Afrigather 
By Nafisat Bello
Journalism and Public Relations maintain the skilled engaged around the clock. She or he is subsequently all the time planning, strategising, writing and speaking each time so as to maintain the general public abreast of what they need to know and likewise ensuring the shopper will get worth for patronage.
However there’s a optimistic facet of it that makes up for what it takes from the person. The career additionally supplies alternatives to fulfill with the excessive and mighty within the society and journey to discover the world. Any time the chance comes for any of the 2, it’s usually a worthwhile expertise.
Just lately, I had emotional flip-flops that began on a fateful day in our workplace when the Chief Govt Officer of Picture Retailers Promotion Restricted (IMPR), Mallam Yushau Shuaib, referred to as for an emergency zoom assembly and all of us needed to be part of from our respective houses as a result of it fell on a public vacation. To the thrill of all of us, he introduced that our organisation had gained some awards within the upcoming Superior Achievement in Branding, Fame and Engagement (SABRE) Awards that’s all the time hosted throughout the annual African Public Relations Affiliation (APRA) convention in numerous international locations within the continent.
For me, apart being completely happy that our agency has persistently gained awards on the occasion over time, I used to be equally glad that I participated actively in one of many marketing campaign that gained the most recent a number of awards. It was a marketing campaign on the “Nigerian Girls in PR” in partnership with the Kogi state authorities and the MacArthur Basis on gender inclusivity. My colleagues – Fom Gyem, Zeenat Sambo and Hafsat Ibrahim – have been a part of the marketing campaign group as nicely.
Whereas basking within the euphoria of the private triumph, the next day, Mallam Shuaib introduced the nomination of my humble self and Fom to affix him in receiving the awards in Lusaka, Zambia. Our pleasure doubled and we have been excited till he dropped the bomb! “So each of you’ll come to the workplace along with your worldwide passports tomorrow morning unfailingly,” he stated. We checked out one another and didn’t know how you can inform him that we didn’t have it.
Ultimately, he gave us two weeks to get the passport or overlook in regards to the journey. We did all of the Immigration workers requested us to do with a promise that we might get the passports inside a fortnight whereas our boss made preparations for our tickets and lodging. However when the deadline was remaining 48 hours and no assurance from the Immigration Workplace that we might get it, it was all doom and gloom for us. We simply prayed for a miracle and went residence that Saturday.
At a normal assembly on Monday within the Convention Room on the deadline day after we couldn’t present the passport, he requested Rahma Oladosu of Economic Confidential who already had her worldwide passport to exchange us.
Shocking, an hour later whereas the weekly assembly was happening, Fom acquired a message that our passports have been prepared and could be delivered the next day. An excited Alhaji Yushau instantly introduced that he would break rock or pull the chestnut out of fireplace, if potential, to verify we get the visa in order that the three of us would now go to Zambia as an alternative of two.
There have been (and there are nonetheless) no phrases to explain how everybody felt that day nevertheless it was a case of Shakespeare’s “All is Nicely that Ends Nicely.”
The web visa course of took one other spherical of drama and suspense of its personal till we lastly obtained it few days later.
I’m not positive I had recovered from that Nollywood-standard drama when on Tuesday Could 16 2023, three of us marched into the Worldwide Wing of the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport to affix Ethiopian Airways’ flight to Addis Ababa.
Flying 35,000ft above sea stage for the primary time, I used to be actually scared however I felt a way of consolation as a result of I used to be not alone. There have been two acquainted faces with me within the large jet.
Nafisat BelloWe boarded round 12:25pm and took off at precisely 1:40pm. We have been seated on the again and I used to be near Fom who had the window seat. Wanting by means of the window, I marvelled on the spectacle and miracle of the aeroplane know-how which must be the most important of man’s breakthroughs. How such a mighty steel that weighs as much as 350,000kg or extra carrying a whole lot of people that may every weigh 100 kg or extra may keep within the sky for hours and even transfer to completely different places and defy the legislation of gravity stays a giant thriller to me up until in the present day!
After 5 hours of wining and eating and cohabiting with the angels within the sky, we landed on the Bole Worldwide Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at 7:18pm (5:18pm Nigerian time) and my emotion was confused between nervousness and pleasure. Nervousness as a result of virtually all through the flight I felt like a scared little lady and pleasure as a result of I had landed safely and I noticed myself visiting one other nation for the primary time in my life!
I believed I needed to journey to Europe or America earlier than I might hear unfamiliar accents however in Ethiopia I used to be handled to a number of unusual accents that I may hardly decipher.
