BusinessDay Weekender 30th Edition

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

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EDITION 30 I 20, FEBRUARY 2021

NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA MAKES HISTORY HISTORY IN PICTURES NIGERIAN HISTORY MV RIVER GURARA

RELATIONSHIP FIVE TIPS TO ENJOY YOUR SINGLE DAYS Businessday.ng

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SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

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Contents

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

33

C O N T E N T S

8 LAUGHTER IN THE MIRROR

9 EVENTS 9 TIPS ON HOW TO PULL OFF A SUCCESSFUL VIRTUAL (ZOOM) BIRTHDAY

13 HISTORY MV RIVER GURARA: A DARK NIGHT IN THE WINTER OF DISCONTENT

PARTY FOR YOUR CHILD

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17

INTERVIEW

LEAD STORY Meet Ngozi OkonjoIweala, the new WTO boss

Enabling Business Growth Through Tech

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INTERVIEW

BRANDS BUILDING A RESILIENT BRAND

RECIPE

Fade Ogunro announced as the first African Woman on the Global Campaign Board of the Cherie Blair Foundation

30 BOOK REVIEW A REVIEW OF YVONNE EBBI’S FINDING YOUR SHE SPARK

SLOW COOKED LAMB SHANK

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HEALTH TODAY WITH ALL THE ATTENTION ON COVID 19… ARE WE ALLOWING OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS

SPORTS MAN CITY SLASHES MESSI CONTRACT OFFER TO £430M

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Editorial

Editor’s Note SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

Dear weekender, I hope you are reading this edition in good health.

This week was a wonderful week for Africa as Ngozi Okonjo Iweala was appointed the DirectorGeneral of the World Trade Organisation. It took 73 years to happen but Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has made history as the first woman and the first African to be elected Director-General of the World Trade Organisation after navigating a tough electoral process. This is a major landmark achievement especially in a world clamoring for more female and black representation. Over the years, Okonjo-Iweala has continued to change the narrative, setting an incredible example that a woman does not have to settle neither does she have to choose between family life and her career, she can excel at both. Her bright Nigerian prints and head ties are sure to stand out among the suits when she takes office on March 1st, 2021. This is a win for us all! Thanks to her win, she has paved the way for young girls and women from all over the world to dream bigger than before.

Congratulations to her. Our lead story gives you some insight into her career, personal life, and what her win means for Nigeria and Africa.

In other great news, Makhtar Diop was named Managing Director and Executive Vice President to head the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank Group that advances economic development and improves the lives of people by encouraging growth of the private sector in developing countries. Diop, a Senegalese national and former Minister of Economy and Finance, is currently serving as the World Bank's Vice President for Infrastructure, where he leads the Bank's global efforts to build effective infrastructure in developing and emerging markets that support inclusive and sustainable growth.

Inside: An interview with a former Mckinsey consultant, turned tech entrepreneur, provides great tips on what it takes to build a resilient brand in the marketplace. Find out more in our brand's column.

What is your story?

Learn more about a piece of Nigerian history. The MV River Gurara was a nine-year-old Motor Vessel belonging to the Nigerian National Shipping Line. Built by the Brodosplit Shipyard in Yugoslavia (Croatia today) along with 7 sister vessels namely River Majidun, River Osun, River Adada, River Oli, River Oji, River Maje, and River Ogbese. She entered service in the year 1980 as part of a fleet expansion program which began in 1976 in which nineteen brand new ships were ordered; to be built by Brodograbiliste of Yugoslavia (8 ships) and Hyundai Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries of South Korea (11 ships).

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021 PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF Frank Aigbogun MANAGING DIRECTOR Ogho Okiti EDITOR BUSINESSDAY SATURDAY Lehlé Balde EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso MANAGER, ADVERTS Ijeoma Ude COPY SALES MANAGER Florence Kadiri DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua HEAD OF DIGITAL SERVICES Onyinyechi Eze HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan DESIGN AND ART DIRECTION Tolulope Ayo-Olubiyo.

CONTRIBUTORS Mercy Ayodele Imasuan Okubgbowa Anthony Nlebem Feyisitan Ijimakinwa Bella Ikeme Titilade Oyemade Dr Monisola Adanijo PHOTO CREDIT Freepik, Google Images, Pexels ENQUIRIES lehle.balde@businessday.ng samuel.anyanwu@businessday.ng ADVERTS Ijeoma Ude' ' +2348033225506

More inside.

With all the attention on Covid 19… are we allowing other health problems to slip through the cracks? Find out in our health column.

You will also find a review of Yvonne Ebbi’s book Finding Your She Spark; a recipe; sports round up; and much more.

PUBLISHED BY BusinessDay Media Limited The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria.

01-2799100 www.businessday.ng

In the news roundup: Nigeria's economy limps out recession in Q4; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala makes history as she becomes the first woman and first African to head WTO; World Bank appoints an African, Makhtar Diop as IFC’s Managing Director and Executive Vice President; NAFDAC approves Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for use in Nigeria; Nigeria’s January inflation rate jumps to 16.47% on rising food cost Seven Nigerians made the 2021 list for Time100 Next; Zimbabwe receives 200,000 doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines Bitcoin just surged to an all-time high; Nigeria’s January inflation rate jumps to 16.47% on rising food cost; Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe herd becomes youngest self-made billionaire after IPO; Jack Dorsey, Jay Z invest $23.6m to fund bitcoin development in Africa; Interswitch launches Quickteller business to support growth of SMEs in Africa.

LEGAL ADVISERS The Law Union

Have a great weekend. . BD

Lehlé Baldé is the Editor of BusinessDay Weekender email: lehle.balde@businesssday.ng | social: @lehlelalumiere Businessday.ng

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News Roundup

FEBRUARY 2021 SATURDAY 20,

Nigeria's economy limps out of recession in Q4 MERCY AYODELE

N

igeria Unexpectedly limped out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2020 beating projections from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, both of which predicted Africa’s biggest economy to exit recession in 2021.

Real GDP grew 0.11 percent in the fourth quarter after contracting 6 percent and 3 percent in the second and third quarter of 2020. Resilient sectors such as telecom-

5 5

Nigeria’s January inflation rate jumps to 16.47% on rising food cost

N munications, financial, broadcasting helped lift the country out of recession.

igeria’s inflation has been rising for 17 straight months to hit 16.47 percent in January 2021 from 15.75 percent in December 2020.

Food inflation which contributes more than 50 percent also rose to 20.57 percent in January 2021 compared to 19.56 percent in December 2020, on a year-on-year basis.

This signals the hardship Nigerians are reeling from at a time when poverty rate and unemployment rate is at its highest in the country.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala makes history as she becomes the first woman and first African to head WTO

A

fter a tough electoral process, Okonjo-Iweala has charted a new course for the World Trade Organisation by becoming the first woman and first African to head the organisation after 73 years.

Okonjo-Iweala was the first female Finance Minister and the first female Foreign Affairs Minister in Nigeria. She is also the first female and black candidate to contest for the presidency of the World Bank Group in 2012. She says her vision is to rejuvenate and strengthen WTO despite several issues that have fractured the organisation.

Zimbabwe receives 200,000 doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines

World Bank appoints an African, Makhtar Diop as IFC’s managing director and executive vice president

W

orld Bank Group President, David Malpass, has announced the appointment of a Senegalese, Makhtar Diop as Managing Director and Executive Vice President to head the International Finance Corporation (IFC) with effect from March 1, 2021. The IFC is an arm of the World Bank Group that advances economic development and improves the lives of people by encouraging the growth of the private sector in developing countries. According to a statement released by the World Bank “His skills at IFC will help the WBG continue our rapid response to the

A

plane carrying Zimbabwe’s first coronavirus vaccines, 200,000 doses donated by China, arrived in the capital Harare. The country has so far reported close to 35,000 confirmed cases of the virus and nearly 1,400 deaths. In future plans, the country plans to get another 600,000 doses from China which will arrive in early March. Zimbabwe’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga says frontline health workers would be the first to be vaccinated.

global crisis and help build a green, resilient, inclusive recovery.”

