Paradise News

Category: Opinion

  • Opinion: Legor remains one of the most popular & cherished politicians from northern C’River – Simon Utsu

    Opinion: Legor remains one of the most popular & cherished politicians from northern C’River – Simon Utsu

    I was in Calabar last weekend for the burial of the father-in-law of my former MP, Legor Idagbo. It was a very well organised and attended event. In place of a service of songs, a star studded musical concert was held. I enjoyed every bit of that. The crowd was entertained by Sunny Neji, Iyanya, Effiom Trombone and some of the members of the band of the late Chief Duke. I was pleasantly surprised to see the array of political attendees, led by Governor Otu who came earlier than anyone and was one of the last to leave. Let’s not forget he hasn’t held a political office in over a year. With what I saw, it’s okay to say Legor remains one of the most popular & cherished politicians from northern Cross River & the life time leader of Bekwarra politics.

    The funeral service on Saturday morning took me back to Calabar road, just beside my primary school, Madonna Montessori, & this evoked a lot of pleasant memories. The reception which followed later was equally enjoyable. I was touched by an appeal made by the speaker of the CRSHA, when he called Sunny Neji & Iyanya up to the stage & appealed to them to do everything within their means to make sure local star act, Real P Ajaba, who had just performed earlier, blew on the national scene.

    In all, it was great & commendable seeing the family of the deceased celebrating his life the way they did, rather than mourn.

  • Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong: The Making of a Future Diplomat

    Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong: The Making of a Future Diplomat

    By Ted Afu Inyang

    Even his most ardent critics, of which they are very few, would agree that Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong has performed creditably in his first year in office. He has discharged the primary functions of his office; legislation, representation, and oversight; with a maturity that belies his young age and years of experience in the red chamber.

    In just one year he has presented motions and bills that have had an impact at the National level, from taking a stand against the denial of treatment to victims of gunshots and other serious injuries, to seeking the intervention of the Federal Government to address infrastructure challenges in Cross River State. He has overseen the award of grants to hundreds of his constituents, facilitated the completion of several infrastructure projects, carried out feeding programs and health outreaches.

    In the area of oversight, he has carried out his duties as Chairman of the Senate Committee on NDDC with energy and verve that has seen his traversing all nine states that comprise the Niger Delta region, making sure that the equally hardworking board and management are always held to account.

    But perhaps his performance in the National Assembly should not come as a surprise. He performed creditably as the Commissioner for Finance in Cross River State from 2015 till his resignation to partake in partisan politics in 2022. And his ability to unite the majority of party faithful to earn the party’s ticket to represent the Senatorial District, and subsequently win the majority of votes in the general elections were a pointer to greater things ahead.

    A lesser observed part of his activities, however, is his gradual, but steady foray into the diplomatic arena. The President of the Senate, HE Godswill Akpabio, has graciously appointed him a Parliamentary Representative to the United Nations Annual Parliamentary Hearing, a member of the Inter parliamentary union, and also a member of the ECOWAS parliament.

    These roles have provided him with the opportunity to address the IPU in Geneva where he urged the assembly to adopt a statement calling for a ceasefire in the Israel – Palestine conflict, and also afforded him the rare privilege of addressing the assembly on the theme “Building bridges for peace and development.” At the United Nations Annual Parliamentary Hearing in New York, he highlighted Nigeria’s strides in leveraging emerging technologies and Artificial Intelligence for enhancing peace and security and expressed the determination of young parliamentarians across the globe to play a role in bringing peace to the world.

    An ambassador is a person who possesses qualities such as intelligence, integrity, and the ability to bridge cultures with grace, and foster understanding through dialogue. With the exposure and experience being gathered by the Distinguished, and as a close confidant of the Senate President which will undoubtedly result in more exposure in international diplomacy, we just may be witnessing the making of a future Nigerian Diplomat.

  • Re: Calabar, the City where the Criminals are Confident

    Re: Calabar, the City where the Criminals are Confident

    The Cross River South Consultative Forum (CRSCF) has reviewed the recent articles penned by Richard Inoyo regarding the state of security in Calabar and Cross River state. While we understand and empathize with the concerns raised, we must express our reservations and provide a more balanced perspective on the matter.

