The Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari conferred Biodun Shobanjo the Doyen of advertising with the national honour of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) for his giant strides and achievement in Nigeria’s Advertising industry.
On 11th, October 2022, the president conferred national awards on 447 Nigerian citizens and foreign nationals including kings, former ministers, the senate president and other icons in a ceremony held at the Government House Villa in Aso Rock.
Commenting on the award, the president said: “The national honours are not merely decorative, they remind us of the important impact of our responsibilities. We must always endeavour to give our best for our country.”
Dr Shobanjo has straddled Nigeria’s marketing and advertising terrain for half a century. In 2020, Insight Communications, the agency that enabled his audacious foray into the entrepreneurial world, clocked 40 years.
As a marketing communication practitioner par excellence, Dr Shobanjo cut his teeth at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, now Federal Radio Corporation, in 1964 as a studio manager. He left in 1971 and joined the American-Nigerian agency, Grant Advertising where he rose to the post of Deputy Managing Director before his 30th birthday. He co-founded Insight Communications (now Insight Publicis) in 1979 which has now become an integrated part of the Troyka Group which is the holding company for Insight Redefini (the communication group for Insight Publicis, Quadrant MSL, Media Perspectives, All Seasons Media, LCC and Leo Burnet Lagos). Meanwhile, the Troyka Group has 4 companies operating under it, namely: Insight Redefini Limited, Serengeti OOH Limited, Halogen Security Company Limited and Black Onyx Properties Ltd.
As a believer in people, Dr Shobanjo’s business style has favoured a mentoring ambience which has spawned protégés who are leading lights of the advertising and marketing communications industry in Nigeria.
At each stage of his career, he continuously created sustainable impact and influence. For instance, he has always been passionate about elevating the market value of his employees’ talents by showing a genuine responsibility to reciprocate the value they are adding to his success as a leader.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
