BD@25: BusinessDay has our mandate to guide Nigeria’s business reportage from gloom to bloom – says Mayor of Housing

As BusinessDay Nigeria clocks 25, a real estate business strategist and entrepreneur has submitted a new challenge to the newspaper.

My-ACE China, known as the Mayor of Housing, said in his note of felicitation that the ‘Voice of Business’ must help Nigerian business environment to transform from gloom to bloom. He said: “BusinessDay can report all the negative happenings in business but must be able to infuse a positive hope and direction in the news so that there is a bloom in the gloom of every news item for BusinessDay.”

Speaking further, the Mandela Leadership Award winner said at 25, BusinessDay has emerged as the biggest business newspaper in Africa. “My advice for BusinessDay in their silver jubilee year is to become the silver lining. Though for this 25 years, BusinessDay has been the voice of business accuracy, the voice of business certainty, and the voice of business projection in Africa, my challenge for them at this 25th year is to become the silver lining.”

He said the world is tired of constant negative news, and that the world wants to see positive direction and policy directions that show there is hope. “So, instead of just reporting circumstances and business news as it is, BusinessDay has come a long way and has become an authority in business. So, in your reportage, you should act your own authority opinion, advisory, and direction that always form the silver lining in every news story so those reading BusinessDay do not just read the doom and gloom but that BusinessDay, after reporting whatever negativity, is able to infuse a positive hope and direction.

“You have become a voice, a strong voice for that matter. You have become a voice of authority. So, add that voice to every news story because your opinion matters, and your opinion drives direction, your opinion drives policy, your opinion informs the world.

“No longer should business news just be a neutral report, but BusinessDay has come of age to add your voice to the voices you report, and your voice must always echo the voice of positivity, forming the silver lining in every cloud of news you report.”

On what, in his opinion, has been most impressive about BusinessDay, the Jos-brought but UNN-trained scientist pointed at paper’s consistency and professionalism. “BusinessDay has always kept themselves above the pack for all these years. They have been above the pack in their professionalism, above the pack in their insight, above the pack in their consistency.”

When BusinessDay writes, he stated, you can submit what others write and it will still be below the single writing and the single reportage of BusinessDay. “This business newspaper has carried itself head and shoulders above every other voice in the region, and their consistency of doing that has made them look somewhat of the business reporter of other business reporters.

“So, when BusinessDay has not spoken, it’s as if there is no final voice on any issue or topic of business. So, that head and shoulders above others in professionalism and consistency is what has sculpted and shaped them into an authority and made them a force to reckon with.

“So, BusinessDay has consistently lived above board and carried itself with the highest level of professionalism and excellence, and is still doing so even after 25 years.”

China gave his counsel thus: “My advice to BusinessDay is that you are no longer just a neutral reporter. You are now a voice. You should form opinions, form direction, form interest, and your interest—you should put your skin or put your mouth where your interest is. If BusinessDay is interested in promoting small and medium-scale enterprises (SME), BusinessDay doesn’t need to wait for small and medium-scale enterprises to come and advertise or pay for space in BusinessDay.

“They can use their goodwill, equity, and their loud voice in the industry to give free publicity to magnify small and medium-scale enterprises.

“So, whatever policy or direction in the economy or the business that BusinessDay is now interested in, they have the platform, they have the voice, they have the resources to allocate magnification to that area of interest. So, BusinessDay now should no longer be a neutral reporter. BusinessDay now is an authority that can sponsor policies, sponsor direction, sponsor awareness, sponsor orientation in areas of its own interest, and it can be a voice shaping the culture and the thinking of Africans.

“So, in whatever area annually that BusinessDay has formed a strong interest in, they should take the bull by the horn and begin to project that area using all their infrastructure.

“BusinessDay should no longer be a neutral observer or reporter. They should us that voice and authority to project the best of what they want to project in Nigeria and Africa, and do that so consistently that they become the beacon or the floodlight that showcases those hidden areas of our economy and businesses that the world needs to pay attention to, different from the regular news and the things that make the news.

“If they discover any pearl in Nigeria and Africa, the onus is on BusinessDay to project that pearl into the rest of the world to see. And if they’ve discovered any aspect of our societal life that needs to be orientated, it is their onus to shout it and orientate the people until that cultural shift or change is made. So BusinessDay now is not just a news agent, but a change agent.”

Giving a tip on how to push the business narrative higher in Africa, the strategist and promoter of the upcoming Alesa Highlands Sustainable Green Smart City project in Port Harcourt said: “Perception is now stronger than reality because we live in the age of information and perception. The onus lies on BusinessDay as the biggest business news platform in West Africa to shape the perception of not just the business community in Nigeria, but the rest of the world that are looking up to Nigeria and Africa to form an opinion.”

The serial brand award winner in the Niger Delta said BusinessDay must, as a matter of fact, get the accurate facts and report the accurate facts. “But more than that, create a perception that is stronger than the reality. Shape the thinking and perception of business, shape the direction that business people think through. And remember that they are the strongest voice that shapes that perception for both insiders and outsiders. And the whole world is looking up to BusinessDay now for what they have to say about Africa.”

He went on: “How you say what you say is more important than what you say because if you say it in a way that inspires hope and faith, you will inspire productivity. If you say it in a way that inspires despair and doom, you will depress productivity. Let BusinessDay be the stimulating voice that activates, inspires, and stimulates productivity by the way they report what they report about business. Let it be that each time anybody reads BusinessDay, they are inspired with the outlook, they are informed with the outlook, and they are positioned with a good outlook that will inspire productivity.”

After all, the Mayor of Housing stated, the greatest measure of economic prosperity is productivity. “Let BusinessDay be the stimulant of productivity in everything they say and write so that when people read BusinessDay, they are motivated to produce more and not demotivated to depression and less production.”

Background:

My-ACE China is a seasoned ‘Real Estate Success Strategist’, widely regarded as a professional ‘Business Solutions Expert”. He is a big player in the housing space in Nigeria and Africa. He is Chairman of the ‘The Mayor of Housing Group of Companies with a registered trademark ®️: The Mayor of Housing™️.

He is known as a ‘Strategic Urban Resilience Architect’. That is why, at the Mayor of Housing, they are not seen as those who simply build estates, they are respected as those who design resilient urban systems for Africa’s future.

That is why The Mayor of Housing operates as an Urban Resilience Platform — aligning mental capital, engineering, policy, and community to build durable, future-ready ecosystems.

His mantra is that he doesn’t sell houses or lands; he sells value!

My-ACE CHINA is a core scientist but chooses to express his innovations through the Creative Art. He holds a 2003 Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Laboratory Science (B.MLS) from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and holds an honourary doctorate degree in Real Estate Management from the Prowess University, Delaware, USA. He is a licensed Associate of ‘The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (AMLSCN)’.