    1. Speculative Arguments

    Inoyo’s arguments rely heavily on anecdotal evidence and personal observations without substantial statistical backing. The cited instances of car theft and other crimes, while unfortunate, do not suffice to paint an accurate picture of the overall security situation. We believe it is crucial to base such serious claims on comprehensive data and comparative analysis, which are noticeably absent in his narratives.

    2. Overlooking Security Improvements

    Since the advent of Governor Bassey Otu’s administration, there have been notable improvements in the security landscape of Cross River state. The government has made significant investments in bolstering security, including frequent state security council meetings, funding for police operations, the introduction of community policing initiatives, and advancements in surveillance technology. These efforts have had a positive impact on the security situation, which Inoyo fails to acknowledge in his articles. Ignoring these developments presents a skewed and potentially misleading view of the current administration’s efforts.

    3. Unrealistic Expectations of a Crime-Free Society

    It is important to recognize that no society is entirely free of crime. While the incidents highlighted are concerning, they do not indicate a complete breakdown of law and order. Petty crime is a common challenge in urban centers globally, and expecting a completely crime-free society is unrealistic. A balanced perspective would acknowledge this reality and focus on continuous improvement rather than perfection.

    4. The Role of Community Responsibility

    Security is indeed a shared responsibility between the government and the community. While the government has a pivotal role, communities and individuals also have responsibilities in maintaining vigilance and supporting law enforcement efforts. As a forum, we believe in collaborative efforts and encourage community-led initiatives that work in tandem with local authorities to enhance security. This aspect was notably missing in Inoyo’s critique.

    5. Constructive Proposals Needed

    Criticism is valuable, but it becomes most effective when paired with actionable suggestions. While Inoyo raises valid concerns, his articles lack constructive proposals for improvement. Offering realistic and practical solutions would strengthen his arguments and demonstrate a collaborative approach to addressing these issues. As the CRSCF, we encourage such an approach and are willing to engage in dialogue to develop effective strategies for improving security.

    6. Balanced Assessment

    The tone of Inoyo’s articles is overwhelmingly negative, potentially skewing public perception without providing a fair assessment of the situation. A balanced analysis should recognize both the challenges and the progress made, offering a more nuanced and credible perspective. We believe that acknowledging the efforts and improvements made by the current administration is essential for a fair critique.

    Conclusion

    The Cross River South Consultative Forum appreciates the passion for justice and community welfare evident in Inoyo’s writing. However, effective advocacy for change requires arguments grounded in comprehensive data, recognition of improvements, and the proposal of viable solutions. Constructive criticism coupled with collaborative efforts can significantly contribute to enhancing security and overall governance in Cross River State.

    We remain committed to working with the government, law enforcement agencies, and the community to ensure the safety and well-being of all citizens. Together, we can build a more secure and prosperous Cross River state.

    Signed,
    Hon. Eyo Nsa Ekpo Esq
    Chairman
    Cross River South Consultative Forum (CRSCF)
    Calabar.

    July 19, 2024.

  • Monarch calls for quality access road to boost food supply in Nigeria

    Monarch calls for quality access road to boost food supply in Nigeria

    By Ovat Abeng

    The traditional ruler of Omor community in Ayamelum Local Government Area of Anambra State, His Royal Highness Igwe Oranu Chris Chidume, has called on government at all levels to provide quality access road to the people living in rural areas across the country.

    The monarch who made the call over the weekend in an interactive session with journalists in his palace, noted that in order to address food crisis faced by the residents of the country, there are need for both Federal and State Government to construct and maintain access road for easy distribution of farm products from hinterland to the urban areas across the nation.

    Ìgwè Oranu while reminding the Anambra State Government that Ayamelum was the food basket of the State and by extension, Nigeria, insisted that the state should not base their road maintenance on which one was a federal or state roads, adding that the target would have been to provide access road to the people living in the rural areas.

    Read Also: Iloenyosi kicks off Anambra 2024 All Stars Football Championship

    According to the monarch, “If we don’t have quality access road to bring out what we harvest from our farms there is no way the food crisis we are crying for will be eliminated and one of the easiest way to curb food crisis is to give access road to those people that produce food so that food can reach the needy”.