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News Roundup

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

NAFDAC approves Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for use in Nigeria

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s Nigeria continues to battle the second wave of the pandemic, The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has approved use of Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria, following the World Health Organisation (WHO) authorisation of emergency use. According to the Director General of NAFDAC, there are three additional vaccines undergoing evaluation, but the evaluation on Astrazeneca shows that the vaccine is effective against the UK variant of the virus which has been reported in Nigeria. However, health experts have

warned that the launch of the vaccination process can neither be considered the end of the pandemic in Nigeria nor a reason to let down guards of non-pharmaceutical measures that have been adopted so far.

Davido, Nse Ufot, five other Nigerians made the 2021 list for Time100 Next

T

IME magazine has officially published its 2021 list of “100 Next” rising stars and it highlights some of Nigeria’s stars like Davido, Nse Ufot, Olugbenga Agboola, Feyikemi ‘FK’ Abudu, Odunayo Eweniyi, Ijeoma Oluo and Damilola Odufuwa. 100 Next is a new list part of an ongoing expansion of our flagship TIME 100 franchise that spotlights 100 rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science, health and more. Other Africans on the list include Omar Tate, Amoako Boafo (Ghana), Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr (Sierra Leone) and Vanessa Nakate (Kenya).

Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe herd becomes youngest self-made billionaire after IPO

W

hitney Wolfe Herd, the cofounder of the dating app Bumble, became the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. According to Forbes, at market close Thursday night, Wolfe Herd’s net worth was at $1.5 billion. Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014 as a dating app geared toward making women feel comfortable. Like Tinder, the app is location based, but the difference is that on Bumble, in heterosexual matches, only the woman

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can choose to make first contact. Wolfe Herd founded the company shortly after she sued her former employer, Tinder, for sexual harassment.

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

News Roundup

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Bitcoin just surged to an all-time high of nearly $50,000

T

he world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value surged to an alltime high of $49,951 on Monday, just inches away from the $50,000 level. The digital coin experienced a boost after large firms like Tesla, Mastercard and BNY mellon began warming up to cryptocurrencies. Tesla revealed that it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and would soon start to accept payments in the digital coin. Mastercard also revealed that it would support certain cryptocurrencies later in the year.

Jack Dorsey, Jay Z invest $23.6m to fund bitcoin development in Africa

N

igeria’s central bank (CBN) has so far been reluctant to embrace crypto as it recently placed a ban on exchanges dealing with Nigerian banks for both deposits and withdrawals but Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey and rapper Jay Z have created an endowment to fund bitcoin development initially in Africa and India.

Dorsey and Jay Z will both put 500 bitcoins, which is currently worth $23.6 million, in the endowment called ₿trust. The fund will be set up as a blind irrevocable trust in the currency.

Interswitch launches Quickteller business to support growth of SMEs in Africa.

I

nterswitch Group, Africa’s leading technology-driven company focused on the digitization of payments in Africa announced the launch of Quickteller Business, a new comprehensive corporate solution focused on empowering businesses of all sizes facilitate payments and manage transactions from anywhere in the world, through one, simple integrated platform. This would be done by leveraging quickteller’s significant existing customer base with over five million consumers already using quickteller for a variety of retail payments in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Gambia.

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LAUGHTER IN THE MIRROR

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SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

EVENTS

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9 TIPS ON HOW TO PULL OFF A SUCCESSFUL VIRTUAL (ZOOM) BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR YOUR CHILD

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ike everyone else, I had hoped, prayed, and assumed that the pandemic would be over by the time of the party. As the party date drew nearer, the writing on the wall became clearer and more difficult to ignore.

The choice was between having a pandemic era party or postponing the party till God knows when.

Cancelling was not an option. If the truth be told, there was only one choice else my son will be devastated. The only option was to

have a pandemic era party and hope for the best.

My son was going to be 10 years old. He had been planning his 10th birthday since he was 8. He was Businessday.ng

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SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

not exactly sure how he wanted to celebrate his milestone birthday, but it was either a football-themed party or an arcade-themed party. His two loves.

Aren’t you amazed at how technology rose to the occasion in 2020, allowing people to work from the comfort of their homes? While there are several options, I found Zoom to be a great platform for this.

However, as December approached, The free option of Zoom allows you I knew that the likelihood of having to host free hangouts and share your a physical 10th birthday party was screen with up to 100 people for 40 slim due to safety concerns. minutes at a time. You can either I began the process of “watering the drop the call and reconnect every 40 minutes to keep it free or signup ground” to set the expectation that my son’s long-awaited big party may for an account that enables you to be affected by the pandemic. A few organize a virtual hangout for up to weeks later, I increased the tempo – 24 hours for a fee of $15 (N7500) “it is now certain there will be no big per month. You need a minimum of one hour to an hour and a half for a physical party because it is unsafe”. great party.

Then I asked him his preference considering the current situation: 2. Prepare the Party List and Sent “An awesome virtual party” or “we Out Invites. postpone the celebration till much later in the year”. He opted for the How many kids do you want for virtual party. the party? The number should vary based on the age of the children, His Zoom party was great, and I the rule of thumb is the fewer the would like to share some tips on better for younger kids and more for how to successfully plan and pull off older kids. My son wanted to invite a Virtual Zoom Party for your child’s the whole world, but we settled for a maximum of 20 kids.

3. Agree the date and time.

Next on agenda is to agree on the date and time. My son’s actual birthday was during the week, but we decided to have the party on Saturday. Having the party on the weekend meant that he could invite friends that do not attend his school and it saved me the hassle of finding a time that works for everyone considering different schools close at different times during the week.

next birthday.

1. Decide on the technology platform to use.

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With the date and time agreed, the next big task was to get the phone numbers of the parent. I find it is best to reach out to them on WhatsApp first then follow it up with a call.

Start by introducing yourself “Hello,

I am Tobiloba’s Mom (from Rockhill School).

Here is a sample of the invite I sent to parents (not the best, but it worked!).

Good day ma/sir I am Tobiloba's Mom (from Rockhill School) Tobiloba turns 10 on Wed 17th February and would want to celebrate his birthday with his friends.

However, due to the Covid pandemic and the need to ensure the safety of our children, he would not be having a physical birthday party.

Tobiloba would love to invite Kamsi to his virtual birthday party Venue: Zoom Date: Saturday 20th January Time: 2:00pm to 3:30pm Pls can you confirm that your child would be free and available to attend the party?

To confirm attendance, pls reply YES to this message.

4. Organise Party Packs for Invitees What is a children’s birthday party without party packs? My kids feel a party without a party pack isn’t a party (lol).

Your child’s milestone Zoom party won’t be complete without the party packs. You can get away with giving out the party pack is if is a nonmilestone birthday, so no pressure.

If you plan to send out party packs, decide on your budget and how much time and stress you are prepared for.

You can go simple – by simply

EVENTS 11

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

Remember Mommy and Daddy will be busy handling messages/ calls from parents so best to get someone else to be the MC. Prepare several games that the kids can play and have fun throughout the event.

Being a virtual event, the barrier in distance may lead to boredom or tiredness if activities get too repetitive or are lacking the fun elements.

