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The Media can make or break economy, says Bunmi Oke. President AAAN

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7 years ago

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Bunmi Oke is the President of Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and the representative of the industry at the national conference going on in Abuja. Aside all that, she is the Chief Operation Officer/Executive Director of 141 Worldwide, an advertising service company. She recently clocked 50 having put in 28 years in the industry.
In this interview with GODDIE OFOSE and REGINA WHENU in her office in Lagos, Oke speaks on the role of the media in building business and nation, and on how Nigeria will remain one of the most attractive markets for foreign direct investment.

 

With all sense of responsibility and humility, there is a subject called crisis management. And if it wasn’t a difficult situation, it wouldn’t have to be a subject of research on its own. One unfortunate thing about any crisis is that nobody knows how they are going to act because you cannot rehearse or prepare for a crisis.
Some people are experts in crisis management because they’ve managed so many. The reaction and the time must be looked at because it’s a new problem which nobody has encountered before in the history of Nigeria.
I don’t think anybody prepares for crisis in this part of the world. Advanced nations have learnt that they need to prepare for crisis management but we are yet to learn.
There is need for a new level of communication management. Appropriate method of reaction to crisis situations and the communication strategy to handle these periods must be implemented. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) must step up its game by educating Nigerians on how to prepare for crisis management.
An average individual cannot just handle communication crisis. You need a team of professionals to do this. We do not realise how important communication management is during any challenge in the country. Foreign intervention so far, even in terms of measurement of achievement, is not much. But the difference is that they are communicating what they are doing daily.
Look at the Malaysian Airline crash. Nothing has happened since that day, they still have not found even a bicycle spoke, but they’ve managed the emotions of the people, families of victims and everyone around the world because of adequate communication strategy. Now, people are prepared for the worst. Everybody dreads the unforeseen, but it is well managed. That has been communication management.
We are at a level in Nigeria where we’ve got to start doing things professionally. It looks like everybody can do that, but no, you need to have professionals.

How best can the government address insurgency, especially in respect of security information?
We need to be frank and match ourselves with countries that have fast-tracked development, like Dubai, which took a conscious effort. They are now marketing those countries in such a way that would make them attractive. It is driven both by the government and private sector. We must remember that there is collective effort in security in the sense that everybody must be their neighbour’s keeper.
We must not turn a blind eye when things happen. There should be a national re-orientation for citizens and the government at all levels where everybody takes up the responsibility to be informal ambassadors. If people meet, what impression would I create in their minds? You must be an informal ambassador of your country, of yourself, of your local government and of course of your state.
And until we all take up that mantle to say I must play my part, the government cannot do everything. By doing the right thing, the government can also be forced to take responsibility at their own level by the time we take up our own.
You don’t see most foreigners talk negatively about their country, yet their countries are not perfect. You see foreigners coming here on a daily basis. They were all here at the World Economic Forum, which got negative publicity because of insecurity in the country.
The government will do its best, people will come because risk is part of life, but my point is, if it was so bad there must be something good. In every situation, something good will come out of it.
That is why I say the media is powerful. The media has the power to make or break any business or country. The media should embark on a conscious campaign to rebuild Nigeria. Besides, media marketing communications also have a huge role to play. We can write the copy line, media can do the press releases; we can work with government to expose these materials. This conscious effort would produce good result for us instead of waiting for the government all the time.

How close are we to that Nigerian dream?
I have no prophetic capability, so I cannot answer that question categorically. Many things defy the odds. When people say this is how things are done globally, you find out that it defies the odds here.
For instance, it is only in Nigeria that a 36-year-old is still referred to as youth. You will see a man who is 75 years old, who will say he is just starting life when he should be in the departure lounge.
In all sense of responsibility, I think united we stand, divided we fall. When the house is not united, you cannot do anything. I think we should wait and let time tell, because who would have believed that Chibok was going to be a global issue. It has brought out our humanness; it has brought out the importance of the media, the importance of digital technology, and borderless communication, and so many things.
As time goes on, many Nigerians will understand the power of social media, and by the time we get to conclusions, and it is an open discussion, Nigerians will take up the topic they agree with or don’t agree with. Those days when you put things under the table are gone, that is why proceedings are done in the open. Everybody finds out that you are speaking not just for yourself.