    He lamented on the dilapidated nature of roads leading to Ayamelum Local Government Area. He noted that the people of the area incur huge cost on transportation due to inaccessibility.

    “When you are coming to Ayamelum, you have to come through Igbariam en route Nando, whereas from 33, you can come straight to Ayamelum but you can not do that now because the road is cut off”, he said.

    Igwe Oranu while acknowledging that the government will not finish every work in  the state in a day, applauded Governor Chukwuma Soludo for his steadfastness in infrastructural development across the state,  appeals to the state government to remember Ayamelum Local Government in the area of access road construction and maintenance.

  • Gov Otu committed to driving transparency and fiscal responsibility in governance

    Gov Otu committed to driving transparency and fiscal responsibility in governance

    By Innocent Akamba

    Since the current administration of His Excellency, Senator Bassey Otu assumed the reins a little over a year ago, he has made transparency, fiscal responsibility and accountability one of the cardinal planks of his government.

    This does not, however, exclude the running of government agencies such as the state’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS), under whose watch has seen an exponential leap in revenue accruals to the government to above average of 60.6% in just one year.

    This could only have been achieved through diligent, aggressive, effective, efficient and transparent tax automation process instituted by Governor Otu.

    This explains why improvement in the transparent and accountable tax administration of the Cross River State IRS has also earned the agency plaudits from a vast concourse of Cross Riverians for the rare feat.

    The Service is not resting on its oars to continually improve the state IGR, knowing the commitment of the Governor to drive development and trigger a positive economic turnaround.

    However, there are still doubting Thomases, just as there will always be scatterbrained Thomases, incurable cynics and skeptics who are bent on gaslighting the government in order to either trend or distract or perhaps both.

    It is against the background of the activities of these merchants of mischief such as a certain Austin Ibok whose communication/writing skills have of late, mysteriously attained some incredible level of coherence, that we are inclined to challenge him to come open and with facts at his disposal regarding the day-to-day operations at the state’s Internal Revenue Service.

    Ordinarily, Ibok who signed off as “writing from my balcony” should not have deserved any response for his posers until he provides, according to him, “in my next write-up, full details of transactions involving companies used in siphoning public funds.”

    Suffice it, however, to say that the IRS remains strongly committed to improving the revenue profile of the state by abiding strictly by the international best practices of due process, transparency and accountability.

    Accordingly, government revenue from taxes will continue to be meticulously paid into the government account, judiciously managed for the well-being of the citizenry, and never lodged into individuals accounts. International best practice allows for two approaches to revenue collection; for instance, there is Target Driven system and also Commission Based system.

    The State IRS has adopted both approaches which allows some transactional based taxes to be paid through target based system where the consultants are given targets and made to either pay upfront or at the end of each month. This has assisted in growing the revenue of the State including the Ministerial revenue by over 250% in the past 9 months.

    As the government continue the ongoing automation process, the expectation is to gradually bring every one into the tax net and reduce the prevalence of allowing direct collections by consultants and encourage payments into the government account where they will be paid based on commission.
    With the adopted measures, leakages are promptly addressed and all funds are directly deposited into the government account.

    Through effective and efficient revenue drive, the administration has also been able to reactivate the State Reserve Fund account, that had laid dormant for about eight years but which currently holds a balance of 3.7 billion naira, meant for unforeseen circumstances.
    Governor Otu’s administration, through prudent resource allocation, has ensured that the state government has met its debt and contractual obligations amounting to over N55 billion from the beginning of this administration to the present.

    Only a responsible administration, such as the one currently led by Governor Bassey Otu in Cross River State, could have achieved these milestones.

    While other agencies of government, such as CRISSA and SUBEB, mentioned by the timid author from the balcony, are no different in terms of effective and efficient service delivery, yet, we do not doubt that they are autonomous of each other, as their performances under the leadership of Governor Bassey Otu are equally a testament to his People First agenda of service delivery. We await the nitwit who writes from his balcony for his full details of transactions involving the IRS.

