ABSTRACT

The image of a country can make or mar it. This is the main reason why leaders of many countries aim at maintaining a favourable image in their interactions with global community. There are, however, countries that have suffered negative image within the comity of nations and this has affected them greatly. Nigeria appears to have a tremendous bad image both within and outside the shores of the country, hence, the need for the re-branding of the nation. With the flag-off of rebranding Nigeria campaign in February 2009, the media were perceived as veritable instruments for actualising the rebranding Nigeria campaign. How effective the media have been in implementing the project is yet to be understood.

Therefore, the essence of this research work is to ascertain the extent to which the media have been able to cover the rebranding Nigeria campaign. Using contents analysis, the researcher was able to analyse three national dailies namely: This Day, the Daily Sun and the Guardian newspapers. A sample of 216 newspapers was randomly selected for analysis. The results revealed that rebranding Nigerian campaigns tended to suffer gross under-reporting in the hands of the print media outfit studied. On the basis of the findings, appropriate recommendations were made to ensure adequate highlight and coverage of rebranding campaigns and consequently win support and participation of the citizenry.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

Reputation is what predisposes parties to consider the possibility of engaging in a mutual relationship. It conditions perception towards acceptability in any socioeconomic interaction. It becomes the bases for assessing individuals and corporate entities in order to determine their rating before reasonable members of the human society.

It becomes vital, therefore, that each country acquires a reputable image projection, in other to attract goodwill that can boost her relationship with others and promote national development (Owuamalam, 2005, p. 6). It is the quest for countries to promote good image that led to the coinage of the concept country branding.

Reviewing the concept of country branding, Nworah (2005, p. 2) avers that; Country branding is the process whereby a country actively seeks to create a unique and competitive identity for itself, with the aim of positioning the country internally and internationally as a good destination for trade, tourism and investment.