The launch on 8 April 2021 of The Making of the Nigerian Flagship: A Story of The Guardian is significant in several respects. One of them is literature and documentation of the evolution of the Nigerian media.
Just two weeks ago, I taught a class of persons who learnt via Zoom at the Nestle/LBS programme on Advancing Nutrition, Health and Environmental Awareness through the Media. One of the participants asked a critical question. Why do Nigerian scholars often cite foreign examples rather than local ones? The answer is a lack of documentation. I told him there was no concise history of our major media organisations such as The Daily Times, Nigerian Tribune, The Punch, amongst the oldest. Nor of Radio Nigeria (FRCN) and the 80s print media giants such as National Concord, Vanguard, Satellite and The Guardian. I was glad to ask him to look out for the launch on 7 April of work on The Guardian. The authors shifted the launch by a day to accommodate changes in the Presidency. The challenge of documentation and citation was the most significant hurdle in teaching Nigerian Media History over four semesters. We often cite Fred Omu’s Press and Politics in Nigeria and Dayo Duyile’s Makers of Nigerian Press. I sent out questionnaires to Managing Directors of the major titles. Only a few responded after three years. Richard Ikiebe, Lanre Idowu, and Aremo Olusegun Osoba have recently added arrows to the quiver.
Richard contributed a two-volume book of first-hand accounts by certain players in Nigerian Media Leaders: Voices Beyond the Newsroom, as well as Kolade’s Canons with a book devoted to broadcasting, Then, a book with Taiwo Obe, titled future tense: The Travails of Next and Nigerian Journalism in the Digital Age. Lanre Idowu added Uneven Steps: The Story of The Nigerian Guild of Editors and Voices from Within, essays in honour of Sam Amuka. Osoba offered a biographical account that included the Daily Times.
Broadcasting has benefited from broad-stroke studies. They include the essay by Liwhu Betiang (2013), Global Drums and Local Masquerades: Fifty Years of Television Broadcasting in Nigeria: 1959-2009 and books such as Folarin, B. (2000). Foundation of broadcasting: A handbook for Nigerian students, and Lasode, O. (1994). Television broadcasting: The Nigerian experience, 1959-1992. The Making of the Nigerian Flagship: A Story of The Guardian represents a significant plank to document Nigerian media history. It will be essential reading for students and scholars of the Nigerian media. Kudos to Aaron Ukodie and O’Seun Ogunseitan for the work on the story of The Guardian. I shall dig into it for a review on Culture Shelf. Happy birthday to Aaron as he celebrates today. Aaron and O’Seun have rendered an excellent service to journalism and scholarship. At first glance, the book reminds me of Gay Talese’s (1969 The Kingdom and the Power: Behind the Scenes at The New York Times: The Institution That Influences the World. This work offers a broader scope. Thank you to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, whose presence added heft and glamour to the event. Prof Osinbajo is a media scholar. His book, Yemi Osinbajo (1991), Nigerian Media Law, builds on the eponymous Taslim Elias book.
It was a satisfying day yesterday.
The presence of Prof Osinbajo negated the absence of six governors who had all promised to come. Maybe the date change affected them, but.
Pitch: Debunking Marketing’s Strongest Myths entered the market in the best traditions of marketing communications. The decibel has been loud and intense, as has been the effort to reach consumers and make them at least buyers and probably readers of the book. The author of Pitch demonstrates that you can achieve high levels of awareness and reach for books in Nigeria bypassing the traditional book distribution channels. Or almost. Those building brands deploying public relations with modern platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter are following the paths of old masters such as Anita Roddick and her The Bodyshop line that predated the Internet. The idea was to tell stories around the brand through various activations including events. The media then reported it. Since its formal presentation in Lagos, Pitch has grabbed the Facebook platform and gets a mention every week. It does this deploying Walter Fischer’s Narrative Paradigm Theory. Narrative Paradigm states that all meaningful communication is in the form of storytelling. Communication happens between the narrator and the listener in the form of a story. Ikem Okuhu has consistently shared a series of stories around Pitch, from Lagos to Enugu with promises of adding Abuja and other towns. Friends have shared similar stories of donating the books to university libraries, mass communication and marketing departments. Consequently, engaged professionals in integrated marketing communications in Nigeria have heard of the book. They should, as it addresses issues within their purview and professional competence. Pitch is a journalist’s look at various issues in marketing communications that he feels do not serve the best interests of stakeholders, from
consumers to brand owners and media platforms. He calls them “marketing’s strongest myths”. Okuhu makes bold assertions and strong claims. A central assertion and thesis of the book comes early in the preface. Okuhu states, “There are far too many things that have been taken for granted in marketing. Perhaps out of respect for the ‘icons’ of the industry that laid the foundation for the cultivation of the ideas or merely because many people find it hard to interrogate certain issues, we have carried on with a lot that don’t just work. The consequence has been dire-wasteful marketing spend”. In 12 chapters across 178 pages, Pitch discusses the marketing role of the CEO; the “death of advertising”; the significance of mindshare versus market share; line extensions; and the growing role of technology and artificial intelligence in marketing. It also treats the role or non- contribution of innovation, pricing, globalisation and corporate social responsibility. It examines the matter of nation branding and what it takes to brand successful nation brands. An icon of advertising, Mr Lolu Akinwunmi, offers a strong endorsement. Akinwunmi in the Foreword pats the author on the back with a “well done”. He observes, “Dwelling mainly on some of the things marketers hold very dearly and consider sacrosanct, the author offers some new and potentially controversial perspectives into some of marketing communication industry’s strongly held views.” There is much learning in Pitch, particularly for persons coming to marketing communications anew and students of the discipline. The material on CEO Types and their impact on the business is very informative. It draws on the western templates against which Okuhu rails but offers deep insights into character traits and metrics. He ends it with a useful guide to CEO positioning and branding. Chapter 11 on “Every nation is not a brand” illuminates the challenges of branding Nigeria and some of the reasons why previous efforts failed. It contains material on the indices for national competitiveness and comparison of branding efforts by countries such as India. Usually there is a congruence of the internal and the external with communications being the culmination of various other efforts. Pitch offers many mini-cases and narratives of successes and failures in the marketplace. Narratives include Hero lager beer, Star and its many