    Written By
    Innocent Akamba

    For People First mandate support groups

    27/06/2024

  • Cholera Outbreak: Invest more in health sector – Obi tells Tinubu

    Cholera Outbreak: Invest more in health sector – Obi tells Tinubu

    By Ovat Abeng

    Following the recent cholera outbreak that have claimed many lives in Lagos and other part of the Nigeria, the former Labour Party Presidential Candidate in the 2023 general elections  Mr. Peter Obi has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to deployed more financial resources to health sector to curb further disease outbreaks in the country.

    He alleged that the cause of the outbreak was as a result of lack of investment in the health sector by the present administration.

    Obi made the called at the 6th Public Lecture of the Board of Fellows, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (BOF-PSN) held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka on Wednesday.

    According to him, Nigeria should not be talking about outbreaks now, we have build vaccination facility in this country in 1948, almost 20-years before Cyrus that is now the biggest vaccines producer in the World, yet because of the bad leadership, corruption and people not be committed to good leadership are busy frustrating the facility not to function.

    Read Also: Group Demands Stiff Laws On Unwholesome Practices Against Widows In Nigeria

    “Nigerians today, rather resort to prayers whenever they fall sick to secure spiritual cure than going to a hospital.

    He stated that the government rather than partner local pharmaceutical industries for manufacturing of high quality of drugs, and,  medicines, what the government has been doing is issuing licences for importation drugs and collection of revenues from the importers.

    Obi who was the keynote speaker on the lecture topic: “Access to Quality Medicine in An Unstable Environment”, stressed that catering for the health of the citizens is one major priority of any government, but, lamented that do to leadership incompetence in the country the issue of health in the country has not being given attention it deserved.

    He noted that he visited a primary health centre in  an outskirt of Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and, discovered that there were 50 pregnant women in the hospital, and, there one just one medical staff attending to them.

    He stated that there were about 24,000 primary health centres in the country, but, lamented that none of them is functional.

    He also lamented the allocation to health as contained in the current national budget saying that there was need to prioritise issues concerning health such that in addition to providing health insurance to all the citizens, there should be a deliberate policy by government to ensure local manufacture of drugs and medicines.

    He cited that augmentin drug which used to sell for the sum of N5,000 now sells for N18,000.

    He also took a swipe at the governments at state and federal who give priority to equipping health clinic at Governors’ clinics, Presidency and National Assembly who those they are meant to take care yet abandon for Overseas hospitals while those for the citizens are neglected.

    “We need to dismantle the type of leadership we have in the country, and, everyone show commitment to install a government that will provide good governance, otherwise, we can’t move forward.

    He also lamented that Nigeria is a signatory to SDG, but since after COVID pandemic, the country has not been able to establish any laboratory to conduct tests for diseases.

    Also speaking, Dr Afam Obidike, Anambra state Commissioner for Health said Gov. Chukwuma Soludo’s administration acquired 5000 hectres of land at Ogboji in Orumba South to build Pharmaceutical Industrial City.

    According to Obidike, the idea of the pharmaceutical industrial city is to change the known concept of importation and selling to manufacturing and exportation of drugs.

    “It will be the biggest pharmaceutical distributors’ hub in West Africa,” he said.

    Earlier in his address, Dr Joel Adagadzu, Chairman, Board of Fellows, PSN, said the recommendations from the lecture would help the leadership of PSN to continue the dialogue with government on finding equitable solutions to access to quality medicines for the teeming population.

    The event was also grace by the Unizik Vice Chancellor, Prof Joseph Ikechebelu, Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, CEO of PAXS Pharmaceuticals Limited, Uche Akpakama, Unizik Pharmaceutical Students, among others.

  • Cut cost of governance to pay minimum wage – Bishop Ezeokafor tells Tinubu

    Cut cost of governance to pay minimum wage – Bishop Ezeokafor tells Tinubu

    By Ovat Abeng

    Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, His Lordship, Most Reverend Paulinus Ezeokafor, has called on President Bola Tinubu to cut cost of governance to enable him pay better wages to Nigeria workers.

