BBC World Service

Nigeria is the self-styled 'giant of Africa' with an estimated population of over 200 million people and the sixth largest producer and exporter of crude oil in the world, yet "the image of our country has been battered at home and abroad, more by our own mishandling and mismanagement than by anything else" admitted the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo when he launched the $4million Nigeria Image Project. The investment was in recognition that Nigeria's image abroad, as of one of the most corrupt nations in the world with an over dependence on the oil sector, was denying them much needed foreign investment.

But can reversing poor perception of a country really make a difference to its fortunes? Is a better image a self-fulfilling prophesy? Or is it useless without change on the ground? In this pair of programmes we follow the many steps of this campaign and other examples of image enhancement - from ads on CNN, the launch of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the re-branding of Zain telecoms and efforts by HITeleVision to polish Nigeria's image by beaming to the global audience a reality show that highlights the country's cultural values - and ask if re-branding is a noble cause or futile project.