OAAN celebrates Shobanjo @ 80, confers on him legendary award

In honour of his sterling contributions to the nation’s advertising industry, members of the Out-of-Home Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) recently bestowed on advertising czar, Biodun Shobanjo, the OAAN Legend’s Award.

The Legends Award is the highest honour that OAAN confers on individuals who have made indelible contributions to development of OOH media practice in the country.

President of OAAN, Sola Akinsiku disclosed the Legend’s Award is for individuals, who, in the conviction of the executive council, acting on behalf of the board of trustees and the entire membership has made significant and veritable contributions to the development of OOH media practice in the country.

He recalled the first one was bestowed on Chief Akinrolabu Akinbobola in 2020, adding, “we are now gathered to witness this great event today as we honour Dr. Biodun Shobanjo with this prestigious award as our way of appreciating him for his innumerable contributions to the promotion of excellence and professionalism in our practice.”

Listing some of the notable contributions of Shobanjo to development of OOH media practice in the country, Akinsiku identified the establishment of Optimum Exposures Limited, which brought sanity, professionalism, excellence, and clean environment.

He said, “Optimum Exposures was the first to venture into large format billboard platforms, and among the first companies to introduce LED platforms in the country, Dr. Shobanjo in his private capacity has also contributed immensely to the intellectual content of our practice, through speeches at our functions; and capacity building programmes of Optimum Exposures that the entire industry has benefited from most significantly, among others.”

In his keynote speech, a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, Abiola Salami, spoke on, ‘Excellence and professionalism: The pillars of sustainable business growth.’

He said sustainable business growth does not come at the expense of future generations, but it is about creating value for stakeholders in a way that is ethical, equitable and enduring.

To achieve this growth, Salami identified excellence and professionalism in everything everyone does. Chairman of the event and founder of Juli Pharmacy Plc, Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, congratulated Shobanjo for the recognition by OAAN, adding that the nation is pleased to have someone who is working hard and has done so well in advertising.

Expressing his appreciation, Shobanjo recalled the OAAN award is the 85th he has received in his career spanning over 50 years.

He stated, “I want to thank you from the depth of my heart for this honour OAAN has given me, and I thank you for the sacrifices you all have made.”