line extensions, Guinness Stout, Origin beer, Thermocool, Access Bank etc. The account of the fate of Heineken Magnum is particularly instructive as it makes the case for the place of culture in communication and marketing. The stories however come across as the impressions and opinions of the author. They would read better, as both journalism and marketing literature, if there is a balance featuring interactions and interviews with the brand custodians to explain why and how they took the decisions they made with actual data on market share and competition. A revised edition should take care of this. The controversies will centre around his assertions in chapter three on mind share versus market share. He mentions the battle of Coca Cola versus Big Cola, Gala versus Rite Bite and the war of the beer and detergent brands. In this segment, the author falls into the trap of the use of unverifiable data of which he accused the industry. He allots market share of Coca Cola 51%, Pepsi, 41%, Big Cola 4% and Bigi, 1%. The author credits this data to “Market Intelligence”. The book could do with better statistics from identifiable and reliable sources. Line extensions remain controversial in marketing since Ries and Trout (1972). The chapter on line extensions is hard-hitting. It is a surprise that since the book hit the market, none of the brands skewered has offered a rebuttal or an explanation of what happened, why and the learnings. The chapter raises a significant issue in marketing. Marketing professionals distinguish between brand extensions, line extensions and licensed merchandise. According to Mathew Healy (2010), in What is Branding? brand extensions function vertically; custodians use the same brand in a new category where the brand’s meaning still makes sense to customers. Line extensions tend to be horizontal and geared to higher or lower segments within the same category. Licensed merchandise applies the brand to an item that may be unrelated to the original brand. The author of Pitch assumes that the reader is familiar with the pillars of marketing and its myths and does not bother to explain them for context before busting them. Marketing revolves around these pillars: attracting new clients; retaining and growing relationships for the brand and company; increasing name recognition and awareness; and creating targeted effective communications using all the tools including advertising, public relations, trade promotion, sponsorships and social media as well as community involvement.
What are the myths that Pitch then busts? The reader must infer that they include the primacy of advertising using traditional media; the role of line extensions; the link between pricing, brand value and customer acceptance; the role of innovation; the role and limitations of branding, the place and importance of globalisation and the routes to market. The assertion that “advertising is dead” should generate a lively debate. Much advertising features online and social media platforms. So how is it dead? Is it advertising that died or there is a change in the platforms for delivering it so much so as to leave the traditional ones lost? Pitch is a must-have for professionals as well as students in the related fields of marketing, mass communication and cognate disciplines such as sociology, economics and psychology. It has started a conversation that invites the active engagement of the IMC field. How well the industry responds to the issues the book raises would also be an index of its health and capacity for intellectual engagement. The nation awaits and watches.
Francis Ewherido (2019), Life Lessons from Mudipapa. Lagos: Laddertop Ltd/ Mace Associates Limited. ISBN: 978-978-8033-45-5. 256pp
Is jealousy a lousy and utterly negative emotion that rubs off all concerned in the wrong way? Could jealousy be a decisive factor in a relationship? Could it be an indicator of something worthwhile? The word has negative associations. The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “a feeling of unhappiness and anger because someone has something or someone that you want”. Synonyms are envy, enviousness, covetousness, desire and resentment. In Life Lessons from Mudipapa, Francis Ewherido urges a more nuanced appreciation of jealousy as a positive if not a virtue when applied in the right proportions. “Jealousy is like any other genuine feeling we have for what belongs to us. Done in moderation, it is okay; but taken to the extreme, it gets you into trouble. Everybody who cares for his/her spouse harbours some degree of jealousy.” He adds: “Many people use the words envy and jealousy interchangeably, but it was not always so. Hitherto, jealousy was seen as protecting what is yours, while envy was the act of desiring what belonged to another. Jealousy is of God. What do you think the first and second of the ten commandants are all about? God is trying to protect his people. He is telling us he does not want to share us with the devil. He wants no competition for our love for Him.” Life Lessons from Mudipapa is an ambitious project aimed at transferring the teaching notes of a marriage counsellor and platform speaker into a compelling narrative that entertains, informs and instructs. Ewherido chooses the novel format as a vehicle for this task. The skeletal frame is the story of Chief Mudiaga Orien. Mudiaga Orien becomes Mudipapa because of one of his daughters in her infancy. She blurted out as little children do in her search for clarity and meaning, “You say your name is Mudi, but mummy says you are papa. So, you are Mudipapa,” Life Lessons from Mudipapa centres on marriage and family life. It covers the life choice of Mudiaga against a vocation in the priesthood following an assessment of his strengths and weaknesses, his search for a life partner and the journey of matrimony and building a family. We
follow his quest for a partner and the failures, his successful union with EseOghene, his wife, and their efforts at raising their family, starting a business, his unfruitful endeavours as a business owner and the lucky break of paid employment with a big multinational. He grows in his job, rising to Finance Director. The challenge of caring for their young children forces EseOghene to set up a creche which became very successful. Mudipapa buys land in Agbara Estate enough to house their house and a big school. They face the tough decision of selling their creche and moving over to Agbara where they set up the Orien International School. It became an even more significant success and a legacy. We follow Mudipapa until retirement after successfully training his children to acquire first degrees in Nigeria and postgraduate qualifications abroad. The book treats courtship, marriage, family, and parenting. It also tackles business start-up, planning for retirement and life in retirement, as the cover and blurb promise. It does more. “Imaginative literature primarily pleases rather than teaches”, Mortimer J Adler and Charles Van Doren asserted five decades ago in their classic “How To Read A Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading. The great achievement of Life Lessons from Mudipapa is combining imaginative literature with didacticism. It is usually a tall order to do so, and the strain shows in passages of the book where the teaching notes of Mudipapa dominates the story and takes the reader to sessions on various lessons in marriage and family. The author pulled it through.