Some suggested games that could be played are: Scavenger hunt -: The first person to bring something yellow or starts with the letter “T” ordering pizzas and have them delivered to the homes of the invitees. Or you can go all out and have the party pack with party hats, poppers, customized t-shirts, drinks, biscuits, cupcakes, sweets, and a gift/ toy.

Once you have the party packs, get addresses from the parents. Make sure to confirm someone will be home when the delivery company comes around. It is best to the plan delivery for the day before the party or worst in the morning before the party. You will not want some kids not to have received theirs before the party – hence plan for all deliveries at least a day before.

5. Order the Birthday Cake.

A birthday is NEVER complete without a birthday cake. It is always fun to blow out candles and cut the cake. This can still happen during a virtual party, so still, order a birthday cake for the birthday boy/girl. You can include cake pieces or cupcakes in the party pack sent to the kids.

Watching each other eating and drinking during the event will help kids feel they are right there with your kid, celebrating together.

6. Prepare the “Stage”.

When I asked my son, the best part of his “virtual birthday”, he said the balloons. The night before, his dad and I worked late into the night to set up the “stage” for the virtual party. We had the floor filled with balloons, helium balloons with the number ten, “happy birthday” backdrops, and we even got a confetti gun. The joy on his face when he saw it was priceless.

Just because it is a virtual birthday doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go all out with the décor. I strongly recommend doing this.

7. Plan the Agenda and Lots of Games Once you have planned for the day, it won’t be complete without planning for the day. Have a detailed agenda, get someone (a Master of Ceremony aka MC) to coordinate the agenda. Best to choose someone who has experience with kids and would be sure to make the party a fun one.

Facts about the Celebrant: What’s the celebrant’s favorite colour?

Would you rather: Would you rather be able to fly or be invincible?

Guess the animal: Show them a partial picture of an animal and they are to guess the animal Guess the Disney movie: Show them a picture from a scene of popular movies like Make sure you have clear rules before starting and would be great if you can have someone assisting the “MC” as the scorekeeper. You can plan to give additional gifts to the winners of the various games, Businessday.ng

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SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

but this is optional. It is best to ensure everything is visual – so the questions should all be on a PowerPoint displayed on the screen for the kids to see.

8. Put Together a Photo Montage Another fun element to add to your child’s birthday party is to have a photo montage – different pictures put together to tell a story.

This can be made up of different pictures from birth to date. It can be shown at different intervals during the party. It is always fun to see themselves in pictures and how

they have all grown. Don’t forget to throw in some funny shots to get a few laughs.

It is also good to have a good camera to take pictures of the day – celebrant with his cake, celebrant during the virtual party. If you want to go the extra mile you can hire a professional photographer.

9. Last Minute “Mic” Checks Technology can be awesome but when it messes you up it can also be devastating. So it’s important to test and prepare ahead of time.

Be sure to put the following in check.

Send reminders and meeting invites again on the day of the party and a few hours before the time. You might even need to call especially if the parents have confirmed attendance.

Test all technology and internet in advance Best to have backup internet to avoid “stories that touch”.

Ensure all their devices are well charged or plugged to a power source all through the event. And ensure you have back-up power.

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Do not assume they know; explain everything parents need to do to ensure their kids are logged in on time. It’s advisable to work the kids through at the beginning on how to use the features required.

Also, ensure all stakeholders are familiar with Zoom and its features including the MC and scorekeeper (Mute all is an important feature lol). If you can ensure someone with more technical knowledge is on hand to resolve all issues.

Lastly do not forget to record the session, so that it can be watched again and again. It is also good to take some snapshots during the session to share with the kids and their parents.

Do not let the pandemic ruin milestone birthdays. You can still make the day special for your child.

And even if it is not a milestone birthday there are various ways you can make the day special and memorable in the “new normal”.. BD

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

HISTORY

13

MV River Gurara: A Dark Night In The Winter Of Discontent

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he year 1989 was particularly tragic in recent maritime history, a total of 33 ships were lost in the course of the year, however the night of the 25th of February 1989 proved to be particularly noteworthy, as a violent storm buffeted a wide section of the Atlantic. Ranging from Britain to Spain, the storm produced winds up to 129 km/h and waves 9 meters high; leaving 8 ships sunk or grounded as she spread her fury, laying waste to all in her path.

The MV River Gurara was a nineyear-old Motor Vessel belonging to the Nigerian National Shipping Line.

Built by the Brodosplit Shipyard in Yugoslavia (Croatia today) along with 7 sister vessels namely River Majidun, River Osun, River Adada, River Oli, River Oji, River Maje and River Ogbese. She entered service in the year 1980 as part of a fleet expansion programme which began in 1976 in which nineteen brand

IMASUAN OKUNGBOWA

new ships were ordered; to be built

by Brodograbiliste of Yugoslavia (8 ships) and Hyundai Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries of South Korea (11 ships).

When the vessels were delivered to the NNSL in 1980 her fleet was immediate expanded to a total of 27 sea worthy MVs. Sailing out of the Port of Apapa on the 20th of January 1989, MV River Gurara, laden with 48 crew members, passengers, 77 empty containers, cocoa, ginger, and other export commodities set sail for for Liverpool, with itinerary calls at Port-Harcourt, Douala, Tema, Abidjan, San Pedro, Dublin and Liverpool.

On the 17th of February 1989, River Gurara under the stewardship of Captain Tunde Ogundein departed San Pedro and set sailfor Dublin and Liverpool. Three days into the voyage, the Captain made a call to the NNSL’s Liverpool office

reporting a problem with the ship’s main engines lubricating system. Mechanical problems were hardly novel at that stage in MV Gurara’s life, as the good lady had by November 1987 been recommended for dry docking by a Lloyd’s Ship Register surveyor’s report; citing an extensive list of defective parts including a broken sump tank, a faulty bow thruster

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HISTORY

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

and a defective anchor.

Captain Ogundein was forced to divert course to Lisbon for emergency repairs. Unfortunately, a series of events would lead him and his crew to a fate no seafarer would wish for. Upon arrival at the coast of Lisbon, the faulty anchor would not deploy, forcing the vessel to drift for two days. On the second day, gale force winds hit the Gurara pushing her towards the rocky shore of Cape Espichel. The captain and crew set to work, deploying the lifeboats with the passengers onboard (including the wife and child of the Captain), whilst heroically remaining on the good lady, battling to save the

stricken vessel.

Telco Commander A distress call was put out and received by the tug boat (Telco Commander). The tug delayed proceeding to the Gurara for six hours and fifteen minutes (20.45hrs to 02.30hrs) due to doubts as to whether the NNSL would be able to pay the $10,000 daily rate for the salvage operation. Whist the tug delayed, a second distress distress call was sent out to a Portuguese Navy Frigate in the vicinity of the stricken Gurara.

eventually assisted in rescuing 27 surviving crew members and all the passengers evacuated by the life boats, interestingly commencing the rescue operation following the sinking of the MV River Gurara.

River Gurara remains in her watery grave, and is the most regularly visited diving site in those waters.

Little thought is given to the brave men who sacrificed it all in true mariner’s tradition to save the lives of their passengers. Captain Ogundein and 20 crew members made the ultimate sacrifice and are now at rest. They lie unmoving never to sail again, having found their peace on a dark night in the winter of discontent. We remember them as they were that cold night in February, when these brave Nigerian mariners breathed their last and experienced a seafarer’s calm.

