LaPRIGA honours Practitioners, Brands, Media Guru others at 7th Edition
… Selection Committee Chairman Gives Rationale for Choosing the Winners
The seventh edition of the Lagos PR Industry Gala and Award (LaPRIGA), which was held on Friday December 3, 2022, lived up to its billing as leading communication professionals in consultancies, government, corporate and not-for-profit organisations, captains of industry, media personalities, academia and C-Suite executives from across different sectors and industries converge to celebrate professional excellence.
Over twenty honourees from public relations consultancies, practitioners in the public and private sectors, stakeholders, and the media were honored with colorful figurines in different categories.
Three individuals, Mr. Adedayo Ojo, Princess Olatokunbo Ajala – Ekundayo, and Mr. Willie Ogbidi, were honored with the Lifetime Achievements Award for their outstanding contributions to the Lagos State Chapter of NIPR and the PR Profession over the years.
In line with this year’s theme and bid to institutionalise the PR Practitioner of the Year Category, four previous winners of the category were inducted into the LAPRIGA Hall of Fame.
The 2022 winner, who made a second appearance on the winner’s slot of the category, Mr. Adekunle Ayeni, the MD of Black House Media, joined Mr. John Ehigbesi, Mr. Yomi Badejo-Okunsanya, Mr. Israel Jaiye Opayemi, and Mr. Bolaji Abimbola.
In her remark, the Chairman of the Lagos Chapter, Mrs. Comfort Obot Nwankwo noted that, “Our goal with this theme, Hall of Fame, is to institutionalize the PR Practitioner Award’s Category.”
She continued: “We want to engender healthy competition among professional colleagues in the PR industry. We want to make it the most sought after. And the beauty of it is that any PR practitioner in any industry with outstanding, verifiable track records, who has put forward innovative PR campaigns from concept to execution, has a chance to win.”
Another highpoint of this year’s event was the posthumous award bestowed on Late Simeon Adelabu. In his lifetime, Simeon served the Lagos Chapter diligently. Amid glowing tributes from professional colleagues, his wife was on hand to receive the award.
Speaking on the rationale for choosing the winners in all the contested categories, the chairman of the LAPRIGA 2022 Selection Committee, Mr. Chido Nwakanma, noted that the winning entries reported outcomes and results professionally.
“The winners spoke the language of public relations in reporting their activities,” he said.
According to him, the entries weeded out were “anecdotal and failed to go even to the first stage of documenting outputs. Worse, some entries read like job descriptions rather than a description of activities with outputs, outtakes, and outcomes.”
He stressed that, “At the level of LAPRIGA, the expectation is to report the numbers and the outcome of the activities.”
Dignitaries present at the award included the Lagos Commissioner of Information, Mr. Gbenga Omotosho, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. DCP Bassey Ewah, President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Mr. Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo, Immediate Past President of NIPR, Dr. Rotimi Oladele, President, African Public Relations Association (APRA), Mr. Yomi Badejo-Okunsanya, etc.
Here is the list of all the winners:
1. Best in Crisis & Risk Communication – *Mouka Foam* – Mitigated a labour crisis at Mouka Foam by changing the narrative then getting the opposing parties to resolve the contending issues.
2. Best in Corporate Social Responsibility – *Nestle Plc* – For focused delivery of a broad range of impact activities in education, environment, continuous professional development, and youth empowerment.
3. Best in Entertainment PR – *Teksight Limited* – Utilised research to select Tiwa Savage as brand ambassador for Tecno Camon 19 and engaged 4her to drive conversations around the brand and model.
4. Best use of Research & Measurement – *P+ Measurement Services* – P+ deployed research and measurement in service to many clients and created awareness of research, measurement, and evaluation through its annual #EvaluatePR events.
5. Best In Technology PR – *Teksight Limited* – Used technology to drive higher engagement and awareness for the Lagos Economic Summit, Ehingbeti 2022, through a customised a website that enabled registration, a Lagos virtual tour and interaction with participants.
6. Best Innovation in PR- *GLG Communications Ltd* – Introduced the Africa PR Power List of 50 honorees to mark the World PR Day and leveraged it across print, broadcast and digital platforms in Nigeria, Africa and Europe.
7. Best Supporter of PR – *Blackhouse Media* – For creating two global holidays -World PR Day and Global Day of Influence- that promote the understanding and significance of public relations.
8. Digital & Social Media Agency of the Year – *TPT International* – Extensive deployment of digital and social media to reach an audience of young persons for the Electoral Franchise Advocacy campaign, Go Nigeria, for a not-for-profit, the ANAP Foundation.
9. Excellence in Community Relations – *Nestle Plc* – A range of projects and programmes showcase Nestle’s commitment to being a good neighbour and corporate citizen including a technical training programme whose graduates it employs, improving teaching and learning facilities, and the Empowering Rural Women Project to increase household incomes in the community, among others. Assistance applies to its locations in Agbara, Sagamu Interchange and Abaji in Abuja.
10. Best in Internal Communication & Employee Engagement – *Nigerian Breweries Plc* – Created an enabling environment for self-actualisation for employees through training on soft skills as well as opportunity for sports and recreation that fosters greater cooperation and cohesion.
11. Most Influential PR Professional – *Funsho Aina* – Engineered the MTN Media Innovation Programme in association with the School of Media & Communication, Pan-Atlantic University with the first set taking 20 journalists to Wits University, South Africa and equipping them with digital media skills.
12. Outstanding Public Affairs Professional – *Sandra Amachree*, Senior Brand PR Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc – Successful management of the Heineken Trophy Tour involving the Federal Ministry of Youth & Sports, UEFA legend Clarence Seedorf, and Nigerian football stars in a role with cross-cutting impact on tourism, sports and fashion.
13. PR Journalist of the Year – *Jeremiah Agada* – Wrote stories that dissect the core issues and set agenda for communication professionals in Brand Communicator journal.
14. Agency of the Year – *Blackhouse Media* – BlackHouse Media has become an international PR brand from Nigeria with operations in the UK, Ghana and Kenya, earned a listing in Provoke’s Global PR Agency ranking and contributed to the promotion of public relations and knowledge production with the African Public Relations & Communication Report.
15. Best Brand in Story Telling – *MTN Brand Refresh Campaign* – Excellent deployment of editorial content, partnerships with content creators and influencers to drive conversations around the refresh to 22m people and delivered outstanding outputs and outcomes.
16. Rising PR Practitioner of the Year – *Enitan Kehinde*, Lead Consultant, BHM, UK – Delivered significant feats building people, platforms, reports, and initiatives to educate, upskill and develop new entrants and contribute to the shaping of the future of global PR and communications
17. PR Practitioner of the Year – *Adekunle Ayeni*, Managing Director, BHM – The Managing Director of Blackhouse Media contributed to the growth of public relations globally by spearheading the World PR Day and the Global Day of Influence, leading conversations around public relations with the Nigerian PR Report and the forthcoming African PR and Communications Report, and driving growth and expansion of BHM into a top African brand on the global PR stage.
Special Award Category
18. Lifetime Reputation Award
• Julius Berger
19. Reputable Brand of the Year
• Dangote Group
20. Excellence Award for Service to the Lagos State Chapter of NIPR
• Asuquo Iquo
• Simeon Adelabu (Posthumous)
21. Lifetime Achievements Award
• Mr. Adedayo Ojo
• Princess Olatokunbo Ajala – Ekundayo
• Mr. Willie Ogbidi
Signed:
Samuel O. Adeyemi
Public Relations Executive (PRE)
Lagos Chapter of NIPR
December 3, 2022