Kingsley Obom-Egbulem (2018), When Fishes Climb Trees. Lagos: ParentingNow. ISBN 978-978-968-905-7. 158pp
When Fishes Climb Trees is in the genre of motivation/Christian literature that has held sway for four decades. Originally from America, the research on motivation runs through a vast swathe of subjects and themes. Kingsley Obom-Egbulem in this book draws on two decades of experience as a Teens Pastor. His book primarily addresses the needs of these young people at the critical period of becoming or unbecoming. Teens are in the nether region: they are no longer children, but it would take a few more years to qualify as adults. Obom-Egbulem treats the matter of careers and the paths to them, the influences that determine career choices, when to start, and how to go about the pursuit. The message is in line with one of two sub-titles of the book as “A guide to helping children discover purpose.” The other sub-title addresses parents: “The price for moving our kids out of their comfort zones in pursuit of courses, careers and a life they are not wired for!” Simi the songstress, recording artist and performer, provides a persuasive testimonial in the Foreword. She states, “Don’t attempt to dream for your children. Let them soar. The mind is a beautiful thing, and it’s different for everyone. God doesn’t ask a son to share a mind with his father. Your job is to raise them well and train them with good values and inspire them to develop great character. But let them be their person. Advice them, but be there for them even if they decide to go a different career path from what you would prefer. It’s their life. Let them live it.” Simi was in the Teens Church Kingsley Obom-Egbulem pastors at Daystar Christian Centre, Oregun. She chose music against all the odds and succeeded. She imbibed the messaging of her pastor on the right of each person to determine her life choices. Obom-Egbulem makes bold assertions in pursuit of his thesis. He postulates that for successful careers, it is critical to commence early. He suggests age ten as a take-off point. The factors of time and age have a gravitational pull that counts in the inverse as people age. “Talent discovered late doesn’t mature with time. Rather, it is challenged by
upcoming young talents with time, those against whom it might be almost impossible to compete.” Across 21 chapters, When Fishes Climb Trees delves deeply into the subject of future choice. It cites many cases from the experience of the author as well as in literature, local and international. It discusses the harmful effects of wrongful decisions on the development of personality. The damage is more hurtful and longer-lasting when parents impose the choices. Boxes at the end of each chapter contain nuggets that summarise the point as well as re-emphasise it. Sample, For Mom/Dad: “Be careful about this term ‘stubborn child’. It is often used inappropriately and irresponsibly. A child trying to connect talents with purpose is often mistaken for a stormy petrel or enfant terrible. Be ready to accept what makes your child proud and happy, even if it doesn’t make you happy at the moment.” Use of talents is one of the critical lessons in the New Testament based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. When Fishes Climb Trees harps on the management of skills as one of the essential duties of childminders. Parents and those who stand in loco-parentis, teachers, should major on talent identification, nurturing and management. They should do so without preconceptions and pushing personal preferences. When Fishes Climb Trees would serve as essential reading for the family. It is the kind of book that parents and children would read chapter by chapter, then sit down to analyse and discuss in the sitting room to unearth choices and points of view. https://www.pressreader.com › nigeria › business-day-nigeria
Chris Enuke (2017), The Practice of Human Resource Management with Examples from Nigeria. Ibadan: Feathers and Ink. ISBN: 978-978-53624-7. 670pages
With its positive approach to human resource management, this tome belongs on the bookshelf of C-suite executives in MSMEs as well as the more prominent and smaller players. It is a comprehensive handbook on best practises in the management of the most critical asset of any organisation. It draws on a quarter-century and counting of practice in a global exemplar in managing the human capital, the behemoth Unilever, with practical examples backing every subject. While most firms agree that people are a crucial asset, the management of that asset is often sub-optimal. Chris Enuke, a veteran of HRM in Unilever and consultant to local and international organisations, commences this dissertation with the case for clear-headed policies and structures in talent management. “Of all the factors of production, it is only men who can think and answer back. Because man can be temperamental, exhibiting good and bad moods, we need specialists to manage them. There should be a system in place to accomplish this; there should be a Human Resource Policy, well-articulated, and in writing and well-known to all key performers in the enterprise.” People management is critical to organisational success. The Practice of Human Resource Management with Examples from Nigeria makes the case and systematically outlines the how and why of managing this vital function. Practical examples in the best pedagogical traditions fill the book. However, the reader will search in vain for management theories and influences on HRM. Missing are classical management theory, classical organisation theory, systems theory, the behavioural school, TQM, excellence studies. There is no exegesis on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory, or McClelland’s three needs theory. The Practice of Human Resource Management with Examples from Nigeria shows how to do things in talent management with sample forms, tables, queries, letters, and policy documents. It then explains why with an exposition of the theories and history.