N.R.P Hermenegildo Capelo The N.R.P Hermenegildo Capelo steamed to the vicinity of the Gurara, surprisingly circled the stricken ship but rendered no assistance whilst the River Gurara, buffeted by the winds and waves was forced towards the rocky shore. She struck the rocks, broke into two and the Captain and 20 members of the crew were observed being washed off the bridge wing into the sea where they were fated to meet their deaths. The Naval vessel Businessday.ng

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Sea Calm How still, How strangely still The water is today, It is not good For water To be so still that way.

Langston Hughes MV River Gurara1980 - 1989? BD Imasuan is a lawyer, writer and member of the Nigeria History Group.

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

INTERVIEW

15

ENABLING BUSINESS GROWTH THROUGH TECH

"

Nigeria's payment market is super interesting. Having studied other markets, Nigeria is one of the most regulated and relatively structured markets in emerging markets, while still significantly cash based.

Meet Dolapo Adejuyigbe, an ex McKinsey Consultant and Co-founder of Traction Apps, a startup that helps small businesses manage operations through technology.

What is Traction Apps?

Traction Apps is an all in one platform for SMEs in Nigeria and emerging markets to manage, run and grow their business. We are focused on aggregating offline payment options and additional tools like invoicing and inventory management for SMEs.

What’s your background and previous company?

I worked at McKinsey as a consultant for 7 years and I was very focused on Africa and Middle East, essentially emerging markets.

Over the last ten years, I've been very focused on financial inclusion specifically around SMEs. Spent most of my time in Nigeria, South

Africa, and the Middle East.

How did you meet your co-founder?

I met my co-founder Mayowa Alli at McKinsey. We were both consultants, we were both passionate about enabling SMEs, having both worked across multiple sectors who continue experiencing pain points in engaging with SMEs as partners and customers.

We believed our complimentary skills and experience led to a logical decision to build something together

What’s it like running a startup?

There actually isn't a moment where Businessday.ng

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INTERVIEW

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I think Traction Apps isn't what I'm meant to be doing. Building a startup requires mental strength but as someone who came from a consulting background, that next level, problem solving, focused on growth is something that I've taken with me. So growing and seeing that constant growth in employees, customers, revenues has been very fulfilling. One of the things that drove me to branch out was essentially building a culture of people who are committed to growing, so that has also been exciting to shape at Traction

How will you describe Nigeria’s Payment Market?

Nigeria's payment market is super interesting. Having studied other markets, Nigeria is one of the most regulated and relatively structured markets in emerging markets, while still significantly cash based. While we have made strides in online payments, I still believe there is a significant opportunity to improve the offline payment systems card payment, bank transfer and USSD, both from a customer and merchant experience point of view. 2 examples come to mind, the card terminals market is still very underserved, while there are numerous stakeholders needed to just execute on a single transaction, and when one of these stakeholders is down the whole transaction fails.

What gaps exist in the Nigerian Fintech space?

We've seen innovation across P2P, open and digital banking, savings, agency banking startups thrive in recent times. However it would still be super interesting to see Businessday.ng

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microinsurance and more wealth management solutions to come to the fore - all in all within the B2C space there needs to be more solutions for the mass consumers.

I think from a B2B point of view and what I mean by B2B in this case is like SMEs focused fintech solutions, I think there's still a gap.

We're a market that has over tens of millions of MSMEs and I would say about 5 millions are formal and semi formal SMEs. Where I think the opportunity lies is in the aggregation, it's not just enough to introduce products but how you put all that together for customers to have a good sense of what's happening.

What are some lessons you’ve learnt while building Traction?

I have learnt that in general building a business is very much art, but there are nonnegotiables. My top 4 nonnegotiables include 1) Focus on the people - for me it's the realization that you need to hire well and invest in people. 2) Never lose focus on cashflow, and the need to assess every Naira spent and what the ROI is, and 3) Need to provide systems for a transparent communication culture for both internal and external stakeholders and 4) Need to instil the culture of learning, experimenting and iterating.

Where do

you see Traction in 5 years?

I see Traction Apps being in multiple markets within and outside Africa.

Being a name that SMEs and businesses can associate with. A platform that aggregates a lot more services for merchants..

What’s your favorite movie and why?

My favorite movie is Dead Poets Society (yes I love dramas than comedy), the reason why I love this movie is that it shows how one person can have an influence on people and shape culture, which has been something I aspire to always do. BD

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

LEAD STORY

17

NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA MAKES HISTORY

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MERCY AYODELE

t took 73 years to happen but Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has made history as the first woman and the first African to be chosen as Director-General of the World Trade Organisation after navigating a tough electoral process. This is a major landmark achievement especially in a world clamouring for more female and black representation. Over the years, Okonjo-Iweala has continued to change the narrative, setting an incredible example that a woman does not have to settle neither does she have to choose between family life and her career, she can excel at both. Her bright Nigerian prints and

head tie are sure to stand out among the suits there when she takes office on March 1st 2021.

It is also noteworthy that this is not the first time Okonjo is breaking new grounds, she was the first female Finance Minister and the first female Foreign Affairs Minister in Nigeria. Okonjo-Iweala is also the first female and black candidate to contest for the presidency of the World Bank Group in 2012.

She has continued to make history throughout her career with laudable achievement in all the offices she Businessday.ng

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LEAD STORY

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

has filled.

Economics and Development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is married to Ikemba Iweala, a neurosurgeon and the couple has four children together Okonjo-Iweala started out as an Ngozi intern in World Bank Group Okonjo- She began charting her career path Iweala with an internship at the World was born Bank Group. After graduation, she in Ogwashireturned to World Bank Group Ukwu, Delta and worked for many years as a State on the 13th development economist. At the of June, 1954.

World Bank, she held the post After her secondary of Corporate Secretary and Vice education at Ibadan, President. Following her role as she proceeded to Vice President, she was appointed Harvard University as Nigeria’s Finance Minister under where she graduated President Olusegun Obasanjo’s with an AB honours administration. in Economics in 1977.

The 66-year-old holds Afterwards, she was appointed a PhD in Regional as a Managing Director of World Bank Group. As the Managing

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STORY 19 LEAD

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

"

The WTO needs a fresh look, a fresh face, an outsider, someone with the capability to implement reforms and to work with members to make sure the WTO comes out of the partial paralysis that it’s in, Director, she led several World Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during food and financial crises.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was reappointed as Finance Minister during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, with an expanded portfolio of the coordinating Minister of the Economy. During her time as a Minister of Finance, she spearheaded negotiations with the Paris Club of creditors that led to wiping out US$30billion Nigerian’s debt.

In 2015, she joined Lazard, a financial advisory and asset management firm. She serves as a Senior Advisor in the organisation.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed as the independent non-executive director at Standard Chartered PLC in July 2017 and also Twitter’s Board of Directors in July 2018. She also held other notable positions and has chaired a number of boards and advisory boards “I was eating one meal a day” From Harvard to the World Bank

and WTO, it almost looks like Okonjo-Iweala has had the best life with no hardship at all but that is not true.

Okonjo-Iweala has experienced hardship, having experienced Nigeria’s brutal civil war during her teenage years, during which her family reportedly lost all their savings. “I was eating one meal a day,” she said in an interview with Forbes.

She worked as a cook for rebels

on the frontlines in the 1967–70 civil war between Nigeria and Igbodominated Biafra.

When serving as Nigeria’s finance minister, kidnappers demanded Okonjo-Iweala resign after taking her mother hostage. She refused to comply and they ended up releasing her mother a few days later.

Her journey to the World Trade Organisation was not the easiest as well. The Trump administration refused to back Okonjo-Iweala in Businessday.ng

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LEAD STORY

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

would benefit not only Nigeria and Africa but other continents.

Therefore, Nigeria has a lot to benefit alongside other countries.