Why are there no mergers and acquisitions in advertising when banking, oil and gas, manufacturing and other sectors thrive on them?
We shouldn’t take any industry in isolation of its growth chart. Just like in marketing. Look at the life cycle of advertising in Nigeria, let’s face it, a lot of the pioneer advertising have been individuals. They are entrepreneurs who have paid their dues. Therefore if you build something, it’s unlikely that you want to let it go just like that. It’s the sentiment.
In other countries the life cycles of the companies are different. They’ve come to a point when they realise that united we stand, divided we fall. They’ve realised that a one man-business normally dies with that person. That’s why you find out that a lot of the multinationals have passed from two or three generations to what they are today. They are not in the first generation of the owners, so to speak. The life cycle of different countries reflect on that type of thinking.
As we all get to the middle age and start moving up, the thinking is going to change. In digital technology, we are going to see a new crop of thinking that might be totally different. Things are going to change. There are still going to be multinational and local industries that require the services of marketing communications consultants.

How has marketing communication faired in the past three decades?
I started my career in Grant advertising at 22, and if I’m going to be 50, that means one way or another I’ve been in the industry for 28 years. I only took a break, a biological break when I had my children. I have always been in media and marketing communications.
One thing I have learnt is that our industry is very much dynamic. You have to always change with the time to remain competitive. The education you have today is only going to be valid for two years, not to talk of now with digital technology. The point I’m bringing out is that I learnt two things. Always try and anticipate the need to develop yourself at any point so that you can be relevant. You must be consistent with what goes on. The body will age, but the brain does not have to age. So to keep the brain youthful, you have to keep in touch with reality. Dynamism is what determines this industry.
The second thing I discover is that if you want to play, I always like the idea of playing at the international level but with local knowledge. And that has been a personal dream. I want to be able to go to anywhere in the world and fit in. This means that I have to keep myself abreast of communication language.
The other part I also discovered is that you need very much to be a good team player to be able to evolve. I have had the opportunity to work with different people and discovered that everybody has individual skills that are harnessed when the strength is brought together. If somebody is a good copywriter and doesn’t have a product to sell, he will languish in the dark.

Is the advertising industry immune to falling standards?
We have to be careful, because standard can be misconstrued. In marketing communication, we must evolve communication plans that help to project the businesses, services and products that have a brand issue or a communication issue at hand. Don’t forget that businesses are also evolving. When you say falling, it could be relative and that is why I find it very difficult to answer your question.
For instance, more people attend school now in Nigeria; but in terms of quality, written and spoken English, three decades ago, if somebody finished Standard Six in Nigeria, they would write very good English. Now you have people who are leaving university who cannot construct good sentences in English. And they would say more people are now getting tertiary education.
I have my personal standards, but that does not mean it is something that must come across the board. For example, I do not like to use fingers to eat food like eba and amala, and it’s not a matter of being posh. I just don’t want the thing to get stuck in my fingers because I keep long nails.
Professionalism is what I like to measure against world class standard. That is in terms of delivery, turn-around time and ability to solve problems. It doesn’t mean that the materials that come from the UK are necessarily the material that would fly here. But we can meet some certain basic standards.

What is the industry’s position at the confab?
For now, what we are trying to do is let the government understand the need to use marketing communication services to market Nigeria for greater development, and that starts by using the mixture of both professionals and those who work in communication mix to come together and reposition Nigeria. Without it, there is nothing we would do.
Whatever the government comes out with, I still believe it is critical to have an organ of government that has established marketing communication. For instance, every embassy should be a marketing outlet for Nigeria, and we must also have a unified structure there. Even our orientation campaign should be internally generated.
So there is a lot of work to be done, but professionally. Let’s borrow a leaf from what the multinationals do when they are launching a new product, they see it as a business which must bring in returns. Why can’t we see Nigeria as a business, and do everything to re-position it so that it can bring in the much-needed returns?

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Court Vacates Order Freezing Assets Of GHL, Obaigbena, Others….

Published

9 hours ago

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January 30, 2025

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Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has lifted the Mareva Injunction that froze the assets of an oil and gas services company, General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL), over its alleged refusal to pay a $225.8 million loan facility awarded to it by First Bank of Nigeria Limited.

 

 

The judge also held that he has jurisdiction over the suit filed by First Bank on the grounds that the case is not an abuse of court process as the subject matter and the parties involved are different from those before Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa.

 

However, Justice Dipeolu stated that he would not have granted the Mareva injunction had he been fully aware of Justice Lewis-Allagoa’s prior order in Suit No. 1953.

 

In a ruling delivered on December 30, 2024, Justice Dipeolu put restrictions in place, prohibiting all commercial banks from releasing or dealing with any assets or funds belonging to General Hydrocarbons Limited, its agents, subsidiaries, or related entities up to the amount claimed by the plaintiffs.