It covers the employment cycle, from entry into employment, recruitment, engagement, firing or retirement and exit from work. Chapter Four x-rays “The legal basis of employment, and Nigerian Labour Laws”. It is a must- read for owner-managers and those who sign the cheques or supervise the entire workforce. It educates on the seven laws central to managing employer-employee relations. They are the Labour Decree No 21 of 1974 and subsequent amendments to it; Factory’s Decree (as amended) 1987; and the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1987. Others include The Trade Union Act No 31 of 1973, Wages Board and Industrial Councils Act of 1973, Trade Disputes Decree No 7 of 1976 and Trade Disputes (Essential Services) Decree No 23 of 1976 and subsequent amendments. The Practice of Human Resource Management with Examples from Nigeria covers the core issues in HRM. They include training and workforce development, performance appraisal principles and policies, and employment maintenance issues such as welfare, medical, health, uniforms, and protective clothing. Other areas include wages and salary administration, job analysis and job evaluation, human resource records and management of the human resource function. What determines the structure of your organisation? Is it structured along with the functions or the roles senior executives played in its formation? Company organisation and structure, grievance and discipline, industrial relations and relations with trade unions, collective bargaining, strikes, and negotiations also feature. Appendices containing practical examples and templates take up more than half of the book. They ought to be incorporated into the relevant departments as the term appendix may make unsuspecting readers fail to pay attention to the rich trove of material herein. The absence of theories of human resource management is a minus from the appeal of the book. Well-grounded theories provide a sound handle for the practices espoused here. Many students will treasure this book. They include those seeking chartered status with the CIPM, as well as in MBA and similar programmes where HRM features. It is luxurious, practical, global, yet local.
Ifueko M. Omoigui-Okauru(ed) (2014), Making Change Happen: Partnering to Build Nigeria. Lagos: Andersen Alumni and Storyteller Services. 466pages. ISBN: 978-978-941-318-8 By Chido Nwakanma, School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos
People. Principles. Practices. These are the sum of the contributions of 80 persons around the attributes and personality of Richard (Dick) Kramer who gave 40 years out of his current 85 years in service to Nigeria and who left for his final retirement only in July 2019. Friends and associates held many a send forth party to honour the American who loved Nigeria with passion and positivity. This book is a true testament guaranteed to serve as a beacon to many people down the line. On the surface, this book of many stories is primarily a collection of tributes to Dick Kramer. Deeper exploration shows more. Making Change Happen: Partnering to Build Nigeria is both a many-sided mirror as well as a compass for the vessel MV Nigeria with some of its most accomplished holding the oars. Dick Kramer started and grew the Nigerian office of the global accountancy and consulting firm Arthur Andersen in 1978 and retired in
He finally left Nigeria in 2019. His footprints are traceable to the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Nigeria (HBSAN), the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, and the Lagos Business School/Pan Atlantic University. Include the Enabling Environment Forum, the precursor to the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, American Business Council and Vision 2010. He spent post-Andersen days building Nigeria’s largest private equity firm African Capital Alliance. Making Change Happen has the first- person account of Dick and Wanda Kramer. It also has a Who’s Who of Nigerians, 80 persons, who were either alumni of Arthur Andersen, African Capital Alliance or worked with Dick Kramer on his many community projects. Community service was a guiding philosophy for the Kramers. He states, “Fundamental for a family is a strong commitment to leaving our community better than we found it.
Hence, personal and family values are aligned with community service and, ultimately, nation-building.” Contributors include Chief Ernest Shonekan, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, Prof Albert Alos and Atedo Peterside. Readers will share the thoughts and experiences of Amina Oyagbola, Frank Aigbogun, Afolabi Oladele, Mohammed Hayatudeen, Frank Jnr Nweke, Seyi Bickersteth, Pascal Dozie, Juan Manuel Elegido and Bode Agusto. There are also Dayo Lawuyi, Akin Laguda, Omobola Johnson, Charles Anudu and Emeka Emuwa. Add Juliet Anammah, Keith Richards, Kelvin Balogun, and Ladi Jadesinmi. Then Koyinsola Ajayi, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, Kunle Elebute, Mansur Ahmed, Mazi Udochukwu Uwakaneme, Princeton Lyman and Tani Fafunwa. People, principles, practices and family. Kramer believed in people and brought out the best in those he came across. Education was a priority and accounted for much of his interventions. He practised what he believed: the correct values as the basis for all actions, individual, corporate and communal. Principle-based leadership is critical to making the right decisions and effecting desired changes in Nigeria. Family, finally, is the bedrock. Everything revolves around the family. Making Change Happens lends itself to analysis using various theoretical lenses. Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory explains the influence of Kramer after whom many of the narrators modelled their behaviours. The book shares many stories in the line of Walter Fischer’s Narrative Paradigm. Editorial intervention is apparent in the themes, but each story stands apart, and collectively they form a mosaic of exciting perspectives. Seek and read the colloquium on Nigeria featuring 80 of its leaders in Making Change Happen. The publishers ask buyers to email them at info@storytellerservices.com or call +234 8091114809.