She has promised to contribute to the resolution of the Covid19 pandemic which has plagued many countries. "I believe the WTO can contribute more strongly to a resolution of the Covid-19 pandemic by helping to improve access accessibility and affordability of vaccines to poor countries," she said.

November for the position, saying she lacked trade experience. This was despite her winning support from more than 70 percent of the WTO members. But she refused to drop out of the race until the new president President Joe Biden reversed efforts to block the appointment.

An entrepreneur, an author Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala wears many hats as she is also an entrepreneur and an author. She founded NOI Polls, Nigeria’s first indigenous opinion research organisation in 2006. The company partnered with Gallup USA to develop opinion research in Nigeria. NOI Polls provides timely and relevant information on public opinion on various social and economic issues.

She has published some books; Chinua Achebe: Teacher of Light (2003), Economic Reforms: Progress and Challenges (2007), Transparency and Accountability in the Management of Public Funds (2011), Reforming the Unreformable (2012) and Fighting Corruption is Dangerous (2018).

Her vision is to give WTO a fresh Businessday.ng

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start Okonjo-Iweala is taking charge of the WTO at a time it is facing a lot of challenges with geopolitical rivalries between China and the United States but Okonjo-Iweala says she is ready to give WTO a fresh start.

“The WTO needs a fresh look, a fresh face, an outsider, someone with the capability to implement reforms and to work with members to make sure the WTO comes out of the partial paralysis that it’s in,” Okonjo-Iweala said in an interview with CNN. “My vision is also of a rejuvenated and strengthened WTO that will be confident to tackle effectively ongoing issues,” Okonjo-Iweala told WTO members during a hearing.

Any benefit for Nigeria?

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala becoming the Director-General of the WTO sure gives some light to the international image of Nigeria which has been battered globally.

However, the WTO is a multilateral organisation and she has assured the world that she would serve all WTO members and deliver results that

Okonjo-Iweala has also promised to help develop the capacities of the least developed countries, the poorest countries in the world that have the particular challenge of accessing the WTO. She stated that with the current agreement reached at the African Continental Free Trade zone (AFCTA), she would ensure that the WTO helped to attract benefits for the African continent.

She is also invested in ensuring that she is not the last woman occupying her current position as the director of WTO. "I tell people I am very proud to be African; l am proud for Nigeria and the continent and also proud for women. But the bottom line is the capability to do the job and to deliver so that, after me, there will be other women, other Africans.” BD

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

21

"

Fade Ogunro is an ambitious techpreneur and innovative problem solver, with goals to impact Africa by increasing digital gigwork and self sustainable employment.

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INTERVIEW

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

FADE OGUNRO ANNOUNCED AS THE FIRST AFRICAN WOMAN ON THE GLOBAL CAMPAIGN BOARD OF THE CHERIE BLAIR FOUNDATION

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igerian techpreneur and CEO of Bookings Africa, Fade Ogunro puts Nigeria on the map with her most recent appointment as a member of the Global Campaign Board for The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, making her the first African and Nigerian woman to become part of the organization’s board.

The Foundation was set up by Cherie Blair CBE QC to help release the potential of women entrepreneurs in low and middle income countries and close the global gender gap in entrepreneurship. Since its inception in 2008, the Foundation has directly supported over 175,000 women across more than 100 countries.

HerVenture, which was made possible by its partners ExxonMobil Foundation and Nigeria’s Enterprise Development Centre. The app forms the first part of the blended learning Road to Growth Nigeria programme, which is currently in its

"

I believe this can be rapidly achieved through digital adoption and inclusion; where learning, training, delivering a service and making money is done digitally.

Through its combined approach of programmatic delivery and advocacy, the Foundation supports women to start and grow successful micro, small and medium businesses, with training, technology, third consecutive iteration. mentoring and networking at the This work forms part of the heart of its work.

Foundation’s 100,000 Women Campaign, which set out in early This opens doors to finance, 2020 to support another 100,000 markets, contacts and more, and women across the world by the empowers women to create better end of 2022. In order to do this, futures for themselves and their Cherie Blair is convening the Global families, enable their communities Campaign Board of visionary to prosper, contribute to strong economies, and move the world in a leaders and philanthropists to help raise funds and garner support whole new direction. for the Campaign. It is this Board Nigeria is one of the key countries of which Fade Ogunro now joins as operation: The Foundation reached the first African member, sharing her experience and expertise to 11,300 women entrepreneurs further the Foundation’s important in Nigeria over 2020 through work. its business skills learning app, Businessday.ng

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With a background in Journalism and creative writing from Roehampton University, Fade’s sojourn into the industry started in the UK where she worked for Google. Upon her return to Nigeria, in 2010, she worked for The Beat 99.9 FM radio while cofounding and executive producing The Film Factory Productions which specializes in TV adverts, documentaries and music videos.

Fade Ogunro is an ambitious techpreneur and innovative problem solver, with goals to impact Africa by increasing digital gig-work and self sustainable employment.

In 2019 she launched her latest venture Bookings Africa, a pan-African on demand digital marketplace that allows professionals and service providers from Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa to sell their services and skills online. The platform currently has more than 85,000 users, among which 60% are women.

Fade said: “It’s my dream to build great leaders, drive gender equality and reduce the rate of unemployment across Africa. I believe this can be rapidly achieved through digital adoption and inclusion; where learning, training, delivering a service and making money is done digitally.

Africa has the largest workforce, we are the youngest continent in terms of demography, we are hardworking and it is my vision to help create an innovative hardworking Africa.”BD

W

ith the ongoing global pandemic, attending college and university will be a completely different experience for many young adults starting the next stage of their lives. This page will encourage and congratulate young adults as they prepare for tertiary education.

Congratulations to Jehan Crowther Boer who is off to John Hopkins University in the fall. Jehan grew up in Lagos and will most likely study public health. JHU is ranked number 1 in the world for this

GENERATION Z

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

23

program.

Jehan was named after his paternal grandfather (Jan Boer) and Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. He was born Feb 18, 2003 in Michigan and grew up in Lagos.

Here are some photos of upbringing including in Chinguetti, Mauritania and with then Lagos Governor Fashola, with his cousins Jude MI Abaga and Jesse Jagz, with the Aku Uka of Wukari, and with Burna Boy. Congratulations Jehan, we wish you the best in your future endeavors.

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GENERATION Z

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SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

PERSONAL BRANDING

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WHAT'S YOUR STORY BELLA IKEME

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fter the last year that we all had, and all that came with it including a proliferation of new buzzwords into global consciousness; some have stuck on more than others. One of which is ‘storytelling’ as a communication tactic for brands and businesses. What then is the best way to tell a story? It’s to start at the very beginning. As a brand or business, the beginning would be your purpose, your ‘why’: your brand story.

What exactly is a brand story?

My favourite definition is by Hubspot, “A brand story recounts the series of events that sparked your company’s inception and expresses how that narrative still drives your mission today. Just like your favorite books and movies’ characters, if you can craft a compelling brand story, your audience will remember who you are, develop empathy for you, and, ultimately, care about you.”

Let me show you what I mean by using a brand story and events that inspired me to write this piece.

My Caizen story.

In 2009, I was a newly-wed expatriate wife and I was not working. I had loads of time and really great internet! On one of my online binges, I stumbled on Ndidi Nwuneli at a LEAP Africa event speaking to the fact that Africans do not have a lot of successful legacy or multi-generational businesses. She said some reasons for this were due to the lack of the right orientation and attitude of our people even from an early age as well as the lack of support that is required by businesses to survive and thrive.

It struck me! I could be a part of the solution!

