Brands/Products
NIS Officers Dancing with Uniform a PR Positioning Opportunity Missed—Elikene
The Nigeria Immigration Service is reported to have queried its officers, who participated in a music video challenge.
According to Assistant Comptroller General of the NIS, Iam Haliru, “the viral video clip tagged #BopDaddyChallenge, has caused the organisation a lot of embarrassment”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZJVMwzwvxs.
Public Relations practitioner, Mr Anthony Elikene ANIPR, is one of those who do not agree with the decision to use punitive actions against the officers involved.
Mr Elikene said he believes rather the agency should tap into this rare opportunity to position the NIS as an organisation with a human face.
According to him, “All over the world, you will find videos of the military, not even paramilitary, using music and dancing to share their humanity, to show they are also one of us.
“Because you are now on the uniform, it doesn’t mean you cease being human. This is just one of the ways to express love for the job.
“So many people have been complaining about how they are treated by immigration officers and the police and an opportunity like this falls on your lap and your decision is to punish the people that made it happen.
“Check out this link and you will see soldiers from America, Israel, Britain, India, and countries in Africa dancing with their uniforms because they love their job and they are celebrating their humanity, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktQVTBd8YIs. Some danced to Michael Jackson’s ‘They Don’t Care About Us’.
“In London, during the Nottingham Carnival, Daniel Graham, a police officer for many years, showcased his talent at the carnival.
“He was proud to be a talented policeman and dances while putting on his uniform to the circular music every other person including those he protects dance to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNLi_q8g23k.
“He also participated in ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ with his uniform and people loved and voting him into the semi-final.”
He continued further, “Another set of policemen in London also used dancing to calm and entertain a large crowd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuyxEJPAk5A and during the Running Man Challenge in the UK, a set of Police Personnel in Kingston Police danced on YouTube and it trended with 156 million views, the police department got involved https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaZtUn4oPsQ and took ownership of the campaign which was initially started by just two new police recruits. Imagine if the recruits and other officers that participated were Nigerians.”
In Panama, the Police sang and danced in the streets to entertain and support the people as the lockdown continued https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAkZQUDZ4xs, while in Spain, a policeman played the guitar to entertain people as they remained indoors due to the coronavirus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEpkUawiLKA.
“I watched a video of a black American policeman sparing (boxing) with a teenager in the ghetto and the video went viral. The policeman was called by neighbours because some young men were having a barbecue and playing music and when the policeman got there one of the boys challenged him to a boxing match and they both wore gloves and everyone had fun and someone captured it on video, uploaded to YouTube and it trended. The policeman was rewarded, not punished, for showing a human side in policing as the police department stole the show by rewarding the policeman as it claimed it’s a force that loves the community https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJV5PDmua80. Remember the police department didn’t start this but found a way to benefit from it.”
“Doctor Philip Adler, former Georgia Tech and management professor, said as I paraphrase how you react to a problem determines if it will get better or get worse.
“The management of the NIS must learn how to benefit from crisis and how to de-escalate issues through strategic decisions.
“The decision to punish this obvious brand loving staff is not great. If you become very punitive you will lose opportunities for blending with the public and even employee relations.”
“I have watched the NIS staff video several times and fail to understand what this is all about as the officers were well dressed, well cover and no one was nude. I can say it is a progressive content and shows they are proud of their brand. Any proactive organisation would key into the acceptance generated by this content to promote the organization itself.”
“I expect any PR to make this to an organisational campaign by doing another version involving the big bosses in the establishment. This video is a goldmine for building goodwill and instead of rewarding this love for brand displayed by the staff we are making them scapegoats for loving their job and being human,” Mr Elikene concludes.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An institutional investor, First Ally Capital, has strengthened a leading Nigerian financial technology company, Mathesis Analytics, to scale its proprietary credit decisioning infrastructure.
It made this possible by injecting fresh capital into the firm, which specialises in AI-powered credit decisioning infrastructure, an action that will directly support the growth and scaling of Mathesis’ core mission of providing the intelligence and infrastructure needed to bridge the credit gap for millions of unscored or underscored individuals across Nigeria.
With this investment, Mathesis will enable financial institutions to confidently assess and extend credit to borrowers who lack a formal credit history by leveraging an expanded pool of alternative behavioural and transactional data.
To date, Mathesis’ systems have supported more than 8 million loans for over 2 million unique borrowers in Nigeria, and the company is actively deploying its infrastructure to establish a growing pan-African footprint.
With the investment from First Ally Capital, Mathesis is well positioned to transform how the credit ecosystem operates, driving financial inclusion in partnership with lenders across the continent.
