An Open Letter to The Nigerian Government: A case of Nigeria’s Branding

It gives me great joy to be writing this because I consider it a valuable resource, and I hope it is well implemented. I am a Masters student currently studying Tourism Management at Royal Roads University in Canada. In preparation for one of my papers in school, I did extensive research on branding tourist destinations. In the process, I discovered Anholt’s book on “places” which discusses branding extensively. Simon Anholt is an authority in the field of Place Branding. With over 20 years of experience, the author has written several books on the subject of branding and has advised the Presidents, Prime Ministers, monarchs and governments of nearly sixty countries, cities and regions, helping them to implement strategies for enhanced economic, political and cultural engagement.About the BookThe book I read focused on how he distances himself from the idea of National branding because he thinks it’s untrue. He says you cannot brand a nation because a nation is not for sale. You can only brand a product. Amongst all the books and journals I read for this research, his book stood out to me because I found his book very funny, practical and relatable. As I continued reading, I said to myself, “let me take down notes and actionable steps we can implement in Nigeria when I get into a position with more influence tomorrow”. This is something I have been doing for quite a while, where I write down a few ideas I believe will serve as a great policy to bring about the good changes I want to see in Nigeria’s tourism industry. However, as I continued with my research, I wondered, instead of waiting for an unknown time or period, why can’t I share the knowledge I have discovered now. So that it will help shape the current direction of our policies and actions as a country today? So here goes my first open letter to the Nigerian government and Nigeria as a whole. By the way, if you are a regular reader of my blog and you are used to my informal writing style, permit my new writing style. Being a master’s student changes the