GOOD NIGHT, CEREBRAL CELEY

By Ismaila Isah

How do I describe this man who gave me my very first exposure in Public Relations practice and who has now departed?

Although an Advertising major, Celey understood total communications approach to every brief and he was willing to throw young professionals into the mix no matter how difficult the brief was.

From him I transited from hardcore journalism to being a public relations expert, an advertising professional, media monitoring and evaluation executive, direct marketing consultant and an integrated communications specialist all rolled into one.

My proudest moments were the transition from Texaco to MRS and the Redesign of the US Dollar Bill which were very challenging briefs that we delivered effortlessly as a team.

What about the transition from Vmobile to Zain with the OgaLine campaign; not forgetting the DHL Road to South Africa 2010 World Cup campaign.

With Celey Okogun, we made great memories and the impact of his 360 degrees approach to every communication brief was second to none in my experience as a budding professional at the time.

He was so impactful that I was adjudged the best New Talent in the industry at the Lagos PR Golden Eagle Awards in 2010 having just left journalism a year earlier.

I will forever be grateful to Victor Ikem for allowing my path and that of Celey Okogun to cross and I remain indebted to the team, Novelpotta with people like Maurice Ukpong, Muyiwa Bamiduro, Charles Obi, Labake Ilori Akinyemi-Oke Onyinye Agwatu-Ofuokwu, Obaseyi Awoyinfa, Nomathemba Maphisa, Idowu Omisore, Favour Erebosi-Samuel,Seun Odia and many others for defining my journey in the communications industry.

An excellent practitioner who demanded the best from every team member, you gave me the first triple promotion in the entire Young & Rubicam Global network of over 60 communications agencies across 56 countries from a client service executive to a Manager and head of Silverbullet Public Relations within nine months of my arrival in the group.

Dear Celey, as we bid you farewell, please note that my meeting at the MUSON Centre in Onikan Lagos with Victor lkem and our second meeting with you at No.7 Oduduwa Crescent in Ikeja GRA on the 16th of February, 2009 changed my trajectory as a communications professional forever.

Ismaila Isah, the former head of SilverBullet Public Relations and Strategic Team Lead at Novelpotta in Lagos is the Special Adviser on Media to the Kogi State Governor