Starting Out

For a larger view of this mindmap, click the picture.

We are finally inching forward with our latest collaboration with Genesis Studios and GBF Productions. Starting Out is devised to turn unemployed graduates into self-employed and empowered citizens.

We have always believed that Nigerian tv programme executives should not simply ape the reality tv traditions of the West because our cultures and criteria are different. Central to reality tv in the West is entertainment. Our reality tv series should place "opportunity, development and empowerment" at the centre without ignoring the element of entertainment. We must therefore, consciously and astutely define those elements that will constitute effective "entertainment hook" for our production. Another powerful tool with which viewers can be hooked and made to watch from week to week is the "Educational Value of the programme content. Both of these hooks are employed to serve the course of providing "opportunity, development and empowerment" to successful candidates and viewers at large.

Politics in Nigeria

I am glad to note that Mr Omosule, a Presidential Candidate for 2011, has on his to-do-list most of what all sensible and responsible Nigerians will also want to change positively. I will personally include social and cultural re-engineering of traditional mindsets, even at grass-roots level as a priority. The people need to take ownership of their own lives and their own Nation. We have to take the electoral process very seriously. Proper exercise of voting rights can make a significant difference in the governance of Nigeria. Our Tax regime needs re-modelling for effectiveness so that the responsible government can properly fund public investments. No doubt, this is the age of enlightenment in Nigeria. Commited, progressive and pro-active leaders with integrity, a strong sense of public accountability, and vision must emerge at every level of society. The soil into which the seeds of our great future will be planted needs to be enriched with noble ideas and principles.