In the meantime, going by means of customs and safety checks on the airport was not an issue in any respect because it was fairly an fascinating expertise. Three of us nevertheless fell sufferer of not realizing that the baggage we checked in at Abuja wouldn’t be accessible to us in Addis Ababa till we obtained to our remaining vacation spot in Lusaka. So we had no further garments in our hand baggage to put on the next day to journey to Lusaka. We needed to repeat the identical garments. That a part of the journey was fairly disagreeable however we learnt our lesson.
Enjoyment began instantly after scaling by means of the airport checks and we have been pushed to Skylight Lodge, top-of-the-line town has to supply by way of hospitality. Every of us obtained customary VIP remedy with unique rooms, quick web service, luxurious buffet for dinner and breakfast.
If flying to Addis Ababa from Abuja felt lengthy then the ultimate stage of the journey, flying from Addis Ababa to Lusaka, felt like eternity to me regardless that the latter was a bit shorter than the previous.
After settling down within the ET 863 Ethiopian Airways flight, I made a decision to shift my consideration to the aerial map of the flight as displayed on the plane monitor. The map confirmed that the flight which departed Addis Ababa at 9:25am (Ethiopian time) would arrive in Lusaka at 12:30pm (Zambian time) of the identical day on the finish of a 2949km/1833 miles journey.
Earlier than switching to observe films, I noticed the plane nosing up north from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Tanzania to Malawi, to Mozambique and to South Africa. After the two-hour film interlude, I switched again to the route map and I noticed that we have been flying by means of Zimbabwe and Botswana, then we obtained to Namibia and later Angola. As we flew deeper into the sky, I sat comfortably, after which switched to a different fascinating in-flight film with my headphone plugged-in.
A few hours later, the flight attendants went spherical from seat to seat serving passengers meals and drinks whereas asking for his or her decisions. They obtained to my seat, and the query, “what would you want, hen or beef?”. Then I replied, “beef”. I started having fun with myself with the in-flight meal of scorching beef with basmatic rice. Quickly, we commenced descent into Lusaka.
By the point we landed on the Kenneth Kaunda Worldwide Airport, in Lusaka, Zambia, my physique felt like heat pudding after sitting in a single place for hours. We went straight to the gathering level for luggage and I heaved an enormous sigh of aid after I noticed my bag and realised that it had travelled all the best way from Abuja to Lusaka protected and sound regardless that it didn’t go the evening with me in my unique resort room in Addis Ababa.
After going by means of all the required customs and safety checks, we have been met on the exit of the airport by an official of the Taj Pamodzi Lodge the place we have been meant to lodge. He launched himself and launched us to his beloved nation as we cruised alongside the 10-kilometre lengthy stunning expressway from the Airport to the resort. Sadly, communication with the official driver was a bit difficult as a consequence of his accent. After the roughly 30-minute drive which we largely spent admiring the attractive billboards with pretty artwork works on either side of the highway, we arrived on the Taj Pamodzi Lodge at 1:28pm native time.
As I stood in my resort room on the eighth ground, I had no alternative aside from to admire Lusaka metropolis. It was a stupendous sight to behold with its enchanting shoreline below the blue sky, and overlapping sounds of sea waves. And our resort was in fact a large edifice with world class aesthetics and high quality service.
After settling down, and night started to set in, we took our dinner and attended a style present that was to be held on the resort premises.
The Afrostanbic style present sponsored by Stanbic Financial institution plc was fairly an fascinating piece of leisure.There have been cultural dances from completely different cultural teams in Southern Africa: the Remlas and the Zipras. Then, the style present itself was marvellous. We actually loved ourselves.
The next day, our beneficiant boss, who left Abuja along with his spouse earlier than us and arrived Lusaka a day earlier, additionally organized an entire day of sightseeing for his spouse and the three of us. It was a memorable expertise.
We attended the annual APRA Convention which happened on the Kenneth Kaunda Convention Centre (previously, Mulungushi Worldwide Convention Centre, MICC). Our boss later launched us to a tour information who later took us spherical town. It was fairly a easy trip from town centre to Chaminuka, a foremost vacationer web site within the nation. Through the one-hour drive, the very hospitable tour information handled us to a protracted listing of melodious Nigerian Afro beats to make us really feel at residence within the Southern African nation.
