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Nigeria’s premier perception management firm, CMC Connect Limited over the weekend celebrated its 30th anniversary at its corporate headquarters in Lagos with a pledge to remain the best in the industry.
The foremost strategic communication and public affairs firm gathered clients, media, former and present board members as well as well-wishers to its GRA Ikeja office to relive its 30 years of sustainable progress.
Addressing the media, the founder and Group Managing Director of the company, Mr Yomi Badejo-Okusanya lamented the poor perception of the industry by Nigerians saying it was the greatest challenge faced by practitioners.
“As a result of this lack of understanding, public relations is yet to take its rightful place among the comity of professions. It has not been accorded the right status and certainly not the right value,” he noted.
He also took the guest through the historic trajectory and the many phases and hurdles the firm have had to cross the past three decades.
Themed ‘We are still flying’, Badejo-Okusanya expressed gratitude to God, his wife, staff and to those that have supported his dream from inception.
“It all started with a dream in a 3-bedroom flat off Toyin Street, Ikeja in the in 1992”. His dream was to build a public relations practice that will offer incisive solutions-driven services to a growing clientele in the then-emerging Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) sector.
“And barely five years into our existence, Capital Marketing Communication (CMC) had to make a hard-strategic decisions when the opportunity came to be a part of the Lawson Thomas and Colleagues (LTC) Group which held the J. Walter Thompson affiliation in Nigeria at the time.”
According to Badejo-Okusanya who is popularly known across Africa as YBO, while many advised against this move, he saw a great opportunity to be mentored by one of the firsts in Nigeria’s fast growing marketing communication industry. Not just that, LTC had such an enviable global partnership with JWT.
“It was indeed a great period of mentoring, management, development, accountability and corporate governance. This worked so well that the local affiliate of McCain Erikson, STB McCain also bought into the business, further diluting the initial ownership.”
Following the partnership, the firm which was known at that time as Capital Marketing Communication (CMC) was renamed CMC Connect to reflect the capital investment of STB McCain; a relationship that lasted till the year 2014 when they parted ways amicably.
Further speaking, the GMD also commended some friends who he admitted, he owes a debt of gratitude. Some of these friends, he noted invested in the CMC dream.
“Our firm owes a debt of appreciation to the leaders of the various businesses who believed enough to invest in our dreams. I will like to mention the likes of Mr. Billy Kolawole Lawson, Mr. Babatunde Dabiri, Mrs. Bola Thomas, Mr. Victor Edegbe, Sir Steve Bamidele Omojafor, and of course my indefatigable friend and brother, Mr. Rufai Gbolagade Ladipo.
“Let me use this opportunity to acknowledge our current chairman Mr. Akinmolu Opeodu and another Director, Mr. Olaolu Akinkugbe.
“I also extend our gratitude and appreciation to every single person who at one time or the other agreed to serve on our board,” he added.
He said the past 30 years have seen CMC Connect Limited serving clients across diverse sectors of the economy. They include: Peugeot Nigeria, British American Tobacco, Virgin Atlantic, Shell Nigeria, Microsoft, Intels, HP, Unity Bank, Airtel, Lagos State Government, Ogun State Government, Delta State Government, Pfizer, Japaness Tobacco International (JTI), Afton Chemicals, CNN, Warner Brothers, FMTX, Copterjet, Jagal Group, Teju Group, Chief Mrs. Opral Benson, President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, Chief Harry Ayoade Akande, ICAN, NCC, LCCI, NBL Plc, Diageo, Coca Cola, and a host of others.
While unveiling the 30th Anniversary Flag, the Board Chairman of the organization, Mr Akinmolu Opeodu, commended the GMD for telling a compelling story of the past 30 years.
In his words, “We thank God, 30 years in business is a very long time because as they say many businesses don’t go beyond the first five years.
“30 years is certainly a lot to be thankful for and I think Yomi has done a good job in telling the background story of how we got to where we are. We appreciate those that were instrumental to the success of the company thus far,” he concluded.
The event was sponsored by Airtel Nigeria, supported by Leadway Assurance, Nigerian Breweries Plc, and Tolaram Group. The football final event was held in an exciting football-themed ambience, where guests were able to network and relax while decked in jerseys of their favourite football clubs