    Ezeokafor who spoke to journalists in Awka on Wednesday, expressed displeasure over the N62,000 minimum wage offered by the Federal Government to workers.

    He stated that the proposed wage is poor considering the high cost of living in the country today, adding that even N100,000 minimum wage was not enough to meet the basic needs of Nigerian workers.

    He said: “It is unfortunate to hear about the minimum wage debates. To me, N100,000 is even not enough, looking at how some persons siphon monies meant for every Nigerian.

    Read Also: Anambra 2025: I’m not running for Deputy Governor – Ekwunife

    “It is a question of living in a very big blessed country and at the same time the workers and masses are suffering because some individuals are taking home what belongs to society, leaving the workers and the general public to be gnashing their teeth.

    “Let us look at the N62,000 proposal. From it, someone will take care of his health, transportation, accommodation, feeding and everything about life per month and one month is 30 days on the average.

    “Will that person ever be able to have a roof over his head? And yet they see it as too much to be paid to the people. I do not believe that we are telling ourselves the truth.

    “When I hear people say that if government starts paying N62,000 it cannot sustain it, I think such people may be selfish. If they are looking for where to source the money from, they should slash the National Assembly Members’ jumbo salaries, the governors’ and the Federal Government’s salaries and emoluments itself.

    “Cut down the cost of governance. Use the money to settle workers and poor Nigerians.

    “See how the Burkina Faso President is managing the economy of the country. The President of Uruguay, see how he is managing their economy.

    “What extra job are they doing to warrant such jumbo salaries? Labour should tell them that they can pay the money. Let them cut down the cost of running the government.

    “You see somebody debating paying N62,000 while they are going home with N30million monthly. If government is sincere they should reduce the money they are sharing to themselves. If not, there could be a revolution,” the Bishop stated.

  • IPAC Chairman Engr Effiom Edet Okon congratulates C’River APC Chairman Barr Alphonsus Ogar Eba on his birthday

    IPAC Chairman Engr Effiom Edet Okon congratulates C’River APC Chairman Barr Alphonsus Ogar Eba on his birthday

    Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) Cross River State chapter, Engr. Effiom Edet Okon, has congratulated Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba, State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on the occasion of his 49th birthday.

    He praised the good relationship that has existed between him and the APC chief over the years, adding that Barr. Alphonsus Eba is a positive influence and inspiration to many.

    The IPAC Chairman therefore prayed the Almighty God to bless Barr. Alphonsus Eba with many more years in good to continue to offer valuable service to the fatherland.

  • Interview: Businesses are yet to explore the full potential of online advertising – Wofai Williams

    Interview: Businesses are yet to explore the full potential of online advertising – Wofai Williams

    Calabar-based online advertising expert, Wofai Williams, is of the opinion that businesses in Nigeria, and Cross River in particular, are yet to fully explore the benefits of online advertising. This according to her, has led to so many businesses not making enough sales to maximize profit through turnover.

    In this exclusive interview with the Paradise News, she talks about the fundamentals of online advertising and sponsored ads campaigns on social media and how businesses can key into it for leverage.

    Excerpts

    Please tell us about yourself.

    My name is Wofai Ojeje Williams, I’m the face behind Wofai Online Advertising Agency. I’m from Cross River state. I was born and brought in Abeokuta, Ogun State where I did my primary, secondary and tertiary education. I graduated from Moshood Abiola Polyethnic where I had my Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication. I’m married with 3 lovely kids.

    How long have you been in the online advertising business?

    I’ve been in this online advertising for 2 years now and it has been an amazing journey so far because this is what I love doing, helping people to grow in their various fields by putting their products or services out there for a large number of people to see through sponsored ads on facebook and instagram.

    What Is Online Advertising?

    The simplest definition of online advertising is “any form of promotion delivered through the internet.”

    What are the benefits of running sponsored Ads?

    Unlike traditional ads, online ads can be targeted at a particular audience. For example, if you sell women’s shoes, you can target your ads at women who are in the market for buying shoes or have already made a purchase from you. This way, your ads will be shown to people likely to buy, rather than everyone.