Where the Waters Recede. Rotimi Olaniyan (2019). London: Apex Publishing, UK. 310 pages ISBN: 978-1-9160263-1-5. Available on Amazon. Reviewed by Chido B. Nwakanma, School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University
Good literary works benefit from serendipity. Serendipity was at play in the coincidence of the ending of Chinua Achebe’s fiction in A Man of The People and the real-life first coup in Nigeria. It is an interesting coincidence that the storyline of Where the Waters Recede, embedded in history, coincides with the happenings across Nigeria and in the South West featuring Fulani herdsmen and the indigenous people. Rotimi Olaniyan’s first novel is a masterful historical fiction that takes in several epochs in the history of South-West Nigeria. It deals with the transatlantic slave trade, the invasion of Yorubaland by the Fulani, banditry, the Yoruba Wars, as well as the incursion of the foreign religions of Islam and Christianity. It shares the myths and details of the strengths and weaknesses of the many gods of the land and the deities the people worshipped. The life and times of Omitirin, a young woman devoted to the goddess Yemoja, is the vehicle for exploring many issues in history. Upon attaining puberty, Omitirin’s parents’ hand her over to the service of Yemoja. She goes into a convent for preparation for over three months. As she gets ready with the traditional ritual bath at the river at the end of her initial training, her first, slave raiders kidnap her. They take her on a bewildering journey. One trader passes her over to another, and thence to another. She escapes rape the first time at the hands of drunken sailors by the assistance of a woman ostracised for witchcraft on the false allegation of a trade debtor. The lady kills the sailor as he fights to rape Omitirin but ascribes the murder to Omitirin. Young Omitirin, age 14, is branded. Her protector hands her over to the palace of Oba Osinlokun, son of Ologun Kutere of Lagos. The king
brings in Ifa priests who advise that they handle Omitirin with care and show mercy. Oba Osinlokun would not but rather hands her over to an Oyo warlord, Balogun Ijeru. She suffers through a failed effort to escape the warlord’s harem because of his brutality. The story takes a turn when fate brings Omitirin together with the captured missionary Graham Thomas. Balogun Ijeru assigns her to the task of nursing Graham back to health based on her knowledge of herbs. Based on the counsel of the Ifa, Balogun Ijeru releases Omitirin and Thomas the missionary. Twenty-five years later, they return to Akindele, her village in the Egba heartland only to learn of the destruction of the community by an infestation of smallpox. The novel is set in the 18 th century but stretches to today. We meet the Abolitionist Movement that fought to end the slave trade, William Wilberforce, Samuel Adjayi Crowther and the early kings of Lagos as well as the warriors of the Oyo Empire. Where the Waters Recede teaches about the 400 Orishas of Yorubaland. It dwells only on a few. They include Oya, “goddess of the Tapa River and deity of the tempestuous harmattan wind” who was also the wife of Sango, the god of thunder and Osun, “goddess of the Osun River who protects her worshippers from epidemics, loves children and gifts goodies to people”. Then there is Yemoja, the deity of the Ogun River who blesses women with fertility and the land with abundance. Also treated is Ori, “the Yoruba deity in charge of one’s destiny who amongst the Yoruba was represented by one’s head”. Details enrich this novel. Rotimi Olaniyan goes into great descriptive details that provide picturesque views of things. The Yemoja figurine has a face “etched with Ile-Ife tribal (identikit) marks, a torso with ample bosom and cowrie beads on her neck” while it carried a boy and a girl in her hands. Where the Waters Recede benefits from prodigious research that breathes in the rich details. The enquiry covers the history of the slave trade and the abolitionist movement, the creation of Freetown as home for freed slaves, and the church movement in England. There is much study and interpretation of the Yoruba Wars, the infighting of the children of Ologun Kutere of Lagos and the impact of the conquest of Ilorin. The many wars also make this book a mini treatise on leadership. Each ruler must watch his back, calculate his moves and loyalties. Leadership is fraught with many trials, including the vaulting ambitions of persons such as Balogun Ijeru. Where the Waters Recede runs through a prologue, four parts and an afterword. It is a book of many stories. As Iya Agba, wife of the Balogun Ijeru tells Omitirin, “Stories celebrate the moments of our lives. We might be blessed to live through each in the present, but how quickly they are spent, to become only memories that we spend the rest of our lives protecting with all our might, from fading with time. So, let us create memories worth fighting for” (p287). Where the Waters Recede “creates memories” and lends itself to explication deploying several theories. Theories deepen understanding of phenomena as well as organise the existing knowledge in specific areas. The obvious ones are the Narrative Paradigm theory of Walter Fischer and Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory as well as Lev Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory. In his afterword, Dr Olaniyan states: “The themes that I have explored in this novel are ones that have fascinated me and I hope that in some way, the telling of this story helps them find a valuable place within your thoughts and conversations. It is important that Africans come to terms with the need to reconcile their culture with their history. It is even more important that these powerful human stories from our past, locked within the ethos of Africa’s various artefacts that were mostly lost or stolen duing the colonial era, and now lay imprisoned in the various museums, galleries and private collections in the West, be allowed to find their way back home. Because it is only then tht Africans can truly finish telling the stories of their past”. Against its noble mission, Where the Waters Recede occasionally falls into usages that put down Africa such as “in the dark African heartland” on the blurb, “primitive art” and “Ile-Ife tribal marks” rather than Ile-Ife identikit. Rotimi Olaniyan schooled at the Universities of Ife and Lagos, as well as Lagos Business School. He received his Doctorate in Business Administration from the Nottingham Business School in 2015 and now teaches there as a member of the Marketing faculty. He worked in brand management at Cadbury Nigeria plc and Colgate Palmolive Limited and owns an experiential marketing business in Lagos.
