In the last five decades, the Nigerian advertising industry has had several female practitioners, both at the political and career levels. But the 40th President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, Mrs. Bunmi Oke, has raised the bar even higher in the industry and the country.
During her tenure, the Executive Council member of Women in Management and Business, introduced reforms with the support of her colleagues, resulting in the industry contributing over N300 billion to Nigeria’s economy.
Surprisingly, operating in a male-dominated industry does not bother the second female president of the AAAN. Oke says she never allows the thought that men outnumber the women in her profession to bother her.
I discovered the power of the mind and the fact that if you want to become a leader, you have to think and do something outside the box. In addition, one thing I learnt is that you can measure yourself by personal goals and the level of your achievements
Some of her colleagues see her as a homely person. Doesn’t she have weaknesses? She replies, “I’m human and so not infallible. Maybe one of my weaknesses is that I can express myself anywhere, not minding whose ox is gored. As a kid, I lived in the United Kingdom, a society where a young girl or boy of five can walk up to his or her uncle and ask, ‘uncle, why?’ without any fear of being reprimanded.”
But where did she get her can-do spirit? The Managing Director, Ladybird Limited, explains, “I would say what has influenced me is that God has endowed me with a little of a fighting spirit as a person. Growing up as a young girl, I could make up my mind so easily; decisiveness was one of my major skills as a child. Different people have also inspired me, because I believe inspiration comes in phases.”
Comparing her early life in the United Kingdom with the latter years in Nigeria, she admits there is a clear difference between the cultures of both societies.
“For instance, coming to Nigeria for the first time, I saw things differently from what was obtainable in the UK. I had never seen red soil, and open gutters in my life. Therefore, when I saw it in Nigeria, I knew I was in a different environment and that gave me the opportunity to compare and contrast.”
The graduate of Integrated Social Science from the University of Lagos also argues that one’s area of certification should not limit one’s level of achievements in life.
Oke says, “For many reasons, I just didn’t see the reason I must force myself to study either Law or Accounting and follow the bandwagon, the way some of my friends did. As at then, the course I did was considered not fashionable and prestigious by a lot of my friends, and that made me not to enjoy school.
“However, my orientation changed at a time and I discovered that all I needed was to get a degree and move on with my life. Whenever friends came asking about my course of study in school, I mentioned it with confidence because it was my choice. In all this, I discovered the power of the mind and the fact that if you want to become a leader, you have to think and do something outside the box. In addition, one thing I learnt was that you could measure yourself by personal goals and the level of your achievements.”
On the lessons she learnt in the course of her advertising practice, especially having excelled in an industry that is largely dominated by men, she says, “As a woman, you have to be more conspicuous because you get to be noticed, you get more attention. But it’s what you now do with those open doors and I think that is where the advantage comes in.
“People will look at you to ascertain there must be something you know before you got to that position. It is for you to be prepared to use that platform to explain your case, to make people know why you are speaking on behalf of so many people in the profession, especially where you have so many men. I think it is really an advantage.”
The former Chief Operating Officer, 141 Worldwide, also belongs to the school of thought that believes hard work pays, rather than kill.
Oke says, “I only took maternity breaks when I wanted to have my children. And I will make bold to say that our industry is a dynamic industry. And one of the things I have learnt over the years is that, to remain competitive, you have to change with the times.
“I also learnt that for you to remain relevant, you need to develop yourself in order to keep yourself in tune with the communication language, which changes often. More importantly, I learnt that I needed to be a very good team player to be able to evolve with the industry.”
Oke, who has been married for over two decades and has two sons, recalls how she met the man who eventually became her husband.
According to her, “I had this friend at the University of Lagos, and during a birthday ceremony she said to me that there was someone she would want me to meet. All of a sudden, the person appeared and said, hello. You know the women thing, I had to pose. But I noticed I had seen the face before. He also asked me whether I had been to any of his parties. I knew I had, but because I needed to pose, I said no.
“One day, he brought out pictures of the parties and said, ‘But Bunmi, who is this?’ From there, we got talking and chatting. One thing that got me attracted to him, aside from the fact that he was an engineer, who finished from the University of Swansea, was his orderliness. But it ended almost the first day he displayed it. I later discovered that it was a calculated plan to arrest my interest.”
Born in England to Nigerian parents in the late 1960s, Oke started her advertising career at Grant Advertising (McCann-Erickson affiliate) in 1986, where she worked as a Public Relations Executive/Account Management trainee.