    Real-time tracking and measurement
    Online ads can be tracked and measured. Once you publish your ad, you can track how many people saw the ad (impressions), clicked on it, and went beyond the landing page and bought something. This can also help you determine your return on investment.

    Read Also: C’River NDDC Rep, Orok Duke, presents relief materials to Bakassi returnees

    Compared to traditional advertising, online advertising is a lot more cost-effective. To begin with, running an online ad through Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, or any of the other digital marketing platforms is cheaper than placing your billboard on a building.

    What’s more, as mentioned above, you can measure what happens with your money and whether or not your ads are actually efficient. This is not the case with traditional advertising, as you can’t really measure how many people stopped at the supermarket after they saw your ice cream billboard on the way home.

    Online ads allow you to try different approaches and strategies. You can experiment with different platforms, audiences, and creative pieces without investing much money. You can target people based on their demographics, or based on their interests. And if your ad isn’t efficient, you can stop your campaign and replace it. Moreover, you can also A/B test your ads to see what works best, so you can double down your efforts on that.

    What are the challenges of Online Advertising?

    Unfortunately, nothing is ever perfect, not even in online advertising. In fact, online advertising is plagued by its own demons and sometimes, they’re pretty complex. For example, the following challenges online advertisers face don’t have clear-cut solutions.

    Still, being aware of them helps you avoid and mitigate them as much as possible, so you can still reap all the benefits of running ads online.

    It is estimated advertisers will lose $100 billion in 2023, all due to ad fraud. Although this issue is not as frequently discussed in mainstream media, it’s obviously a very stringent, painful, and costly one.

    On the other hand, if your ads are defrauded, and you want to take the matter into a court of law, you will find it very difficult to prove the intent of the malicious actions, which also means you won’t have an actual case.

    Ads fraud prevention tools can help you minimize the impact of click fraud, as they use automated systems to spot, block, and prevent future clicks from fraudulent sources.

    For a long time, people have been bombarded with ads everywhere. Pop-up ads, banners everywhere, Google Search getting increasingly more focused on advertising—there’s a whole world of online ads out there, and sometimes, they can feel intrusive.

    Ad blockers were developed to help people protect their attention and time. They basically block ads, allowing users to browse webpages advertising-free. However, this is a real challenge for businesses and advertisers, as you cannot actually make anyone turn off their ad blocker. What you can do, however, is to make sure your ads are creative and entertaining, so people won’t have the urge to put up a blocker.
    Be mindful that people don’t always want to see ads—some may appreciate them, while others will not. Respect their decision by giving users the option to opt out of ads.

    The reason ads can target users so well is that websites collect a lot of data on those who visit them. Although not nominal, all this information is used to create target groups based on a variety of factors, such as age, gender, location, and even preferences and online behaviors. Cookies lie at the very foundation of internet ads, but with rising privacy concerns over how data is collected, managed, and used, some online advertising platforms are moving away from cookie-driven advertising.

    For instance, Google will phase out cookies in the second half of 2024, and replace them with Privacy Sandbox APIs, a more user-friendly way of supporting online advertising. Although at this point (February 2023), cookie replacements aren’t all ironed out, they will sooner or later come into effect.

    Ad fatigue is another challenge modern advertisers have to overcome. Essentially, ad fatigue happens when people see your ads too often. Instead of being drawn by these ads, users start to ignore them altogether, developing a form of “ad blindness” that makes it hard for advertisers to get their attention.

    The key to overcoming ad blindness is to keep the messaging fresh and interesting. That way, users won’t get so tired of your ads that they ignore them completely. Experiment with different ad formats and creative elements to keep things interesting for users.

    All of these challenges in online advertising may seem daunting and even insurmountable, but they don’t have to stop you from running campaigns. With the right strategies and tools, you can overcome each challenge and run ads that yield the results you’re aiming for.

    What are the best practices for Online Advertising?