Additionally, the judge issued a preliminary injunction barring Nduka Obaigbena, Efe Damilola

 

 

Obaigbena, and Olabisi Eka Obaigbena—directors of General Hydrocarbons Limited—from transferring or dissipating any of their assets located in Nigeria, whether movable or immovable, until the court makes a decision on the Motion on Notice for an interlocutory injunction.

 

Earlier, GHL had obtained an order from Justice Lewis-Allagoa in another case, which prevented First Bank of Nigeria Limited from taking further action to recover the loan until the parties fulfilled their obligation to engage in arbitration.

 

 

While moving the application, challenging the Mareva Injunction GHL’s counsel, Dr Abiodun Layonu (SAN), argued that the Injunction represented an abuse of the court process, claiming that First Bank had failed to disclose the previous order by Justice Lewis-Allagoa, which had restrained the bank from further action.

 

In response, First Bank lawyer Victor Ogude (SAN) argued that his client did not deceive the court to obtain the order and that the bank provided all relevant facts in its affidavit supporting the suit.

 

 

He also claimed that no law restricts their constitutional right to seek judicial redress for disputes.

 

 

In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu acknowledged that while the current suit was not an abuse of process, it had to respect the prior orders issued by his brother judge.

 

Justice Dipeolu held, “I have carefully read through all that is contained in the Originating Summons in Suit No:FHC/L/CS/1953/24 and the Interim Orders of Hon. Justice Allagoa J. dated the 12th of December, 2024.

 

“It appears to me that the Interim Orders made by Hon. Justice Allagoa J. revolves around the arbitration proceedings between the first Defendant and the first Plaintiff in this case, which arbitration proceedings is pursuant to Clause 12 (c) of the Agreement between the 1st Defendant and the 1st Plaintiff dated the 29th of May, 2021. This position is reflected in all the Interim Orders granted on the 12th of December, 2024.

 

 

Although the Interim Orders made by this Court on the 30th of December, 2024 are about the subsequent facilities agreement between the first Plaintiff and the first Defendant and it does not extend to the receivables in the agreement of 29 of May, 2021, also, the present suit on the face of it if placed side by side with FHC/L/CS/1953/2024 is not an abuse of process.

 

“For the reasons given above, however, in view of the Orders of Allagoa J. made on the 12th of December, 2024, the Mareva order granted by this Court on 30th December is hereby set aside,” the court stated.

 

Justice Dipeolu affirmed the court’s jurisdiction to grant the initial Mareva order but concluded that the injunction could not stand in light of conflicting orders.

 

 

Furthermore, the court ruled that the second to fifth defendants, who were affected by the Mareva orders, had the right to seek the dismissal of the suit.

 

Justice Dipeolu has adjourned the case to

February 19, 2025, for further proceedings.

 

 

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REA director, Abubakar Sambo, arraigned for ‘N1.84bn fraud’

Published

11 hours ago

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January 30, 2025

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Abubakar Sambo, the director of Finance and Account of the Rural Electrification Agency, was on Monday re-arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, for alleged N1.84 billion fraud.

 

He was arraigned before Justice Musa Liman of a Federal High Court on three counts of alleged diversion of funds to personal accounts.

 

His lawyer, Y. D. Dangana, SAN, prayed the court to allow Sambo to continue to enjoy bail terms as earlier granted by a sister court and ICPC’s counsel, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, did not oppose the application.

 

 

Justice Liman, therefore, admitted the defendant to the earlier bail conditions granted by Justice Bolaji Olajuwon.

 

The judge adjourned the matter until April 2 for commencement for trial.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Justice Olajuwon of a FHC in Abuja had, on June 24, 2024, granted Sambo a bail in the sum of N200 million with two sureties in the like sum.

 

 

The judge held that the sureties must have landed property within the jurisdiction of the court with original certificates of occupancy (CofO) which must be deposited with the deputy chief registrar of the court.

 

She equally ordered the sureties to provide affidavits of their tax clearance in the last three years with a one passport photograph each.

 

Justice Olajuwon adjourned the matter until October 17 for trial commencement.

 

 

However, the judge was transferred to another division of the court, making the case to start denovo (afresh).

 

NAN reports that the anti-corruption commission had, in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/209/2024, sued Abubakar Abdullahi Sambo as sole defendant.

 

In the charge dated May 8, 2024, but filed May 10, 2024 by Akponimisingha, an Assistant Chief Legal Officer in the commission, the ICPC alleged that Sambo sometime in March 2023 or thereabout while being the Payment Finalizer on the Government integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform of REA did finalise the payment of the totai sum of N1.84 billion (N1,835,000,000.00).

