Yemisi Ilo: The strategist who brought Sesame square to town

It was with a lot of fanfare that the international media, announced the kick-off of Sesame Square Nigeria. The Chief Executive Officer of Ileke Media shares her experience with producing the multi-million dollar show, running her company and winning the battle over Multiple Sclerosis. Rita Ohai reports.

Fifteen years ago all Yemisi wanted to be was a writer who carved her thoughts on the pages of blank white sheets.

She was convinced working in paid employment was not in her stars and she most certainly was not willing to give up the freedom being an art junkie afforded her. So the young lady, fresh out of the University of Greenwich engineered a career plan: she was going to start printingher magazine straight out of school and make a ton of money while at it.

Everything went according to design, especially after winning a scholarship to attend a post-graduate course in publishing, until by providence, she happened on a programme in film-producing; and then Yemisi wasn’t so sure writing was the only thing she wanted to spend the rest of her life doing anymore. As a matter of fact, Yemisi was certain she had found a calling higher than trading the pen. Immediately, she yielded her spirit and since then she’s never looked back.

In her words, ‘Once I got the chance to work with a production team, I knew I had found what I enjoyed doing but I do not like to see myself as a film maker rather I am a film-producer…that’s how I like to see myself.’

There are two things you observe on a first meeting with this industry leader: one being the strong sense of tenacity masked in feline toggery, the other is an unwavering air of resilience.

It was most likely thesetraits that landed her the role as lead producer on the African version of the western world’s most nerve-wracking business inclined reality television show, The Apprentice and eventually Moments with Mo.

Having spent more than a decade being a major but quiet player in the creative industry, it only felt natural for the United States Agency for International Developmentto commission her company, Ileke Media, in handling the indigenous production of a famous children delight, Sesame Square, at the sum of $6 million.

But all of this didn’t just come on a platter of gold. According to her, it took some degree of strategizing, efficient networking and luck to net the deal.

Before she was assigned to bring Elmo and Big bird to life on Nigerian shores, Yemisi had surrounded herself with a strong association of friends who had access to the right kind of information prior to it becoming public knowledge. Thanks to Google, she had also done a ton of research on all the fragments of running a production as massive as Sesame that when the opportunity finally presented itself, she couldn’t have missed the mark even if she tried.

And for her, “It was an amazing experience. I mean we worked like mad! I always say that when we started Sesame square, I was walking on two feet and by the time the production, which took us two years, was over I was using a walking stick. It was that hectic.”

She and the crew literally spent two years on the road shuttling from one remote end of the country to the other trying to take live feeds from villages in the northern and southern states that coping with logistics alone was a nightmare. But she accomplished it and she would give anything to live through the process again.

While many are spurred by the need to make a profit from any venture they undertake, it’s not the same for this mother of four. For her, Sesame “was an opportunity to partake in something bigger than myself because it is an educational platform for children. Many of us grew up learning our first words from the programme and Big Bird was a part of our reality at the time and that is not something we ever wanted to trade. I wanted to make sure that millions of kids across the country and beyond regardless of their social status had access to the same quality of information and edutainment that we adults had as children.”

It this desire to make an impact on the global community through the services her company offers that riled her when she discovered that a popular bank had gone on to sponsor another fairly well-known children’s programme with the initial sum of N60 million over a two-year period.

According to Yemisi, “I was so disappointed. Do the math and ask how many kids who are not from affluent families actually watch that show? It’s aired on Nickelodeon, which is a profit-making portal and from what my husband says, there are only about 2 million DSTV decoders in use in the country. Out of 120 million people, that is rather small. It’s a drop in the bucket.

“Imagine if they had taken that money and produced an indigenous programme for children with 100 percent local content by the professionals in this industry. Imagine the legacy they would have built but they missed that opportunity and chose to sponsor Dora The Explorer instead,” she concluded.

Sesame Square was aired at no cost on the platform of the National Television Authority, NTA.

Like all other business-minded people Ilo has had her fair share of challenges and top on the list is the battle she is determined to win over Multiple Sclerosis – an auto-immune disease that affects the spinal chord and central nervous system, the other is sourcing for funds for all the other art-related projects she has in her kitty.

And as much as the African society celebrates culture and tradition, there appears to be a resistance in the sponsorship of projects commissioned by the creative sector. Ilo blames this on the low appreciation of the arts as well as the reduced productivity level observed of the manufacturing industry leading to the scarcity of funds for advertising at the disposal of various brands.

With the strange propensity forflamboyance displayed in her industry, its impressive that she has maintained a prudent mien. And so when she offers monetary advice to young entrepreneurs it stems from a well of experience.

She emphasizes the need for growing a business organically as well as the importance of earning a salary, even if you own the business. In her words, “One thing I always ask people to do when they are contracted to carry out any project is to place themselves on a salary, just like all other members of the team. That way you are getting adequate compensation for any work you put in.”

On sourcing for start-up capital for small and medium scale enterprises, Yemisi strongly believes going to the banks for a loan is the most unrewarding thing to do essentially because the chances of being given the money is rather slim and the interest rates will most likely stifle business growth.

Nevertheless, she proffers a safer but more grueling alternative: “From my experience, I’m not a fan of banks [Yemisi was asked by a bank to produce a plot of land as collateral for a N1 million loan she sought from them]. So what I would advice is for young entrepreneurs to grow their business organically. Start small and expand from there.

“For example,” she continues, “if a guy who paints goes to meet people to invest in his business without any track record, it’s likely nobody would listen to him but if he gathers the money he has and buys one canvass; paints on it and sells to a customer and from the money he makes from that first sale, he goes back and buys two more canvases, sells the paintings and goes on like that, by the time he is ready to approach anybody for funds to build his business, he already has a track record and they can see his level of seriousness and commitment. Remember in this country people do not even trust themselves with money talk less of other people who can disappear in the twinkle of an eye.”

Running a successful business while battling an ailment that has, over time affected the use of her hands and legs has been an ardors task but she’s fighting with all her heart and believes it’s a passing phase. Narrating her experience, she says, “It has not been easy. I was diagnosed with MS about 11 years ago but my doctor was not sure and she kept dismissing it until one day I just felt something was not right and I started doing my research before we confirmed it.

“Eventually my hair began to fall off, as in I would put my hand through my hair and huge chunks would come off and then some of my motor skills got affected. My lower limbs and fingers stopped responding to signals from my brain and I knew I really had to get aggressive with fighting it,” she said.

Last year, in November Yemisi travelled to Singapore for a stem-cell transplant- a possible permanent cure to the condition.Praying with her are her children and husband who have got their fingers crossed.

Thankfully, she is still able to function at maximum capacity with her new venture calledBattabox, which is a cyber afro-centric channel that allows her work from anywhere, at anytime.

In just 2 years, their content has been viewed more than 12 million times and its popularity among Nigerians within and outside the Diaspora is growing at an alarming rate.

From the twinkle in her eye as we concluded the interview, you could tell that Yemisi Ilo still has a lot in store to share with the world and it’s something she certainly hopes to deliver on.