in Existence

Profile || By Kenechukwu Muoghalu Meet Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, one of the

Most Experienced PR Expert in Existence

Yomi Badejo-Okusanya in his early days was much concerned with making a living for himself. He went from a comfortable life to facing hardship after the death of his father while he was still nine. He had just his mother and his six siblings.

Hence, the complications he faced made him much stronger to handle life as it came. He graduated from Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. He went ahead to study history at the University of Benin. Soon enough, he bagged his bachelor’s degree and was out in the market seeking a means to survive.

“At the end of my University, I had a couple of options, but I felt that I wanted to work rather than depending on my mother for money, so I asked myself, “what are the things I could do?”, he said during an interview. Badejo-Okusanya recalls what inspired him to choose his career path, “I didn’t know a lot about PRin fact I knew nothing about PR, but many people that saw me often said to me that I would make a good PR person.” We had a Nigerian who had been the President of the Nigerian Professional Association and had become a Minister, the late Chief Alex Akinyele, and many people said I reminded them of him. So that’s where I picked up my interest in public relations.”

In 1988, he joined CT & A, a Lagos-based advertising agency, and in 1991, within three years of his stay, he ended up being the Director of the company and was also asked to head the subsidiary that focused on Marketing and Public Relations. In 1992, he went ahead and founded CMC Connect Burson Cohn & Wolfe, formerly known as CMC Connect Burson-Marsteller, in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.

While still on the job, he became the Secretary General of the African Public Relations Association (APRA), which is the umbrella body for the practice of public relations in Africa, and was still left with the responsibility of working closely with the African Union (AU) in the areas of strategic thinking on how to improve the image and perception of Africa.

Yomi Badejo-Okusanya has a strong passion for the practise of public relations in Africa. As a result of this passion, he has also birthed an initiative that is titled, “Campaign Africa.” Through this initiative, he intends to sell the concept of Positive Africa by utilising the tools that are associated with public relations.

A branding elite

Yomi Badejo-Okusanya through sheer will has succeeded in providing services beyond strategic communication solutions for leading organisations and personalities such as the 1st female elected president in Africa, H.E Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia.

Badejo-Okusanya has also worked with Delta State Government, JAGAL Group, Airtel Nigeria, International Monetary Funds (IMF), British American Tobacco Nigeria, Transcorp, Renaissance Group, Virgin Nigeria, Peugeot Nig Ltd, Shell and Federal Inland Revenue Service among others.

He is on the board of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the West African Chair of the Public Relations and Communications Association and also a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR). He is widely recognised as one of the top public relations professionals in Nigeria, with top expertise in Government Relations and Legislative Affairs, Perception Management, Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations and Crisis Communications.

With over 30 years of experience in the Marketing Communications industry, Badejo-Okusanya still recalls the inspiration behind his vocation.

His Awards

Due to Badejo-Okusanya’s contributions to the industry, he became a recipient of the prestigious PR Golden Eagle Award (Male), as the Most Outstanding Public Relations Person for the Year 2010.

One fun fact about Yomi Badejo-Okusanya is that he is an astute preacher of the word of God and the Resident Pastor at Grace Assembly-Island Church, Oregun, Ikeja, Nigeria.