I did not have the capacity at the time to do anything about the proper early orientation that she spoke about, but I could definitely do something about helping businesses and business owners to build great entities. Within a few months I had a draft business plan and registered a business development company - Caizen, which is drawn from the Japanese philosophy ‘Kaizen’. ‘Kaizen’ refers to business activities that continuously improve all functions and involves all employees, from top to bottom.

The goal was to build an amazing company by a passionate team of business growth & profitability enablers who would work with entrepreneurs and businesses (through strategy, marketing and communications) to do the hard but satisfying work of building strong sustainable African businesses, whilst keeping them excited about the road ahead on the infinite journey required to create global mega brands.

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PERSONAL BRANDING

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

"

A brand story recounts the series of events that sparked your company’s inception and expresses how that narrative still drives your mission today

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PERSONAL BRANDING

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

Twelve years later and a few weeks ago, our social media manager was trying to create content for our pages and in true storytelling manner along the lines of ‘New Year, New Me’, wanted us to share the story of how we got into business.

As I was forced to remember the story to share it, I realized that I had not thought about it in a really long time and most importantly I had not shared it with the team. Can

our current success? Could this be why we had lost some good team members in the past? Telling the brand story to the team was not just a nostalgic trip down memory lane for me but provided a lot of clarity, and unleashing a good measure of excitement, resilience and conviction to take important decisions that will take us from where we are to where we want to go in 2021 and beyond.

you imagine?! The passionate team of business growth & profitability enablers, who were supposed to be the vision holders, had no clue as to the underlying brand story which speaks succinctly to our purpose or ‘The WHY’ like Simon Sinek would say.

Could this be why we had only recently resolved the internal conflict about the best way to move forward in this new normal?

Could this be why we had not fully explored the collaborations and partnerships which would have driven exponential growth beyond

Now let’s come back to you.

Have you ever wondered why the global movie industry is so viable? Hollywood, Bollywood, our Nollywood and every other ‘wood’ continues to invest billions of dollars into telling stories that if we

27

are honest, sometimes do absolutely nothing for our intellectual muscle but typically deliver on emotional value…Hello! Game of Thrones..or is it Bridgerton now?

The human brain is wired to respond to a well-crafted narrative.

Neurological science also proves that storytelling is the best way to capture people’s attention, tattoo information into their memories, and develop close, personal bonds.

Your audience will diligently crave and seek out great stories. It will never change.

So how can you tell a compelling but authentic brand story?

Your brand story structure must: Create a canvas with the relevant information that attracts your audience to want to hear more.

Highlight the problems or benefits that your existence solves, ameliorates or provide.

Present a conclusive mandate that offers not just closure or a resolution, but the essentials for the journey to the Promised Land (whatever that might be in your unique situation).

So again I ask. What’s Your Story?. BD

Bella Ikeme is a multipreneur, business growth and profitability enabler, a partner and catalyst for African businesses and entrepreneurs. She is the Founder & CEO of Caizen Business Development Company & Host of Business Banter with Bella. It is her unwavering belief that Africans have the ability to build successful legacy businesses that not only impact lives, but the socio-economic development of the continent. When she is not working, she is spending time with family and friends, reading, journaling or obsessively studying the Japanese.

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BRANDS

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

BUILDING A RESILIENT BRAND FEYISITAN IJIMAKINWA

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any years ago, a friend told me that it is unrealistic and naïve to wish for a life of no crisis. Her argument is that crises are critical parts of life’s refining processes, and emphasis should be on emerging a better person from such crises. At first, I didn’t agree with her that crises serve any good. However, over the years, I have come to accept that crises are nearly inevitable, and more important is the resilience that is built, therefrom.

Resilience is the quality of bouncing back, more like the snapback in elastic bands. In people, it’s the ability to survive failure or problems. When it comes to a brand, resilience is just as important to survival. People often ask me how a brand differs from reputation. The simple answer I always give is the degree of resilience.

The better a brand’s reputation, the stronger that brand, and the better it can withstand the pressure of failures, missteps and even brand sabotage.

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A particular brand in the Nigerian financial sector has been in the line of fire, more times than comfortable, in the last couple of months. The bank has taken repeated and direct hits, especially in the social media space. Its crises are severe and nearly self-inflicted. As a brand watcher, I must say the brand handlers are doing their best but the bank’s management decisions and policies seem to throw the bank on its sword, each time. Time will tell how resilient it is, or can be.

So what does it take to build a resilient brand in the marketplace, one that has earned its good reputation honestly and can survive a crisis? While my six suggestions don’t guarantee a resilient brand, they will help in building trust capital for an affected brand 1: Align your brand promise with your brand experience.

A thin brand promise that is no deeper than words

BRANDS

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

openly to customers and made it right. It had earned a reputation for excellence already, so forgiveness was easier. MTN did that with its ‘Mama Na Boy’ ad, that year. And by being forthright, they built up even more resilience. You don’t have to be that big to build brand resilience.

It grows from taking the time to respond to an angry customer, to making something right, even if you will incur losses.

3: Listen to your customers and engage them.

Brands are at greater risk now than ever before because of the internet’s ability to increase transparency and reach. That means that one person’s experience or opinion can reach everyone and quickly become everyone’s experience and opinion.

The bank I mentioned earlier knows this for a fact, now. Build reputation and resilience by monitoring all touch points carefully and responding to emails, tweets, posts, comments, texts, phone calls and even letters with real answers by real people that acknowledge the issue and make an honest attempt to fix the problem or address a complaint.

The personal touch is perhaps a brand’s greatest resilience asset on a webpage is flaccid and weak.

Brands “happen” when they are delivered to the customer through every touch point and through every interaction. A resilient brand doesn’t just say what it will do, it actually does it. If a brand keeps its promises, then it’ll be trusted and forgiven, when something goes wrong 2: If you make a misstep, own up and deal with it.

Like people, brands make mistakes.

We could point to Toyota’s recent problems leading to recalls as great examples of brands that acknowledged their mistakes, talked

4: Choose your brand partners carefully.

When Tiger Woods’ brand crashed as a result of his poor choices, the brands that had supported him bailed as fast as they could. Brands

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no longer stand alone, but are linked to others through arrangements like co-branding, endorsements and sponsorships. When one brand stumbles, then all the brands within its halo can stumble too.

Build resilience and reputation by choosing your brand partners with care, and be ruthless if a brand partner no longer shines the right light on your brand.

5: Pay attention to your employees.

There are potential brand saboteurs everywhere and they probably work for you. Unhappy vocal customers can be a problem, but real brand sabotage is usually an inside job.

Your employees are the people who have to deliver your brand promise.

If they don’t understand how to do that and how their behaviour affects that promise, it’s a problem for your brand. If they are unhappy and you fail to address their concerns properly, that’s a potential problem for your brand.

6: Be patient.

Building resilience takes time. It’s the result of consistent messages, consistent delivery, consistent quality delivered over time to build reputation and trust. So be patient.

Last line: Crisis is no sin. Falling isn’t an aberration but rising from the ground is key, in every way. BD

Feyisitan Ijimakinwa is a Reputation and Perception Management expert. He is a prolific writer and researcher who, at different times, served as Head of Corporate Communications of top brands quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. A versatile communications specialist, he practiced extensively as a print journalist and was variously engaged in the broadcast media, working on radio and television. Feyisitan continues to write on corporate communications, brand reputation and perception management, and brand intelligence, among others. He organises the ‘Brand Intelligence and the Marketplace’ masterclass. Feyisitan advocates a pollution free and sustainable environment Businessday.ng

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BOOK REVIEW

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

Book Title: Finding Your She Spark Author: Yvonne Ebbi Publisher: Whitedove Publicity Limited Year of Publication: 2020 Number of Pages: 214 Category: Personal Branding

Identify What Makes You, You! - A Review of Yvonne Ebbi’s Finding Your She Spark

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TITILADE OYEMADE

vonne Ebbi is no stranger to personal branding and judging from her own success, her knowledge as an image consultant, and insight, Ebbi wrote Finding Your She Spark to offer women the wisdom she gives her clients minus the premium fees she charges.

linked to your personal brand. By this, she means people use perception to size you up and your appearance dictates how people perceive you, so you should put some thought into it and those around you will think about you too.