 

 

It alleged that the funds were done in different tranches for the use of Henrrientta Onomen Okojie, Asuni Adejoke Aminat, Usman Kwakwa, Laure Shehu Abduilahi, Emmanuel Pada Titus and Musa Umar Karaye for a purported project supervision exercise without requisite approval, thereby contributing to the economic adversity of the REA.

 

The commission said the offence was contrary to and punishable under Section 68 of the Public Enterprise Regulatory Commission Act, CAP. P39, Laws of the Federation, 2004.

 

In count two, Sambo was accused to have used his access password to access the REA’s GIFMIS platform and finalised the payment of the sum of N1.84 billion in different tranches for the use of Okojie, Aminat, Kwakwa, Abdullahi, Titus and Karaye for a purported project supervision exercise without authority.

 

 

The offence was said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 6(4) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015.

 

In count three, Sambo was alleged to have conferred corrupt advantage on Okojie, Aminat, Kwakwa, Abdullahi, Titus and Karaye when he used his access password to access the REA’s GIFMIS platform and finalised the payment of N1.84 billion in different tranches for their use for a purported project supervision exercise without requisite approvals.

 

The ICPC said the offence contrary to and punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

 

 

NAN reports that Karaye, Titus and Okojie were also arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite of a sister court on separate four-count charge preferred against them.

 

While Karaye and Titus were arraigned before Justice Nwite on June 13, 2024, Okojie was arraigned on June 14, 2024.

 

Usman Ahmed Kwakwa was also arraigned on June 13, 2024 on separate criminal charge before the judge and all of them were admitted to a N50 million each with two sureties each in the like sum.

 

 

In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/203/24 filed against Okojie, she was alleged to have in count one, sometime in March 2023 or thereabout, with intent to defraud the REA, received the sum of N342 million in different tranches through her Access Bank Account: 0009022275 under the false pretence of project supervision.

 

The offence is said to be contrary to Section 1(1)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006

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Ex-US Senator Bob Menendez jailed for 11 years for bribery…

Published

13 hours ago

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January 30, 2025

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Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges.

 

Last July, a jury found Menendez guilty on 16 counts for accepting gifts, including gold bars, cash and a Mercedes-Benz, in exchange for helping foreign governments.

 

Prosecutors were seeking at least a 15-year sentence, citing in court documents the “rare gravity” of the ex-senator’s crimes.

 

Lawyers for Menendez, 71, had called for a shorter sentence paired with community service.

 

“Somewhere along the way, you became, I’m sorry to say, a corrupt politician,” US Judge Sidney Stein said before handing down Menendez’s sentence, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

 

 

Before receiving his sentence, Menendez cried while addressing the courtroom.

 

“Other than family, I have lost everything I ever cared about,” he said, according to court reporters. “Every day I’m awake is a punishment.”

 

He then asked the judge “to temper your sword of justice with the mercy of a lifetime of duty”.

 

Menendez’s son, Rob Menendez, a Democratic congressman, and his daughter, MSNBC anchor Alicia Menendez, were seated in court behind their father.

 

Earlier on Wednesday, two of Menendez’s co-conspirators were sentenced in the case.

 

Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer who prosecutors say delivered gold and cash to the senator, was given a sentence of seven years in prison and fined $1.75m (£1.4m).

 

 

Wael Hana, an Egyptian-American businessman, who prosecutors say brokered a deal between Menendez and the Egyptian government, received more than eight years in prison and was fined $1.25m.

 

Menendez has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has said he plans to appeal the guilty verdict.

 

The New Jersey senator, who used to lead the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, resigned from the upper chamber in August.

 

The guilty verdict came after a nine-week trial, during which jurors saw evidence that Menendez accepted gifts including gold bars worth over $100,000 and more than $480,000 in cash, found by FBI agents inside Menendez’s home.

 

 

In exchange for the bribes, prosecutors said Menendez helped secure millions of dollars in US aid for Egypt.

 

His lawyers argued the gifts did not qualify as bribes, saying prosecutors failed to prove Menendez took any actions as a result of the bribes.

 

The former senator was also convicted for trying to influence criminal probes involving his two co-defendants, Hana and Daibes.

 

A third businessman involved in the case, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced later this year. He testified against Menendez during the trial.

 

Nadine Menendez, the ex-senator’s wife, has also been accused of acting as a participant in the scheme by shuttling messages and bribes between the three men and Egyptian officials.

 

Her trial was delayed so she could undergo breast cancer treatment and will begin in March. She has pleaded not guilty.

 

 

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