    Online advertising can be complex, but not impossible. Although every online advertising platform has its own algorithm, rules, and settings, it all boils down to several best practices. Some of the most important ones include:

    Understanding your target audience

    Knowing your target audience is essential to running advertising campaigns that work. The reason behind this is easy to understand: if you don’t know who your ideal customer is, it will be hard to:

    Create targeted campaigns

    Write copy that speaks to your ideal audience.
    Create ad designs that get their attention.
    To really understand your target audience, you should:

    Research their interests, pain points, needs, and wants.
    Create buyer personas to get a better idea of who you’re targeting
    Use quantitative data to find your demographics (e.g., data in Google Analytics and other analytics tools).
    Use qualitative data to understand your audience’s triggers, how they speak, and what they want (e.g., run customer interviews).
    Run recurrent surveys to understand why people buy from you (and why they don’t).
    Essentially, you should know your target audience like someone you met personally, as this will help you devise ad strategies and build ad creatives that get your ideal customer’s attention (and make them click).

    Developing a clear and concise message

    People are busy. They don’t like very complicated things, particularly in a world where instant gratification is the de facto mode people use the internet. As such, your advertising messaging should be clear and concise: it should tell people what it’s in it for them if they buy your product.

    That doesn’t mean there’s no room for creativity in your advertising campaigns.

    On the contrary, using emotion, humor, pop culture references, and power words can help you stand out from the crowd (and thus, increase the efficiency of your advertising efforts).

    Creating engaging and high-quality ad visuals

    Your ad creatives matter as much as your targeting and copywriting, so invest in high-quality, engaging designs that cut through the noise and grab people’s attention. People may not always read every ad they stumble upon, but if the ad design attracts them, they’re more likely to stop scrolling (and start paying attention).

    For example, here are some tips on how to make your visuals more engaging:

    Use high-quality images that align with your ad’s message (but make sure they adhere to the policy of the ad platform you’re using).
    Incorporate bold, attention-grabbing content.

    Staying up-to-date with industry trends and changes.
    Like it or not, online advertising changes a lot What works today may not be available tomorrow, but next week might bring something entirely new and exciting into your life as an advertiser. Rules change, algorithms get updates, and markets shift so you need to stay on top of everything to make sure you’re up to date with industry trends and changes.

    Online advertising has a very enticing proposition: it allows you to be where your ideal customers are for a fraction of the cost traditional advertising used to entail. It’s not without challenges, but once you overcome them, online ads are a very effective way to reach your target audience and help them find your products.

    How do you build confidence and trust among your clients?

    Building trust with clients who want to advertise is crucial for establishing long-lasting relationships and ensuring successful partnerships.

    My customer service is topnotch, Clients who feel valued and well-supported are more likely to trust your agency.

    I’ve worked with a lot of clients so i have thousands of reviews to back up my credibility in the business.

    Another way to gain trust is consistency, I’ve been consistent with my business and everyone knows this is what I do.

    I also offer free consultation where I answer all your questions before you decide to make payment.

    What kind of business can be advertised online?

    Any kind of business can be advertised online, there’s no limitation.

    Do you have any form of training for people who wish to learn online advertising?

    Yes. I teach business owners how to promote their business online. People who are in Calabar can have a physical class with me since I reside here in  Calabar. You can chat me on WhatsApp or call 07039447471.

  • Cross River Commissioner for Environment Celebrates Children’s Day

    Cross River Commissioner for Environment Celebrates Children’s Day

    Dear Cross Riverians,

    On this special occasion, let us celebrate the joy, innocence, and boundless potential that children bring into our lives. Children are the future, the hope, and the light of our world. Their laughter, curiosity, and creativity remind us of the beauty and wonder that exists in every moment.

    Today, let us reaffirm our commitment to nurturing, protecting, and empowering every child. Let us create a world where every child has access to education, healthcare, safety, and love. Let us listen to their voices, support their dreams, and guide them towards a brighter tomorrow.

    To all the children out there, you are cherished, valued, and loved. Your uniqueness, your energy, and your dreams inspire us to be better, to do better, and to create a world where you can thrive and flourish.

    Read Also: Rt. Hon. Orok Duke Celebrates Children’s Day, Emphasizes Education and Healthcare

    Furthermore, let us strive to protect our environment and ensure its sustainability so that it can support generations that will come after us.

    Happy Children’s Day!

    Hon. Moses Osogi,
    Commissioner for Environment,
    Cross River State.

    27 May, 2024.