Bunmi Oke, the advertising connoisseur turns 50, still breaking barriers, soaring higher

My Leading Woman for this week is someone I have followed closely over the years and I have seen her break boundaries at different times. Talk about one woman doing the womenfolk proud and she readily comes to mind. She recently celebrated her golden jubilee and it was an event graced by distinguished personalities who came from far and near to celebrate this woman of substance.

She is a British-born Nigerian with her formative years in the UK, understanding contrasting seasons, diverse races, standards of living, children’s rights, animal rights and many more. Arriving in Nigeria as a child of seven years was a bit of a culture shock for her due to many completely opposite experiences.

“My parents were also separating and this further brought about a contrast in my personal life and we now lived with my paternal aunty and her family till I was 21, visiting the UK occasionally to see my veterinary surgeon father. Hence I was forced to mature from ‘dreaming’ to realising my circumstances had changed,” she tells me as the interview begins.

“But being close to my dad gave me a lot of self-confidence and he encouraged me to have a mind of my own, hence I could always stand up for what I believed in and never afraid to do what I believed in as long as it is also the right thing to do. My exposure also allowed me to think differently and have very different perspectives to issues. In advertising, you need new, unique ideas, hence my background and experiences and unique skills of organisation and an eye for details all added up to help my professional calling,” she adds.

Bunmi Oke is my Leading Woman for this week. She is the COO/ED of 141 Worldwide and president of Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN).

For Bunmi, her election as president of AAAN was divinely orchestrated. “I was unopposed,” she says. “I had served in several committees in the association and had been the chairman of LAIF Awards for three years before I became the unopposed vice president of the association. I felt very honoured and humbled. I believe I had earned the confidence of a lot of the members through professional competence, hence gender was irrelevant.”

Bunmi also tells me that her being elected president came a little earlier than she expected as the then incumbent president left a year earlier than the norm. “This is why I believe in divine orchestration as I became president at a time of a lot of historic moments for AAAN, such as our 40th anniversary, the new introduction of a licensing regime from APCON, and now the recognition of AAAN by the Federal Government as a member of the 2014 National Conference, to mention a few.”

Joggling the responsibilities at 141 Worldwide and AAAN is what I asked Bunmi and her response couldn’t have been more precise. “I have the support of my board members at 141. I also have a great team in the office and on the various ‘constituencies’ where I operate: from the home front, my children, a deaconess in church, AAAN board, APCON council, WIMBIZ executive council, and even at the National Confab. I am a very organised person and a good planner and this helps considerably. Also, we need divine wisdom for all roles and responsibilities we have been given in life as these are actually privileges, in my opinion, and wisdom is indeed profitable to direct,” she says.

Turning 50 is indeed a feat and it counts for many things. For Bunmi, it brings her to the realisation that truly, God guides and promotes, and can grant us our hearts desires as long as it is within his will. “We can do our part as humans but only God can guarantee good health, sound mind, protec can guarantee life. We must also prepare and seize opportunities, which sometimes come in disguise as ‘work and responsibilities ‘, as this is often the ‘wrapping paper’ of promotion and honour. I also believe that ‘greater is the end of a matter than the beginning’. So my best is yet to come as God gives me the grace to reinvent myself in so many ways. I am grateful to God for keeping me thus far and I trust him completely to take care of the rest of my life,” she states.

Being nominated to be a member of the ongoing confab is a thing of honour for Bunmi. “National Confab is a national dialogue to address the general concerns of Nigerians as a people through different representatives,” she tells me. “It is not an end in itself but a means to end some forms of disagreement and forge new proposals on how we as a people prefer to be governed. The confab is progressing as it also gives all Nigerians an opportunity to speak out through the media and this is a good starting point in reconciliation of any sort.”

Bunmi further says Nigerians should expect that the majority of their desires will be reflected and they all have a role to play in ensuring recommendations are implemented by the Federal Government through the presidency. “Any constitutional amendments recommended here will need to be ratified by the House of Representatives and the Senate and the ‘power of the people’ can ensure this is done,” she adds.

The advertising industry is evolving and I sought to know from Bunmi what she believes is responsible for this. She replies that the industry is evolving due to international and local mergers and de-mergers. “Digital technology/media is also reshaping communication theories and hence there is constant remodelling of marketing communications agency services. The next two to three years will see some very new trends emerge in line with the times and our members are also training and retraining to meet and surpass expectations of new client demands accordingly. These are indeed interesting times in our industry as so much is evolving so fast,” she says.

The ‘mother’ in Bunmi comes to the fore when I asked her view on the ongoing matters arising from the kidnap of the Chibok girls. “The Chibok girls issue is indeed a very sad situation, especially for the parents and the girls abducted. We pray for a miracle to end the saga real soon. But this issue opened ‘a can of worms’ for Nigeria in respect of our inability to recognise the need for crisis management communication. We must learn that our country’s image can be destroyed in seconds during a crisis, hence marketing communication professionals (and other key communication professionals) must come in to rebuild our image as quickly as possible,” she admonishes.

Yes, this page is called Leading Woman, and Bunmi is a Leading Woman in all ramifications. And so, as the conversation came to a close, I sought to know her advice for women, and she says, “Women should be focused and hardworking, always ready to put in extra hours to manage all the responsibilities. We must be willing to develop ourselves and support others (male and female) as we will need support too at any level we choose to operate. There is no shortcut to success and success itself is a journey, not a destination. Trusting and working in God’s will and according to his leading will also save us a lot of headaches and help prevent bitterness. We must not be afraid to start from wherever we find ourselves whilst maintaining a good sense of humour to laugh, especially at ourselves. Yes, we make mistakes but learn from it fast and move right along. There is so much to accomplish and you have your part to play.”

KEMI AJUMOBI