Private University Education in Nigeria: Case Studies in Relevance. Peter A. Okebukola (2017). Lagos/Slough: Okebukola Science Foundation/Sterling Publishers. 161 pages ISBN: 978-978-947-660. Reviewed by Chido B. Nwakanma, School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University
Private universities are the future of higher education in Nigeria. Twenty years after the first three private universities took off, universities in the private sector model now number more than those of the federal or state governments. Their number will grow even more. At the time of writing in October 2017, this book documents 59 private universities in Nigeria. The federal government accounted for 40, while state governments had 44 universities. These are the assertions of the author of this book, an expert on the subject. Why are universities run by private sector players doing well? What do they contribute and what justifies their existence and continued growth? How can society assist such a positive development? Private University Education in Nigeria: Case Studies in Relevance is an advocacy book that justifies the presence and growth of private universities in Nigeria and the need to extend to them the financial assistance of the Education Trust Fund that public universities alone currently enjoy. The lead advocate has solid credentials for the case. As a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof Peter Okebukola brings to bear in-depth knowledge and experience of the Nigerian university system. As a regulator of the system, he understands both the requirements and the challenges. He has also served on the Council or Boards of no fewer than four private universities. He thus makes an informed case. Private University Education in Nigeria proclaims that those institutions provide access to candidates who would have been shut out, reintroduced quality in higher education and offer efficient student-
focused service delivery. They also infused healthy competition into the system and are focused on delivering quality research outputs. Private universities, he adds, operate a delivery system wrapped around small class sizes and well-resourced classrooms that stimulate the production of good quality graduates and run a predictable academic calendar. It lists seven positive attributes. They are contributors to high-level human resource development, train persons with better values and represent a model of university governance in observance of due process, accountability and discipline. They also mostly have a Board of Trustees as an additional layer for accountability. The institutions model financial autonomy as they sink or swim from the income from ventures and other sources that supplement tuition. Discipline is the language in private universities for both staff and students while they are adventurous in exploring new courses that go beyond the NUC’s Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS). Nigeria had an initial false start with private universities when promoters established 24 private institutions between 1980 and 1983. Criteria were unclear. The Federal Government cancelled the process in 1984. The nation then commenced a new operation with Decree 9 of 1993 that allowed individuals, organisations, corporate bodies and local governments to establish and run private universities once they meet the guidelines. The book outlines the 14-step process that the National Universities Commission applies for the licensing of private universities. The first set of universities licensed and opened in 1999 are Igbinedion University, Okada, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo and Madonna University, Okija. Despite their positives, subscription of candidates to private universities has been very low, the book discloses. Babcock University in 2017 UTME received 2645 applications, Covenant University 2633 and Afe Babalola University 1240. All others had less than 1000 applications each. This book covers its subject matter in eight chapters, a dedication, foreword, preface and a list of the 16 vice-chancellors who responded for their institutions. The relevance of private universities is the central thesis of Private University Education in Nigeria. The book explores this relevance in nine areas. These are national and global economy, agriculture and food
security, education, and manufacturing. Others are power, youth employment, peacebuilding, religious harmony and conflict resolution as well as research, innovation and development of new products. Sixteen universities reported on their contributions as the basis for the case studies. A revised edition of the book should have actual case studies and not the brief notes that some of the institutions passed on. When you hear case studies, you expect diligent reporting “involving an up-close, in-depth, and detailed examination of a subject of study, as well as its related contextual conditions”. This section requires the application of rigour. Private University Education in Nigeria offers perspective with a look at the trajectory of private universities in the USA, Britain and Europe. It features Harvard University, MIT, Stanford and Yale. There is the University of Buckingham, Ukrainian Free University, and the Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milan. It reports that Japan has 597 private universities that constitute 78% of its universities. Indonesia has 1200 or 60% while the number for China has exploded from 20 in 1997 to 630 in
Before 1995, only Ghana, Zimbabwe and Kenya had privately- owned universities in Anglophone Africa. The book could do with better editing and attention to detail in this area. This extract on Stanford University, for instance, states, “It has evolved from making global impact to devising a mutually beneficial means that ensured that by 2015 78% of its undergraduate (s) graduated debt-free, that is a rare feat in the nation’s tertiary education system” (p78). Which nation? There is no attribution either. The case for TETFUND support is persuasive. Okebukola argues that since the private sector is the goose that lays the golden egg of TETFUND, private universities should also benefit from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund. The pillars of the case are history, the relevance of the institutions and the need for equity. The author then suggests modalities for the inclusion of the private sector. These include deploying the same formula as used for the public institutions, basing it on defined performance criteria, or differentiated funding that gives a higher percentage to public schools. Others are finance based on survivors of a stress test or providing low-interest loans to the institutions.
Private University Education in Nigeria: Case Studies in Relevance delivers on its assigned task of making a case for the existence and contributions of higher institutions promoted by the private sector. The reader would find abundant material in the history of higher education in Nigeria, the growth of private funding and the projection that private universities would eventually dominate.
