Yessssssss!!!!!!!! This is the review I have been waiting to write. This baba has been threatening to send people to “beat” me for no just cause. He even invited me to his 80th birthday and made sure I did not eat. And he didn’t stop there — he came for an interview on my podcast and confused me with so much wisdom that I ended up looking like a Muppet from Sesame Street — that beautiful children’s TV programme we all grew up on.
Now, the question you may want to ask is: why does Dr. Biodun Shobanjo not like me? The answer is very simple and straight to the point — he regrets not employing me at Insight Communications when he had the opportunity. That, to him, is the only major career “goof” he ever made, one that continues to bite him even in retirement. Hence his passion to have our mutual friend, Mudi, send “Warri boys to beat you.”
Dr. Shobanjo is the kind that comes to an industry only once in a lifetime. I swear to God, I am writing this straight from my head. I’m not reading anything — just writing as it comes. It was my aburo, Tosh Adefeko, who gave me a biography written by one of Dr. Shobanjo’s boys.
From the book, you’ll see that Dr. Shobanjo, on his way to building one of the greatest, biggest, and most valuable marketing communications firms in the world, planned coups, got sacked, ate boli at night, couldn’t pay staff salaries, sent someone to Jos to beg for money, nearly got killed by robbers, lost his wife, remarried a brilliantly beautiful woman, turned his back on Mike Adenuga, mentored some of the greatest advertising minds in the world, and created some of the most iconic campaigns — including the wildly popular Orange Men who scared the living daylight out of Lagosians. He made money, lost money, started wearing bowties — and did a lot more!
Mbok, I read the book on a flight to Abuja and it made me forget my fear of Nigerian air travel. In fact, as I was reading — precisely at the point where he was engaging robbers in a shootout — the plane started shaking and everybody was shouting “Jesus! Jesus!” Me, I was rushing through the book to see how Dr. ended that scene. I was too curious to stop, completely disconnected from the bedlam of a typical Nigerian flight.
In my mind, I saw Dr. Shobanjo like Al Pacino’s Scarface — with a huge cigar in his mouth, shooting and shouting in his native Ijebu dialect, “E ma bo! Come ooooo! I am waiting!”
Dr. Shobanjo started life in broadcasting shortly after finishing school. The son of a railway worker, he was born in sleepy Jebba — what we fondly call aje pako. He quickly rose to become Studio Manager at the then Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS), which brought him in contact with the great Fela (you’ll have to read the book to find out if he “indulged”). But as my father would say, “Show me your friend, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Lol.
Dr. Shobanjo soon found carrying chairs and setting microphones for others very boring, so he jumped into advertising after landing a job with Grant Advertising.
Mbok, before you could say Jack Robinson, oga had risen to become MD — thanks to his dexterity, passion, hard work, resilience, and never-say-die spirit.
That Jebba restlessness pushed him to form Insight Communications, which later morphed into Troyka Holdings, immortalizing him within the pantheon of global marketing communications.
In 2015, his Troyka Holdings partnered with Publicis Groupe — the world’s third-largest communications group — to scale Troyka globally.
Now, the man who used to envy me for my dreadlocks (since, as we all know, he hasn’t had hair for some time) is now the source of my own envy, as he has garnered over 50 national and international awards for leadership, innovation, and excellence in advertising.
Some of these awards include Advertising Man of the 20th Century, Africa Brand Leadership Award, Zik Prize in Leadership, and Most Influential Personality in Advertising, to mention a few.
Daddy is also a huge philanthropist — he recently gave me money for one of my charity runs. Beyond that, he donated the Biodun Shobanjo Multi-Media Centre of Excellence at the University of Lagos in 2014, and was named the first Ambassador-General of the National Cancer Prevention Programme’s Mass Medical Mission (2010). He continues to mentor young professionals and advocate for ethical leadership in business.
His influence will continue to pervade marketing communications well into the foreseeable future, I tell you. He remains much more than an icon — not only in that space but in national life — as he stands within the very exclusive club of great Nigerians who attract mighty, mighty respect and adulation.
He is married with children.
I rest my case before Baba Ijebu comes to beat me. Thank you.
Duke of Shomolu
Being his entry into the Maddtimes power list Coffee table