With open arms, Lagos welcomes the world
By TOPE ADEBOBOYE
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Photo: THE SUN PUBLISHING

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For the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, every opportunity to market the state to the world as the ultimate destination for business and pleasure is vigorously explored. The on-going FIFA Under-17 World Cup is one of such glaring opportunity which the football-loving Senior Advocate of Nigeria didn’t allow to slip through his fingers, so says Mr. Israel Opayemi, the Country Executive Director of Wisdom Keys Nigeria.

Opayemi sure knows what he’s talking about. His firm is handling the marketing communications services for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup for the Lagos State government through the Lagos sub-seat of the Local Organising Committee (LOC).
In truth, since the competition started, the streets of Lagos have been agog with thousands trooping to the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere to catch a glimpse of the young lads playing in the Lagos centre.

More importantly, the match venue has been devoid of criminal practices. Even the ubiquitous street urchins, otherwise known as area boys, have avoided the area around the stadium like a plague even as adequate, round-the-clock security has been mounted throughout the metropolis.
In the words of the Country Executive Director of Wisdom Keys Nigeria, Governor Fashola has been largely responsible for the success recorded so far at the Lagos venue of the FIFA competition.

And for those not willing to drive or take a taxi to Surulere to watch the matches live, the Lagos sub seat of the LOC has set up what it tagged Fan Parks in two strategic areas of the Lagos metropolis where football fans can watch matches free of charge. One of such is the Ikeja Fan Park erected at the popular Tarmac in Ogba. The Tarmac has for long remained a popular address for fun seekers around Ogba, Agege, Ikeja, Ojodu and other suburbs in the area. Pepper soup, asun, suya and other delicacies are those things that lure fun seekers to Tarmac each evening. A second park has also been erected at the Marina Park on Lagos Island.

All the FIFA-designated routes are also wearing a new look. There has been a massive deployment of lamp posts along the routes just as 48 sheet billboards now stand tall at various parts of the state. LAGBUS buses have also been branded by the LOC.
Opayemi informs that Governor Fashola had, in June this year, despatched a team from the Lagos sub-seat to South Africa to take a look at that country’s preparations for the Confederations Cup. The governor wanted the team to understudy how the South Africans were making preparations to host the world during the 2010 World Cup slated for that country since the Confederations Cup was being hosted as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup.

The team from Nigeria was also mandated to visit the headquarters of the Wisdom Keys Group in South Africa. The team, after being shown the various projects Wisdom Keys had undertaken before, reportedly requested that the organisation be retained by the government to assist the sub seat in marketing the world cup in Lagos.

Wisdom Keys soon came up with the campaign theme: Lagos. Own The Game.
“This theme has both the outward and the inward messaging dimensions,” Opayemi says. “On the outward, it is declarative in intent to the extent to which it tells both domestic and foreign visitors that this is indeed the destination of a people on top of the game of life. On the inward part, the motif is an admonition and a call to action for Lagosians to own the game of life and take social ownership of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.”

Indeed, the awareness campaign for the competition in Lagos will not be forgotten in a hurry by many Lagosians. It was a three-day road show that exhibited how the state governor has been rebranding Lagos positively since he assumed office in May 2007. Heavily built men were positioned at strategic areas in Lagos in the last three days of September. Startled by the appearance of these ‘strange beings’ tagged City Champions, many Lagos residents who had seen them couldn’t but call in during some radio programmes to relive their experiences after coming in contact with the giants.

There was also a three-day promo in the media meant to sensitise Lagosians about the football competition. “We plotted the arrival of the City Champions as strange beings who typify the towering height and the vibrant spirit of Lagos. Our shoot showed them arriving the city by emerging from the belly of the Atlantic Ocean from the La Campagne Tropicana Beach in Lagos. These are like spiritual beings who represent the spirit of Lagos and who came just to stir the city in readiness for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup,” Opayemi explains.
Lagos residents haven’t seen the end of such innovative campaigns, though, says Opayemi. “We have not drawn the curtain on the acts of the City Champions yet,” he assures. “The Champions are still very much in town and they will remain with us till the end of the tournament.”

The state has also continued to run campaigns on television drawing the attention of the public to the on-going event. The Wisdom Keys boss explains that the commercial was shot in Lagos, noting that the good work being done by Fashola in the state needs to be showcased to the whole world.
The state government also commissioned a theme song entitled Welcome to Lagos, The Home of Football and performed by Sammie Okposo, Segun Arinze, Ego and other artistes.
“There is no doubt that the state government and the LOC in Lagos have done a very good job to market this competition,” Mike Adeola, a banker and passionate football enthusiast, affirms.
“You could see that the Governor Fashola is a very good football lover. He has done a lot and every soccer-loving Lagosian must applaud the governor.”