Don’t give others the undue honor to feel that they have the power to determine your fate. Regardless of how you are judged, her rule is: you have control over the initial perception people have of you.

The pretty book cover of Finding Your She Spark is quite clever because it quite aptly conveys what the book is about while drawing in the reader. And if turn into the pages of the book, Ebbi writes at length about self-discovery and having a unique proposition because she believes that building a successful personal brand begins with taking a long, hard look at yourself.

If you are still wondering why you need to brand yourself, the social intelligence expert says, you need to be aware of the fact that everyone has a personal brand.

Take a moment, and search yourself on Google, the results that are displayed are the first impression people have of you. Do not think about why but think larger thoughts about the endless benefits of building and maintaining a strong brand.

Simple, direct and fast moving, Ebbi shows you “how to be who you are, how to turn your flaws into strengths, take risks, and use what you’ve got to get what you want.

She asks you some questions to help you find your way: Who are you? What is your purpose? And who do you want to be?

By the time you finish the book, you’ll have a clear sense of who you are and where you are going. What you learn from the author can turn aspiration into action and help you build a powerful personal brand - you want to put yourself in a position of power.

Yes, the book reads like a motivational book (plus an uplifting foreword by Global BrandINNOVENTOR Charles Otudor) but part of her aim is to guide you through every step to building a personal brand that matters. Her guidance is interactive and every page is generously dipped in inspiring success stories, affirmations and a little humor that cover everything you need in detail to get started the smart way.

Ebbi emphasizes that your physical appearance is Businessday.ng

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Overall, this book is perfect for anyone desirous of standing out, being the person of value, and using your skills and abilities to create a unique brand that sets you apart from everyone else. BD oye m a d e is a business execute in a leading organisation and holds a degree in Russian Language. She’s the convener of the Hangoutwithtee Ladies Event and the publisher of Hangoutwithtee magazine. She spends her weekends attending women conferences, events and book readings. She loves to have fun and to help other women have the same in their lives.

Email: titi.oyemade@gmail.com Social: @tiipree

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

HEALTH TODAY

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WITH ALL THE ATTENTION ON COVID 19… ARE WE ALLOWING OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS? DR MONISOLA ADANIJO

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he Covid-19 pandemic hit us in Nigeria in March 2020, and to say our health sector was not prepared for it would be stating the obvious. There were already so many gaps in our healthcare system: the massive brain drain of healthcare personnel to other countries, the lack of an efficient and effective emergency response system, lack of infrastructure and basic medical equipment to mention a few. We were already grappling with childhood immunization coverage, hypertension, diabetes and heart disease, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/ AIDS and so on; then this strange disease comes in to disrupt an already fragile situation.

In the beginning, there was a lockdown, restricting movements and shutting down all but the most essential services. There was also a misconception that “Covid resides in hospitals”. This led to many people

not getting care for severe/life threatening illnesses; either because they could not get to the hospital because of the movement restrictions, or because they were afraid to go to the hospital because of the fear of contacting Covid in the emergency room. There was also the spate of closing of hospitals where Covid cases were discovered, which led to many physicians turning away many cases that resembled Covid, for fear of being shut down by the government.

With better understanding of the virus and its mode of transmission and the easing up of the lockdown, there has been a sharp increase in the number of Covid cases due to the community transmission. This has led to a huge emphasis on Covid treatment to the detriment of other illnesses especially preventive medicine.

What is the scope of the problem?

Immunisation services has been adversely affected since the onset of the Covid pandemic in Nigeria. Authorities monitoring immunizations have noticed a decrease in immunisations in the months since the COVID-19 outbreak began. What this translates to, is that we may be faced with an upsurge of childhood diseases like measles, etc in the coming months.

Upsurge in mental health problems in the community due to the loss off a loved one from Covid related deaths, fear of catching Covid, reduction in social interaction and compulsory isolation, as well as general uncertainty.

There is also an increase in depression and burn out rates amongst healthcare personnel, from seeing all the severe cases of Covid, colleagues dying from Covid and the fear of contacting Covid from patients they are caring for.

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HEALTH TODAY

Regular Non-communicable disease clinics (hypertension, diabetes etc) are cutting down on number of clinic visits by patients. This is because many health professionals are on isolation from time to time due to Covid infection and the drafting of extra health workers to Covid units and emergency rooms to cope with the upsurge of Covid cases. With this, many people don’t get to have their routine visits as often as they used to, leading to problems with drug compliance and complications like stroke, etc.

Delay in care of patients. Some diseases like heart failure, embolism and pneumonia have the same features as Covid (cough, difficulty in breathing). The only way to exclude Covid is to do a test, which may take as long as 48 hours before the results come back. Precious time would have been wasted.

What can be done?

Robust education and campaign on the dangers of non-immunization of children. Parents should be Businessday.ng

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SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

encouraged to keep up with immunization appointments and schedules.

Hospitals need to set up a mental health unit and encourage their staff to seek care regularly.

Community support by way of health education, mental health help lines as well as Covid protocol compliant or virtual group meetings may help alleviate some of the Covid related anxiety.

The use of tele-medicine in the management of patients with chronic illnesses will help bridge the gap between clinic visits.

Rapid triage and quicker/more efficient testing methods for Covid 19 infection that would give accurate test results within a few minutes. BD

Dr Monisola Adanijo FMCP a Cardiologist and the Medical Director at Naveen Healthcare.

With

experience spanning over

medical centres such as

20

years, she built her pathway in medicine and cardiology working in reputable

M ecure H ealthcare L imited , B arnes H ospital , L agos U niversity T eaching H ospital ,

University College Hospital, Ibadan, Chevron Hospital, Lagos to mention but a few.

Her passion for preventive cardiology led her to convene the Naveen Healthcare 10,000 Hearts Project, in order to help individuals detect, protect and correct cardiovascular diseases.

Skilled in cardiovascular diagnostic procedures and treatment, a fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, a member of Nigerian Cardiac Society, American College of Physicians, Hypertension society of

Nigeria and an international associate of the American College of Cardiology. She also has a Diploma in Leadership and Management from the

University of Washington, USA, As a Continuous Medical Education (CME) provider, she has worked with the likes of Trigen Healthcare Solutions, Pfizer GP Academy, Diamond Helix Medical Assistance, Pfizer Pharmacy Academy, Global Health Project and Resources, Sanofi-Aventis Nigeria, Novartis Nigeria and Servier International. She

has helped build capacity in

Electrocardiogram

interpretation , preventive cardiovascular diseases , management of heart

failure, patient education and more.

