I started my career writing, modeling and acting, in Okokomaiko. Then I started planning events and managing musicians. By 1996 I had earned the nickname ‘young promoter’.
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In 1998, we debuted youths awards for excellence in music (YAFEM). I left for university in ‘99 after spending 4 years post SSCE learning and working in entertainment.
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I was studying microbiology in UI, but in actual fact, I was learning to be a writer and music expert. The university library was my home – not for science books, but for everything I could lay my hands on about literature, music, film, and media.
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I left UI in 2004 with 3rd class, but with first-class knowledge about writing and entertainment. I left Uni armed with enough resources to work in media and entertainment.
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When one year after leaving UI, my Encomium column ‘Notes and Tones’ became popular, many who didn’t know my background thought I was ‘lucky’, an ‘overnight star’. LOL. It wasn’t me. It was the many years of trekking all over Lagos, chasing elusive movie roles, planning failed concerts, managing struggling musicians, and writing pieces that never got published. I failed a lot between 1996 and 2004, but I was making contacts and learning lessons that’ll prove useful later.
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By the time I was leaving Encomium on February 13, 2007, my business name was already four months old. Keke Ogungbe had planted the seed of PR in my mind, with Sound Sultan and Baba Dee as witnesses. 2face Idibia and Kween and Weird MC and Kennis Music had offered me briefs.
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Over a decade later, our agency BHM has transformed from a little shop representing just entertainers into a solid consultancy representing clients in telco, FMCG, financial services, government, and many more.
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I was a skinny, timid, stammering kid with no hopes but entertainment gave me life; gave me everything I needed to change my story.
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And that’s why I set up #neclive in 2013, as a little way of giving back; of saying THANK YOU.
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Today, six years later, I’m happy to announce the birth of Africa Creative Foundation: a not-for-profit organisation that will drive the actualization of our dreams for the industry. I’ll share more details in the coming days.
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