A lifetime of friendships: And a career in television and Nollywood, Muritala Sule (2018), Lagos: MS Global Productions Limited. 242 pages. ISBN: 978-978-55035-7-9 Reviewed by Chido Nwakanma School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University
Several areas make this book significant and interesting. It is a free-flowing narrative about the inter-connectedness of life and how events even in childhood catch up with us and take deterministic shapes and turns. A lifetime of friendships is a biography in the best traditions as it anchors on a pivotal moment in the life of the author. Muritala Sule is a communication professional with experience in public information management, journalism, and film production. He produced and presented the immensely popular Lagbo Video magazine feature programme on NTA Channel 7 between 1995 and 1999. The programme was a platform for the then evolving Nollywood. Lagbo Video is understandably the peg for this narrative, but it then draws in many characters and personalities and a rich trove of experiences and interactions. At the heart of the story is his life-long relationship with Godwin Igharo, unfortunately now on the other side of life. They meet in the streets and cinemas of Mushin as teens who would sneak in to watch films even at the cost of severe punishment by the parents of Mr Sule. Soon Godwin moves in as part of the family and together they form a strong personal bond that they transmute in later life into a professional one. Muritala Sule, MS to many of his friends and colleagues, weaves a writer’s web that draws in many persons, places and programmes of their lives into this engrossing narrative. Several areas of interest stand out in A life of friendships and serve as learning points. The author shows great skill and presence of mind in recollecting and documenting the various relationships that stood out in his life and career. People are the clothes that MS wears proudly as his sartorial signature. It makes up for his often-downbeat sartorial taste. MS inherited and acquired his love for people from his mother. Alhaja Raliat Sumbola Kareem was a bleeding heart. She went out of her way to convert her home to a
communal restaurant, a semi-orphanage and a home for the homeless and hungry. Her son took after her in bringing home a friend that would be a significant part of his life. Relationships and relationship management count down the line. A lifetime of friendships brings to life in a Nigerian setting all the lessons and more in Dale Carnegie’s famous How to make friends and influence people. Lessons in managing the egos and turf battles in the relationship between producers of independent programmes and managers of the broadcast platforms where they run them. Life on the streets, the thrills and dangers. This portion makes for sober reading. Childhood discipline and the benefit of strong foundations. His father caned MS ceaselessly for going to the cinemas and returning late at night. Much later, he gloried in the success of Lagbo Video¸ borne on the inspiration of such childhood obsession with moving images. The journey of ideas from gestation to germination. The often-unhelpful attitude of advertisers, like bankers, who support ventures only when you have market-place proof of concept. Gratitude and giving credit to others. The author pours generous encomiums on various cadre of staff with whom he worked on the programme at the Nigerian Television Authority. They range from the General Manager then, Chief Bode Alalade, to engineers L.O. Olajide and others. Many people stand out in this narrative, none more so than Mahmoud Ali- Balogun. He was the anchor for the realisation of the vision of Lagbo Video. Then the many personalities who featured in the programme, from King Sunny Ade to Tunde Kelani, Mrs Duro Ladipo, Kanayo O Kanayo, Bimbo Akintola, Alhaji Lateef Olayinka (Latola Films) to Shina Peters and the many players in Nollywood and the larger entertainment industry. Then his many friends in journalism, including Lanre Idowu and Taiwo Obe, then of Media Review and Steve Osuji of New Age newspaper. The author quotes his then broadcasting lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Dr Emmanuel Akpan, as saying that a good broadcast show should “show me the banananess in the banana.” Recalling it was a spur for his idea of a TV programme on films. He also thought broadcast was more effective than print in capturing the whole essence of the then emerging Nollywood and film. Even as he gives deserved credit to Dr Akpan, the author casts a withering glance at the Nigerian university system. He blasts the inhabitants of the Nigerian ivory tower for being disconnected with the reality of the market
place to which they send students. “In nearly all universities where Theatre Arts and Mass Communication are taught, many lecturers mock Nollywood and talk disparagingly about it and the people who sustain it, making the would-be graduates look down on them. Yet, this is an industry that is the toast of Africa and respected around the world”. Our academics, he asserts, are “All theory, no practise”. The chapter on Emmanuel Akpan is deep, reflective and makes profound statements about the direction of Nigerian education. Why are we not teaching and formalising Pidgin, the language spoken by many citizens across West Africa? What are we doing about our rich idioms and proverbs instead of quoting Homer, Aristotle and all the Greeks and Romans? Why are we not linking courses to real-life to help students? A lifetime of friendships is so picturesque it shows the banananess in the banana of this story. An index and a section explaining the local terminologies in use evinces the care in getting the message across as well as concern for the reader. A lifetime of friendships is a useful book for persons interested in broadcasting and film, Nigeria’s Nollywood, TV production and marketing, as well as the history of Nigerian media. It would appeal to those in Literary and Language Arts, communication and urban sociology. It is most of all an intensely enjoyable first-person narrative of lives and the intersections with other lives and how they play out many years down the line.
