Lest we forget and allow what seemed like a serendipitous advantage dissipate, the Detty December celebrations that was had in Nigeria last month, perhaps we should strategically capitalize on same. Nigeria doesn’t have many such good fortunes very often, so, it’s advisable to grab this with two hands.
In truth, Nigerians have always flocked back home from the diaspora every December. Even those who have declared for asylum, on the pretext that they are being prosecuted in their home country, cannot resist the pull to come back home to where they belong. Some British TV personalities were shocked to discover this recently. Nigerians head home for several reasons – it could be the only opportunity they have to be with loved ones, or to tidy up their projects. It could also be simply for the food and the air of camaraderie that they enjoy around this period.
This December 2024 was slightly different. We had other Africans, and quite a bunch of African Americans coming through. We even had Europeans and white Americans as well as Brazilians taking note, with a bunch of them coming with their friends to explore this Detty December thing. Well, it may be important to explain the etymology of Detty December. In street lingua, people say their eyes are ‘dirty’ when they’ve had a nice time – usually fueled by the intake of alcohol. So, in short, Nigeria’s alure in December is for people to come and enjoy Nigeria’s cuisine, night club life, and everything in between. Nigeria is already known for our strong music and entertainment sector, so it’s a sort of consolidation on that advantage.
But by drawing in folks from all over the world, a profound statement was made – that Nigeria is not that dangerous, terrible place that the global media – and unfortunately many Nigerians who have lost out politically or whose minds are just somewhat twisted– paint us to be. Whereas we could excuse the global media for their deliberate, self-foisted ignorance, how do we view Nigerians (most of whom have benefited from the country in many ways than one) continuing to paint the country in inglorious light? Don’t they see that the ‘best’ countries in the world carefully manage their image and only put forward their best feet? Perhaps that art and science are missing from our educational curriculum.
My proposal is for Nigeria to first of all own the concept. Whereas the idea of drawing people to Nigeria based on ‘dettying’ their eyes sounds difficult to push officially, there could be a rebranding… say DESTINATION DECEMBER. This could be Nigeria’s opening to carve a niche for herself. The global economy is a brutal place that gives nobody any cheap opportunities and even charity has a cost. The posture and words of Mr Donald Trump 2.0 is enough indication that everybody should be super smart. A point has been made that Nigeria is another safe location where nobody has time for anybody and everybody is busy with their own hustle. We must now rub it in.
I recall picking up a colleague who flew in from London circa 2013 on the early British Airways flight from London. He had met an Indian-American lady on board and convinced her to ride to town with him in my car. I could see the trepidation in the lady’s eyes as we drove to the Transcorp Hilton hotel and could only wonder what sin she committed at work to deserve being sent to a place that totally scared her. In fact, she was riding to town under the protection of my colleague, Syed, who was British-Indian himself. But as we drove to town and the lights of dawn shone down on Abuja, this lady grew more and more enthralled with the city and couldn’t hide her surprise and excitement. Apparently, she had been told to expect a totally disorganized city that had been mismanaged into chaos – a proper warzone. But here she was marveling at the greenery of Abuja. She couldn’t believe that we had somehow planted trees in every possible space. She worked in some environmental NGO as it happened.
The picture of Nigeria that has been painted in the minds and hearts of billions of people around the world – including Nigerians who now live abroad is that of an unlivable country with unfortunate citizens where existence is nasty, brutish, and short – the proper Hobbesian state of mind. I am quite happy that there has been tons of unpaid advertorials and testimonies especially from young diasporans and even non-Nigerians to the effect that the reality is the total opposite. One of them, riding back into London from Heathrow Airport upon return did a sorry video saying that he was sure that living in that dreary old London was not meant to be his destiny. Another – a lady – did video admonishing her friends to ensure they traveled to Nigeria with two free suitcases as there were unbelievable fashion bargains. She showed off the blouse she has bought for a mere £5 – which translated to N20,000. This is the purchasing power parity advantage that I have been emphasizing. It so happens that the prices of every product will not rise – at least immediately – in proportion to the depreciation of the currency. This is true for labour, some food items, fashion & apparels, and so many more. This is a great advantage in the immediate because Nigeria can achieve a lot in terms of drawing in more diaspora remittances, tourism capital, and perhaps more importantly the building of infrastructure at every level of government. Every labour intensive sector should really advance at this stage and it’s a joy to hear some of our governors admit that for now, they can achieve so much with their allocations – Ekiti, Nasarawa, and Enugu governors, among others, have openly said this – that they don’t have to borrow to do projects and cover their usual obligations.
And this is where the Sizzling, Scintillating and Serenading Summer comes in. If Nigeria should be able to attract global attention – howbeit reluctantly – over Detty (or officially, Destination) December, what happens in summer? Shouldn’t we try to reverse by intellectual brute force, the usually summer pilgrimage of our own people which has now been taken for granted? Shouldn’t Nigeria at least try to claw back something? So, my proposal to Nigerians is that we try and create another niche around summer. Nigeria stays the same and should be loved all-year-round for being a cultural capital of the world. The ministry of arts and culture is looking at this. But it is indeed every Nigerians’ call. If not for anything, we need a pushback against the usual Nigerian constant pessimism especially from our own people, which has created the sordid kind of picture I painted above.
There was an idea in toyed with years ago, which is that a campaign be created around Nigeria being the Cleanest, Safest and Most-Organized country in Africa. At the end of the day you are what you call yourself. India is the fastest growing major economy in the world today. We remember the campaign called INCREDIBLE INDIA. We remember MALAYSIA TRULY ASIA, and many more which still run constantly on CNN and other global media today. It is a marathon and not a dash. Nigeria needs this. It doesn’t matter what cynics say, Let those who believe in Nigeria and understand that pragmatism is key to the development of nations push this idea. More than ever, the rebranding of Nigeria will work under the strong leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a determined, no-nonsense man who has dared to push many policies that every other president had abandoned or neglected. A campaign such as this is not only a pushback, but gives us all something to look forward to, to constantly work towards, to organize ourselves around. Projecting Nigeria as an aspiring CLEANEST, SAFEST AND MOST-ORGANISED country in Africa tells the world that a new day has come. Nigeria is thus encouraged to look at the engagement of her human capital in the environmental, security and social sector, where there are millions of opportunities for employment and for private sector engagement.
Our people say ‘owo eni la fi n tun iwon ara enii se’. Only the work of our own hands will deliver value for us. only Nigerians will build Nigeria and improve her image. We have spent enough time bellyaching, cursing Nigeria, putting down the country. We have yielded too much space to negative people who believe they have been hard-done-by when in fact most of them are being clever by half and pushing half-truths. Every country has its own major problems but strategy demands that the smart ones forge ahead in spite of those problems. Detty December is a chink of opportunity that we must not let slip away too cheaply. Nigeria’s time has come. At least we must start.
