The Socio-cultural and political situation in Nigeria has not changed much since the advent of democratic
government in the country. Thus, in the economic sphere the wealth of the nation continued to be concentrated in a
few hands. The neo-literal policies of the state including privatization, puts less role for governance in the economy,
and deregulation of the economy remain in place. As a consequence, control of foreign forces and interests over the
economy and the nation remains, the oil and gas industry, the main stay of the economy is largely controlled global
foreign capital, while there is allegedly a private sector in Nigeria, which is foreign dominated. The private sector
where Nigerians are involved ironically, exist to import what is manufactured elsewhere into the s situation jobs,
balance of payments, out flow of resources, inflation, personal incomes, creativity, innovation and technological
development are better imagined. It is thus, no wonder that we are seeing more unemployment, more foreign
closures, low wages and unpaid pension benefits among others. A recent estimate by World Bank indicates that only
10% of Nigerians are in paid employment and the rate of unemployment among the youths, stand at least 40%. The
study therefore was aimed at addressing this sad situation of Nigeria by re-branding Nigeria such that foreign
direct investment/tourism could stimulate Nigeria economy based on our re-branding image. To address this
situation a null hypothesis was formulated to guide the study. Two hundred respondents’ responses were utilized.
Pearson product moment correlation (r) and contingency chi-square (x) statistical procedure were utilized. The
analyses revealed that with direct foreign investment in the field of tourism, our economy will be stimulated. While
major recommendation point to the fact that for foreign direct investment to be achieved in Nigeria, there should be
aggressive need to re-brand Nigeria image by embarking on projects that are aimed at laundering the country’s
image.