PR Girls and their tour informationOn our method to Chaminuka, for the primary time since I left Nigeria, I felt I used to be in Kano as I observed folks on the slim streets in retailers promoting all types of stuff resembling fish, vegetables and fruit. Additionally, we noticed a singular location which was not an precise museum however the place fascinating issues like jewelleries, leather-based works, crafts and native garments and materials have been bought. I couldn’t cease admiring these stunning arts, and the air which was perfumed with the aroma of spices, perfume and burnt incense from the a number of cavernous retailers we got here throughout.
Chaminuka is a really giant, bushy space, extra like a forest, so large and huge that the animals have been distant from each other. We needed to take a trip all through the forest, noticed wild animals, took footage of a few of the animals: the Lions, Cheetah, Ostrich, Monkeys, Elephant, Zebra, Antelope, and many others. We additionally went for a ship trip referred to as “THE DANAE” the place the boat attendees – Frances and Penias – informed us some mouthwatering tales in regards to the atmosphere. They informed us in regards to the Anthill on the Island and likewise the Egyptian goose which is thought to be probably the most loyal animal to their accomplice as a result of when one dies, the opposite one stays single endlessly. We additionally heard fantastic tales in regards to the Masks River Fowl, the Nice White Eaglets, and plenty of others.
After rounds of sightseeing, we stopped to take packs of takeaways of massive sized roasted hen from a Shoprite department which was larger than the branches I see in Nigeria. Now, it was time to maneuver again to the resort to organize ourselves for the award evening.
The annual APRA Convention was to be adopted by a live performance later that night the place SABRE awards could be introduced to deserving winners. After a number of displays to different winners from throughout the continent, it was our flip and we marched to the stage. We obtained a double SABRE African Public Relations Award 2023, a trophy and a Certificates of Excellence for Worker Communication and West African classes with a gender inclusivity marketing campaign titled “Nigerian Girls in PR.” We acquired it on behalf of the feminine workers of IMPR, publishers of PRNigeria, Economic Confidential, Politics Digest, Emergency Digest, Tech Digest, Spokespersons Digest, Leisure Digest and Arewa Agenda.
IMPR Girls Receiving the AwardIn a nutshell, MacArthur Basis and Kogi State Authorities have been among the many winners of the Africa Public Relations Awards 2023 for supporting the campaigns on gender inclusion in communication observe. The Division of State Safety Providers (DSS) and the Nationwide Data Know-how Improvement Company (NITDA) additionally gained Certificates of Excellence of the annual award occasion hosted by Provoke Media in collaboration with APRA. And these 4 recipients have been in partnership with our multi-award-winning PR company, IMPR, to rejoice campaigns that display the best ranges of creativity, integrity and effectiveness.
The PRNigeria women, as we have been fondly referred to as, acquired accolades from Nigerian delegates who have been in attendance and this made the evening a totally proud one for us. A number of the Nigerians in attendance have been Prof. Boniface Obiefuna of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan, Head of Media Relations, Nigeria Communication Fee (NCC). Others in attendance have been Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau, Director Defence Data (DDI); Umar Mohammed, Head of Company Communication, Petroleum Merchandise Advertising Firm Restricted (PPMC); Alhaji Lamaran Garba of Bayero College Kano (BUK), and many others.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Awards Jury, Paul Holmes, applauded and recommended businesses throughout Africa who had carried out terribly nicely within the competitors, stressing that the standard of labor had by no means been larger. He added that “strong knowledge and good cultural insights are informing the planning technique of PR campaigns, large daring inventive concepts are driving the execution, and actual business-related metrics are displaying how profitable these campaigns are.”
In his excitement-laden speech, our boss and mentor thanked the purchasers/companions for his or her help and collaboration, promising that the agency would “stay probably the most gender-friendly communication outfit that promotes excellence and repair supply.”
He additionally thanked the organisers for locating his women worthy of such honour. He pledged to maintain the flag of PR flying.
We took footage with a few of the delegates, together with Nigeria’s PR guru and APRA president, Yomi Badejo Okusanya (YBO). After which we retired to our inns to organize for our journey again to Abuja by way of Addis Ababa.
It was certainly unhappy to say goodbye to Zambia as a result of we had enjoyable all by means of the interval. The folks have been type and hospitable and the atmosphere of the incredible locations we visited have been so good to guests. However we needed to say goodbye so we may get again to work, break new grounds in journalism and PR, win extra awards and journey once more to a different nation to obtain the awards.
Certainly, it was with love we returned from Lusaka.
Nafisat Bello is a Employees Author with IMPR, Abuja.