She launched the first TeleElectrocardiogram project in Nigeria and West Africa and does her part in contributing to good health and wellbeing, a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG3) of the United Nations. moni.adanijo@naveenhealthcare.com www.naveenhealthcare.com

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/moni_adanijo https://Instagram.com/naveenhealthcare

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

RECIPE

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SLOW COOKED LAMB SHANK PREP:10 MINS COOK:5 HRS - 9 Ingredients • 4 lamb shanks • 2 tbsp olive oil • 1 onion, finely chopped • 2 tbsp tomato purée • 250ml light red wine (such as pinot noir) • 2 tbsp plain flour • 500ml stock, vegetable, chicken or lamb • 2 carrots, chopped • 2 garlic cloves, peeled • 2 bay leaves • 2 thyme sprigs • 1 bunch parsley, leaves chopped separately to the stalks

Method • STEP 1 If you need to preheat your slow cooker then turn it on now. In a large hot frying pan, add half the oil and brown the lamb shanks all over, then transfer them to the slow cooker. This will take you about 10 mins and

you may need to do it in batches. Add the remaining oil to the frying pan and fry the onion gently until it starts to turn translucent, then stir in the tomato purée and flour and cook for a minute.

• STEP 2 Add the red wine and bring it to a boil, stirring the flour and purée into the wine until you have a smooth sauce around the onion pieces. Tip into the slow cooker. Pour the stock into the same pan and bring it to a boil, then tip into the slow cooker. Add the carrots garlic, bay leaves, thyme and parsley stalks to the slow cooker and put the lid on. Cook on low for eight hours or on high for four hours. Turn the shanks over at some point during the cooking.

• STEP 3 After eight hours the lamb should be tender and starting to fall off the bone. If the sauce is too thin lift out the lamb and carrots and tip the sauce into a pan, boil it rapidly until it starts to thicken before adding the parsley.BD

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SPORT

SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

ANTHONY NLEBEM

MAN CITY SLASHES MESSI CONTRACT OFFER TO £430M

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op Premier league side, Manchester City have slashed their offering price for embattled Barcelona star Lionel Messi by a staggering £170million.

Manchester City had tabled an initial offer of a five-year deal worth £600m - an incredible £2.3m a week - when they tried to sign him six months ago.

Reports suggest that Messi has agreed financial terms on a five-year contract worth a total of €700m (£623m).

The incredible deal would make the Argentina captain the highest-paid individual in the history of the sport.

It equates to £14,200 an hour, £341,000 per day, £2.4m every week and a whopping £10.4m per month.

Messi is set to spend three seasons at the Etihad before joining City Football Group's (CFG) Major League Soccer side New York City FC for two years.

It is also reported that Messi could be offered an equity stake in CFG as Businessday.ng

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part of his package.

But recent reports in England say City have presented the Argentine a new package to join this summer worth a reduced £430m.

That would effectively be an eight-year deal that includes ambassadorial roles with City's

sister clubs.

Messi is also a target for French Ligue 1 champions, Paris SaintGermain and he is weighing up options, with his Barcelona contract expiring in July.

But Premier League leaders City are not prepared to match the terms

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they proposed back in August, believing the financial climate has changed and also taking into account he is another year along in his career.

The Messi camp, led by the Argentine’s father Jorge, asked for all clubs who were keen to sign the player to put their money on the table in December.

It is thought City want Messi on a two-year playing deal at the Etihad with a 12-month option, before

committing to two more seasons in MLS with sister club New York City.

It is understood the package could see him agree to a deal spanning eight years which would also see him carrying out ambassadorial duties across the City Football Group, which covers ten clubs across four continents.

That could include playing a year in India or the United Arab Emirates, depending on how fit he is as he approaches 40.

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A £1m-a-week offer for a 34-yearold is still seen as a huge commercial value.

It is claimed Messi is worth £260m a year in revenue to Barca due to his status and global profile.

So tempting the forward to Manchester is seen as not only a move to give options to boss Pep Guardiola, but also as a sound commercial decision. . BD

Too hard to sack: Jose Mourinho’s incredible £35m severance package

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espite Tottenham’s poor Premier League run, it's not up for discussion to let the Portuguese manager leave as Spurs would have to pay Jose Mourinho a whooping £35 million severance bonus if they sack him now.

The Portuguese boss has two years and four months left of his current deal that sees him earn £15m a year.

And The Athletic claims the Portuguese's deal, which runs until the summer of 2023, has no exit option for either side.

That would mean Spurs chairman Daniel Levy having to pay out the remainder of his contract if he were to swing the axe - although there are no current plans to do so.

a-half-year deal to replace Mauricio Pochettino that is worth the same as his contract at Manchester United.

Mourinho has also been heavily backed in the transfer market and is set to be trusted to turn Tottenham's recent fortunes around.

MailOnline reports that his position as manager is 'under increasing scrutiny'.

The report adds that the team's form 'is now a significant cause for concern among the Spurs hierarchy'.

But a ninth-place position in the Premier League amid a shocking poor run of form is raising questions over his tenure at the club.

But it is likely that any change would only happen at the end of the season - but that would still cost Spurs £35m.

Spurs have lost four of their last five Premier League games - the latest being a 3-0 walloping at the hands of title-favourites Manchester City.

Spurs look well off a top-four finish at the moment, meaning winning this season's Europa League could be their only route into next season's Champions League.BD

During that dismal run, the north Londoners have also been knocked The 58-year-old signed a three-and- out of the FA Cup by Everton.

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SATURDAY 20, FEBRUARY 2021

ABRAMOVICH SPENDS £2BN ON CHELSEA TRANSFERS SINCE 2003

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helsea have taken their transfer spending under Roman Abramovich to over £2billion since his takeover in 2003.

The Russian billionaire bought the Blues in the summer of 2003 and quickly transformed their fortunes.

Abramovich has never been shy in splashing the cash on big-name transfers.

In his first season at Stamford Bridge, he oversaw 16 new signings, from mega-bucks Hernan Crespo, Damien Duff and Claude Makelele to freebies Craig Rocastle, Neil Sullivan and Marco Ambrosio.

In the 2003-04 season, Chelsea splashed out to the tune of £153m, according to Transfermarkt.

And that, incredibly, pushed the club's spending in the last 19 years to a smidge over the £2bn barrier.

Of course, Chelsea have recouped a huge chunk of that figure in player sales.

The pair cost over £92m combined and never came close to repaying their monster fees.

More recently, Kepa Arrizabalaga the club's record buy at £72m - has done little to prove he won't be popping up on those 'top ten' lists in years to come.

Selling big names such as Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata in recent The Spanish stopper made blunder years has seen them recoup over after blunder and was eventually £200m - including add-ons - alone. replaced by free signing Willy Caballero for a huge chunk of last Down the years, Abramovich has season. helped bankroll some real hits.

The signing of Drogba for just And he's since been replaced full£34.7m in 2004-05 proved to be a time by £21.6m Edouard Mendy masterstroke as the Ivorian helped who looks far more reliable at a little guide the club to an incredible over a quarter of the price. period of success.

Since Abramovich has taken over, And it was a similar story a year later The 2012 arrival of Hazard and the Chelsea have won their first five as the arrivals of Didier Drogba, signing of N'Golo Kante in 2016 Premier League titles - having Arjen Robben and Co saw the Blues are just two other iconic transfers, previously only won the top-flight spend £149.9m. as well as bargain Ashley Cole from once in their history, way back in Arsenal for just £6.7m, and William 1954-55.

Those first two years really set the Gallas, in 2006. tone, with Chelsea's gross transfer The West Londoners have also spend since the summer of 2003 However, for every big hit, there's earned their debut Champions now sitting at £2,002,000,000 - or been a major blunder.

League crown in 2011-12. £2m over £2bn.

Andriy Shevchenko and Fernando On top of those, the Blues have won Most-recently, the Blues shelled out Torres are just two names that two Europa League titles since 2003 £222.5m on the likes of Kai Havertz, constantly pop up on 'worst to go with five FA Cup crowns and Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell last transfers ever' lists. three League Cup gongs.BD summer.

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