‘Food and Financing, Important to Address Imbalance’

By Raheem Akingbolu

To solve the perennial crisis of social and financial inequalities in the country, Oxfam, an international non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with BudgIt Information Technology Network Lagos, has established the need for food and financing to bridge the gap. This was stated at a forum in Lagos with the theme; ‘’Even it up: Tackling inequality in Nigeria through analysis and advocacy.’’ Major highlights of the event were; Right to Food(R2F) and Financing for Development (F4D).

According to the non-governmental organisation, the forum, which was attended by relevant stakeholders, was initiated in its enduring commitment to creating a world without poverty where people are capable of building a livelihood.
Oxfam, which launched and implemented the strategic partnership programme in 25 countries in 2015, has three basic theories for change: Right to food, conflict and fragility and financing for development.

According to Coordinator of private & public sector transparency & accountability coordinator ( Oxfam ), Mr. Celestine Okwudili Odo, “The organisation has five pathways to change: improved policies of government on tax and budget, improved policies of private sector on tax, wages and corporate social responsibility, increased citizen’s voice, stronger and wider alliances across the country.
According to him, Oxfam’s strategy includes “research, lobby and advocacy, citizens mobilisation and enlightenment, networking and alliance building, capacity building for the civil society and the government.

“Other local partners include; Action Aid Abuja, Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group ( NDBUMOG), BudgIT Information Technology Network Lagos, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre ( CISLAC ), KEBETKACHE Women Development and Resources Centre, HEDA Lagos, Farm and Infrastructure Foundation ( FIF ) and Nigeria Association of Nigeria Traders ( NANTS ).”
According to Celestine, Data collection and Analysis are important to generating contents for advocacy and implementation.

Explaining the concept of the Right to Food (R2F) Bill, Mrs. Abiola Bayode from Farm and Infrastructure Foundation (FIF) said, “It is a human right bill which protects people from hunger.”
She further said, “The challenge is that the government sees food as a need and not a human right. We want to see that the right to food is explicitly stated in chapter four (4) of the Nigerian constitution; this will make the government more accountable on food security in Nigeria.
“It is therefore not about distributing food free of charge to all Nigerians, but a necessity to protect the vulnerable people by creating an enabling environment.”

In addressing some of the challenges encountered in the implementation of the programmes, Mrs. Emem Okon said, “it has been noticed that community needs most often do not get included in the state and federal government budgets.
“Therefore, we are training members of communities on how to conduct needs assessment. We also train government agencies, parastatals and ministries on community needs assessment to ensure that the extant or future budgets include the needs of the people.”

Bosch Introduces New Screwdriver to Market
Bosch Professional Power Tools Nigeria, one of the leading manufacturers and marketers of power tools for construction, woodworking and metalworking industry, has announced the launch of a smart screwdriver ‘Bosch GO’ into Nigeria market.

According tio the company, ‘Bosch GO’ is the smart screwdriver where a simple push gets the work done and it‘s intelligent E-clutch system knows when to stop on reaching the target torque. The strong spindle lock closes the gap between manual and automatic operation helping users to stop impending work on demand. The lithium-ion battery powered screwdriver is compact and easy to carry around anytime, anywhere. The tool is designed to be as close to the shape and size of a manual screwdriver in order to help the Nigerian user leapfrog from manual effort to effortless working with minimal discomfort.

The new product, which is said to have been developed with an extended UX approach and with a user-friendly design, adds an aesthetic value to repair tasks. ‘‘From tightening to loosening screws, the new offering comes with adjustable 5/2.5 Nm torque and the speed goes upto 360 rpm.It has superior balance and weighs only 280 gms for reduced userfatigue.The user can even use the product manually as it has a spindle lock that allows him to carry on the screwdriving operation without any hassle‘‘

‘Bosch GO’ is powered by the 3.6V 1.5Ah in-built battery for longer run time and 90 mins ofchargingattains a full charge. ‘Bosch GO’ features new innovations that delivers unprecedented run-time and efficiency for any kind of application. It has a Micro-USB charging point and a 3-LED charging indicator. The screwdriving functions can be carried on with absolute ease due to the rotary brush plate that assists with the forward and reverse rotation.
The smart screwdriver is available in a kit version which comes with a 33 pc accessories kit, USB adaptor and a USB cable. Packed in a compact plastic case with a sleeve, user manuals and product-related information, this product is a go-getter.

Insight Publicis’ Campaign Drives New Markets for Heineken
Stakeholders in the brand and marketing management space have described the Insight publicis’ Winning Campaign as a creative ingenuity that has further repositioned Heineken in the market. They have argued that if the decision by Heineken to task agency with creating the brand’s first Nigerian campaign was meant as an experiment, then the gamble has paid off.

Insight Publicis has been able to reenact the usually high standard of Heineken’s global campaigns but in a way that excites and resonates with Nigerian consumers across board.
The 58 seconds commercial- Villager- which features Jidenna, the Nigerian born international act, is Heineken’s first glocalised commercial. A campaign that right from launch, has triggered an outpouring of positive feedback with many commenting on how finally, Heineken has connected with them and now they can relate better with the brand. This aspect of relatability was the missing link in previous Global campaigns.

And because of the success of the campaign, Heineken is in the process of rolling-out the same commercial in 15 other African markets where the premium brand has presence.
Amidst declining sales from last year, Heineken wanted a commercial to recruit and retain younger drinkers between ages 18-24 and regain 5 percent of the lapsed drinkers that represent the 25-34 age group. But all these were to be done within the brand’s global thematic parameter of Internationality, Tradition and its Natural Ingredients. Sinmisola Hughes-Obisesan, Insight Publicis’ Creative Director noted;

“Insight Publicis was tasked with creating a locally relevant thematic campaign for the Heineken brand. We dug deep to search for insights that would resonate and in execution, topped it off with Heineken style wit blended with classic Naija-isms.”

But more importantly, the ad was supposed to highlight the parallels between the world’s most international brand – Heineken and Nigerians. According to Hughes-Obisesan, the commercial was the brand’s way of celebrating the Nigerian spirit by highlighting specifically, the three qualities Heineken and Nigerians share in common, which are global presence, quality and family values.

Related Articles