On Tuesday last week, on the eve of the birthday anniversary of the world’s saviour, Jesus Christ, Biodun Shobanjo, an advertising legend turned 80 and the world gathered in Lagos to honour him. It was not just his admission into the respected Octogenarian Club that brought the movers and shakers together, it was more of his admirable contributions to the marketing communications industry, the media, his philanthropic exploits and his exertions for a better Nigeria.
These achievements have moulded him into a legend or if you prefer, an avatar who has been decorated by Nigerian and African organisations for his show of excellence and dedication to the public good. These awards include but are not limited to the prestigious Zik’s Prize in Leadership, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) awarded by the federal government in October 2022.
On December 17, the Marketing Edge which is the leading magazine in the marketing communications industry crowned Shobanjo as the ‘Father of Advertising in Africa’. Before this two, first generation universities namely, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and the University of Lagos had decorated him with their honorary doctorate degrees. While Obafemi Awolowo University did the recognition in December 2009, the University of Lagos followed that path during its 51st convocation ceremony in 2022.
In totality, all of these honours put together represent the very definition, the apogee and the zenith of success. His success is amplified by his lowly background. His father, Joseph, was a worker with the Nigerian Railways while his mother, Morin, was a small time businesswoman. His father died on December 29, 1959 at the age of 49 leaving Biodun Shobanjo, his mother and his three siblings stranded. Biodun was just 15 years old then and had just been promoted to class three at Odogbolu Grammar School in Ogun State. To add injury to injury, both his father and his uncle, Okanlawon died a week apart. That was a double whammy, a devastating two punch combination. The young Biodun had to depend on his mother and God to discover his destiny and decide on his destination.
He had to work to support his mother and his three siblings. He got a job with the Customs Service but left the job six months later for some inexplicable reasons. He got a job at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) but later left to join Grant Advertising on a lower salary than what he earned at the NBC. It was here that Shobanjo made his impact as a professional advertising man. Grant was founded by Chief Adeyemi Lawson, leader of the Grail Movement in Nigeria. Lawson owed Grant a lot of money and when one lady brought an advert from Lawson for publication without clearing the debt, Shobanjo refused despite some subtle threats from the lady. Lawson respected that show of professionalism by Shobanjo and paid up the debt.
On October 16, 1979 Shobanjo seeing the inadequacies in Grant decided to register his own company Insight Communications Limited. On January 2, 1980 he and his young Turks decided to start pounding the streets of Lagos in search of business. Shobanjo’s philosophy for success was “Be excellent, think global, act local.” In his office he also had a placard that read “It is good to be big. It is better to be good. It is best to be both.” He also defined for his staff his own view of what advertising can achieve.
He said: “Advertising primarily helps a rolling ball to roll faster but cannot get a ball to roll uphill.” With these various expressions of entrepreneurial pieces of philosophy, he pushed his staff hard for the achievement of results. He did not compromise on standards and creativity and excellence. As he and his team achieved success, they knew that the reward for success is more success. The difficult thing about success is having to keep it up. Shobanjo was able to keep it up, establishing several companies that came under the canopy of Troyka Holdings where he has been the chairman. For him, success is the best revenge for his lowly background. He knew that with hard work that background was going to vanish giving way to a new background of prosperity that comes with success.
A philosopher says that success is five percent inspiration and 95 percent who you know. I have no idea if Shobanjo believed in this philosophy but it would be correct to say that he is a good relationship builder. That excellence in relationship building must have helped his business extensively.
His success also hinged on his principled stand in favour of merit, excellence and meticulousness. At Insight, there was this one year management trainee programme for brilliant young graduates. They had to go through three rounds of screening before being employed. One of Shobanjo’s nieces went through it but was not employed. She did not understand why she could not get a job in her uncle’s company. She refused to talk to her uncle for a year. Shobanjo insisted that the selection must be strictly through due process, relation or no relation. That is the way to arrive at meritocracy. The other route leads to mediocrity. Meritocracy leads to excellence and success while mediocrity leads to inferiority and failure.
Today Shobanjo’s Insight Communications Limited is Nigeria’s leading marketing communications company. The feat has been warmly welcomed by friends and grudgingly acknowledged by competitors who claim that his companies are successful because of “sharp practices.” But no sharp practices have been discovered against his companies. Such loose talk is a reflection of carnivorous competition which exists today in many industries. In the book “The Will to Win, The Story of Biodun Shobanjo”, written by Dotun Adekanmbi in 2020, such accusations have been decisively dismissed with factual reporting and analysis. So at 80, Shobanjo does not need to cower in a corner and pull the cloth over his face. His practice has been very professional and very ethical. So he deserves all the accolades he has received so far. He fights for success largely with the tool of excellence. That is why he is successful.
Success has many fathers but it also has many traducers. But there is no short cut to success. You must first go through the wilderness before reaching the Promised Land, your life’s destination. That is so because success is not the equivalent of low hanging fruits. The fruits of success are high up there in the sky.
Shobanjo’s life at 80 is worth celebrating because on January 30, 1992 he nearly lost his life. Some armed robbers came to attack him about 3am when policemen that he had invited left. He fired back without knowing that the four armed robbers had escaped. Some fellows wove all kinds of false stories against him because some policemen were wounded in the encounter. He was arrested and detained at the Special Investigations and Intelligence Bureau at Panti Street, Yaba. I had to go to the Vice President Admiral Augustus Aikhomu to explain to him truthfully, what happened before he was set free. So Shobanjo has paid his dues. That makes his success story inspirational. To get to the top, to make a success of your life, you can use the ladder or the lift. Apparently Shobanjo used both. That is why his success from zero to hero is very phenomenal. The choice is yours.
