TWITTER with X off someone out there who knows a thing or two about branding.

And by the way, the best name for your brand today should sound like the name of a person: Guinness, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Dangote, etc. If possible, choose an English-sounding name. You know the reason for this, don't you? English is the most popular (and most preferred) language of netizens today. Even Chinese and Indian folks (countries that dwarf the UK in population) would readily anglicize their names as soon as they think global.

Still on this subject, you might want to look up the name that we chose for our own company back in 2014 when we incorporated it: www.alfordevents.com.

Surplus Food in Nigeria

WHICH NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES HAVE MADE A STRONG MARK IN AGRIBUSINESS WITHIN THEIR CAMPUS?

In the South West Zone, our picks are Afe Babalola University of Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Ekiti State. The other three are Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ogun State; University of Ibadan, Oyo State; and Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State.

ABUAD Farms includes 110,000 mango trees, 500,000 teak trees, 500,000 melaina trees, 600,000 moringa trees and 600 fish ponds., all worked by dozens of hands-on personnel. Its moringa factory produces soap, body cream and capsule (to mention just three), from the “miracle plant”; a mango-processing unit makes mango chips, and has its eyes on the export market; an equally busy feed mill serves the needs of the farm’s livestock and as well as those outside it. Chief Afe Babalola, the octogenarian founder of the school said, “We have the biggest university agricultural enterprise in Africa.”

We shall be honouring these four universities with the NIGERIAN AGRIBUSINESS UNIVERSITY AWARDS at the forthcoming 1st Nigeria Food Surplus Summit, slated for November 20-22, 2024 in Abuja, FCT. Four other universities from the other five zones of the country will be similarly honoured and celebrated at the event.

The annual Nigeria Food Surplus Summit is the central pillar of a 10 years nationwide advocacy that started in June 2024, aimed at helping Nigeria to successfully transition from a net importer of food and agricultural products and services to a net exporter of them.

Download the event participation brochure from www.alfordevents.com to read more about this event coming up in the next two months. To sign up as a summit partner, sponsor, exhibitor, speaker, delegate, etc, please contact our hotline & Whatsapp +2348030635853.

Surplus Food in Nigeria

THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (CBN) IS THE BIGGEST PROVIDER OF DEVELOPMENT FINANCE FOR THE NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), headed by Mr. Olayemi Cardoso since October 5, 2023, is the biggest provider of development finance for the Nigerian agricultural industry.

Before he joined the CBN, Olayemi Cardoso spent over 29 years in commercial banking, culminating in his tenure as Chairman of Citibank Nigeria Ltd, a subsidiary of the world’s leading global bank and the oldest international bank in Nigeria, from 2010 to 2022. Between 1990 and 1997, he was an Executive Director at the Citizens International Bank Limited and Principal Partner at FBC Associates Limited from 1997 to 1999.

Cardoso served as Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Lagos State Government, from 1999 to 2005. In that capacity, he implemented the blueprint which catalysed economic development in the state and championed reform, pioneering state-of-the-art analytical and consultative mechanisms for improving governance.

During his banking and public sector career, he served as Chairman of the Lagos Economic Summit Group (2020-2021) and the Africa Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), 2014 – 2020. He also served as a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2015 – 2019) and Cities Alliance Think Tank (2015 – 2018). Other private sector positions held by Cardoso during his career include Board membership of Chevron Oil Plc (2005 – 2008), Nigerian National Advisory Board for Impact Investing, Lagos Business School, Institution of the Annual State Economic Summit, Johnson Products, and DRASA Health Trust.

Cardoso graduated from the University of Aston in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science in Managerial and Administrative Studies (Concentration in Finance and Accounting) and subsequently pursued his master’s in public administration and Management (Concentration in Economics and Finance) from Harvard University, Massachusetts, United States of America in 2005. Mr. Cardoso was conferred with a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) (honoris causa) by the University of Aston in Birmingham, 2017 in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the private and public sectors. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers.

www.cbn.gov.ng

Surplus Food in Nigeria

PROF. ISAAC NATHANIEL ITODO IS THE VC OF JOSEPH SARWAN TARKA UNIVERSITY

Isaac Nathaniel Itodo is the seventh Vice Chancellor of the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (Formerly Federal University of Agriculture) Makurdi, Nigeria appointed in February 2023. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE) and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (FAEng). Professor Itodo began his career at the university in 1987 as a Graduate Assistant and became a professor in 2003. He has chaired various university committees and has been Head of Department, and Dean of College and Director of Linkages. He was a member of the Governing Council of the university, and President of the Solar Energy Society of Nigeria. In 2019, he was awarded the Nigerian national honour of National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM). Professor Itodo is a holder of two Nigerian patents and is author of 2 books and over a hundred journal articles in reputable journals. His publication won the third best engineering academic publication in Nigeria in 2019. He holds a MSc (1989) and PhD (1993) in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Ibadan.

www.uam.edu.ng