A significant barrier to credit access in Nigeria, which prides itself on being Africa’s largest economy, is data fragmentation. Borrowers frequently build positive financial behaviours across multiple digital platforms by repaying microfinance loans, saving through fintech wallets, or servicing Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) facilities.
However, under traditional credit infrastructure, these achievements remain invisible to new lenders.
Mathesis addresses this challenge through the concept of Personal Equity—the quantified expression of an individual’s financial behaviour aggregated across every institution with which they have transacted.
By translating these disparate signals into a precise, portable measure of creditworthiness, Mathesis creates a comprehensive credit identity that reflects the full breadth of a person’s financial life.
“True financial inclusion cannot be achieved in a vacuum; it requires structural collaboration in which lenders and fintech companies work as partners within the ecosystem.
“This investment from First Ally Capital validates our approach to reshaping credit infrastructure. By quantifying Personal Equity, we empower lenders to safely look beyond the constraints of formal credit histories and recognise a borrower’s true creditworthiness. This capital enables us to accelerate our pan-African expansion while maintaining the robust, institutional-grade infrastructure our partners rely on,” the chief executive of Mathesis Analytics, Winston Osuchukwu, stated.
On his part, the chief executive of First Ally Capital, Mr Ebenezer Olufowose, said, “At First Ally Capital, we pride ourselves on being a one-stop destination for financial solutions, offering a diverse portfolio of services ranging from investment banking and asset management to trusteeship, inclusive banking, and real estate.
“Our investment in Mathesis Analytics reflects our strong belief in the company’s vision and our commitment to supporting forward-thinking enterprises that deliver excellence.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The chief executive of Canal+ Africa, Mr David Mignot, has disclosed that MultiChoice is now fully integrated into the media group.
Mr Mignot disclosed this via a statement issued on Thursday, noting that this development marks a new phase in the evolution of one of Africa’s leading pay television operators.
He noted that the integration positions MultiChoice within a global media organisation with an extensive international footprint.
“MultiChoice is now a full subsidiary of a truly international media group operating in 70 countries. The group was founded in France, is listed in London and Johannesburg, and has a strong African presence with operations in more than 45 countries,” Mr Mignot said.
The statement underscores the scale of the combined business, highlighting Canal+’s global reach alongside its significant investments across Africa.
The completion of the transaction is expected to strengthen MultiChoice’s position in the African media and entertainment market by giving it access to the broader resources, expertise and international capabilities of the Canal+ Group, while reinforcing the group’s commitment to the continent.
MultiChoice operates across sub-Saharan Africa through platforms including DStv and GOtv, serving millions of subscribers with entertainment, sports and news content.
By Adedapo Adesanya
FoodCourt, a Nigerian cloud kitchen startup backed by Y Combinator, has suspended operations after months of unpaid salaries and mounting debts to vendors triggered a staff strike and forced the company to halt customer orders, according to a report by TechCabal.
The publication reported that customers first noticed on March 4 that they could no longer place orders through the FoodCourt app after the company disabled ordering as kitchen workers, delivery personnel and branch staff embarked on strike over unpaid wages. The company also owed outstanding payments to vendors.
By April 19, FoodCourt had temporarily shut its last operating branch after suspending activities across its Lagos and Abuja locations while seeking fresh funding and restructuring the business, according to the report.
The company’s chief executive, Mr Henry Nneji, said the decision to pause operations was not caused by a single issue but by a combination of operational, organisational and working-capital challenges.
“It’s important to clarify that the decision to pause operations wasn’t driven by one single issue. We reached a point where it became clear that continuing to patch those issues while operating wasn’t the right long-term decision,” he said.
“The objective is to build a stronger business than the one that existed before the suspension. We fully intend to bring FoodCourt back,” he added in an emailed response.
The company acknowledged outstanding obligations to employees, vendors, riders and service providers, but declined to disclose the number of affected workers or the total amount owed. It said efforts were underway to resolve the liabilities as part of its restructuring process.
It was also reported that the startup’s financial difficulties worsened after expansion into additional locations increased operating costs, while its cloud kitchen model came under pressure from rising labour, logistics, food and marketing expenses.
Despite the shutdown, Mr Nneji said FoodCourt intends to relaunch after completing its restructuring, adding that the company believes demand for its products remains strong.
Founded in 2021 by Henry Nneji and Paul Adokiye Iruene, FoodCourt operates cloud kitchens under multiple virtual restaurant brands through its consumer app. According to TechCabal, the startup had previously disclosed raising $1.7 million, delivering more than one million meals and reaching $4.3 million in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2024.