Dotun Adekanmbi(2019), The Will To Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo. Lagos: Havillah Books/Strategic PR Wox. 542pp By Chido Nwakanma
Advertising is the basis of the renown of Biodun Shobanjo, co-founder and boss of Insight Communications/Troyka Group and a larger-than-life personality in Nigeria’s marketing communications industry. How do you chronicle the life of Shobanjo without it being majorly about advertising? The above question is at the heart of Dotun Adekanmbi’s brave effort in The Will To Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo. He set out not to write a book on advertising but “a career biography, one that attempts to capture his perspective to explain his dream and its realisation”. Adekanmbi states: “I prefer to describe this book as an extended personality interview conducted in the best traditions of my journalism background. At all times, I recognised the imperative of subjecting claims and counterclaims to strict standards of proof. This book does not pontificate on the practice of advertising; neither does it touch on his privacy, except where necessary to illustrate a point or the other. But it does attempt to dispassionately examine critical issues in the industry as they affect the man and his widely acclaimed extraordinary career.” Because Biodun Shobanjo played significant roles in Nigerian advertising and marketing communication, ninety per cent of The Will To Win dwells on advertising. It covers Shobanjo’s sojourn and exit from Grant Advertising, Insight Communication’s birth, Insight’s business trajectory from start-up through early years to growth and dominance.
You will read about Shobanjo’s background and early life, his early career in broadcasting that exposed him to one strand of the disciplines that would count in his career in advertising and his qualification as a UK-certified public relations professional through correspondence. That alone debunks the myth of a man with no formal education who then rose to the zenith of his business. You share Shobanjo’s battles and his experiences with AAPN and AAAN; the media debt challenge; the fights over affiliation. The journey to the book took 15 years and many exciting turns. Biodun Shobanjo challenged Dotun Adekanmbi to show proof ab initio of the necessity for a biography. The author then carried out a survey wherein respondents listed Shobanjo in the Top 5 of persons whose biographies they would love to read. There were other tests in this collaborative endeavour between the biographer and his focal person. Their mutual understanding produced a book chockful of information, anecdotes, and insights. The time and place dimensions enriched this biography. It is comprehensive and provides rich insights into various aspects of Nigerian advertising. Journalism posits that a rounded story covers the five Ws and the H. The Ws are Who, What, Where, When and Why. The H is How. Dotun Adekanmbi tackles the five Ws of Shobanjo’s involvement and exploits in advertising. Significance is at the heart of biographies. It is the litmus test. Good biographies seek answers to these questions: What is the significance of this person’s life? How did he or she change the world? What would happen if this person never existed? What is unique about what they did or made? What did Biodun Shobanjo contribute and change in Nigerian advertising? The Will To Win does an excellent job of providing perspectives and insights. Some of the contributions of Insight/Troyka Group that Shobanjo led include
Creativity and excitement.
Mutual respect between an agency and its clients.
Recognition of the limits of advertising. Shobanjo says, “Advertising helps a rolling ball roll faster, but it cannot get a ball to roll uphill”.
Creativity in media buying.
Explicit agreement on deliverables between agency and client.
Flamboyance
An orientation for high standards and quality: “Selling on Quality, Not on Price”.
Demanding higher rewards for quality service or becoming a premium niche player.
The art of presentation and the total business solutions concept, not merely creativity.
Internationalisation in standards and affiliations that preceded globalisation.
Compliance, from regulatory to professional and social.
Diversification; growing into an IMC octopus with legs in public relations, outdoor, experiential and events, and media buying. Then the non-communication support services grew into solid companies and brands.
Human capital as a critical factor in the knowledge business of advertising and marketing communication.
Many more. The Will To Win is a primer on management and entrepreneurship. There are lessons in management style, structures, HR, partnerships, competition, business, and personal relationships. Partnerships are common in the service industry. Shobanjo shares guidance on partnerships: spell out all the terms of engagement in writing; avoid mixing friendship and business; understand the attitude of all partners to money; recognise the God factor. Dotun Adekanmbi has written a success manual that walks the reader through the labyrinths of the advertising business. As indicated, Adekanmbi does not treat the How of Insight’s advertising by design. However, the book gives enough pointers for another book on How To Create Advertising The Insight Way. It does this by mentioning across the book the many successful campaigns of the multiple award-winning firm.
Some of the campaigns include Sparkle Toothpaste, Exceedrin-When you’ve tried Excedrin, you’ll know why it is more expensive; Vitalo; Nasco Cornflakes; Gold Beer dancing bottle, Oh my Gold; and Dulux Paint-The only way to paint a masterpiece. Others include Nicon Noga Hilton Hotel, Chrislieb’s Trebor Luckies; Lever Brothers; Nigerian Breweries’ Gulder Ultimate Search, Bagco Super Sack, Pepsi Big Blue, Indomie Noodles, Mirinda Orange Men, Daewoo Espero and 7-Up Hi-Life Promo. They deserve a nuts-and-bolts explication. The Will To Win is an ambitious book. The author struggles in some areas between writing a biography and a hagiography. It is a thin line that he successfully skirts in the end. There are too many styles, from the New Journalism of elaborate scene-setting to the narrative and analysis. The Will To Win deserves a place on the shelf of professionals in marketing communication, management and business studies. Following the breakdown of mass communication into seven disciplines, including advertising, books such as The Will To Win will provide case studies, particularly for graduate students. It is serendipitous that another industry veteran, Lolu Akinwunmi, also released a corporate history cum autobiography (Lolu Akinwunmi (2020), Skin For Skin: The Prima Garnet Story. Lagos: Heritek Support Services. The books enrich the literature in the field.
Nwakanma is Nigerian president of the International Association of Business Communicators and an Adjunct Faculty at the School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University.
