Branding & Marketing

Gbededo, Owoeye, Others to speak at 2020 Brand Journalists Conference

: Dr. Tunji Owoeye, President, Rice Millers Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria and Mr. Paul Gbededo, Group Managing Director, Flour Mills of Nigeria.

By Florence Kalu

Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN), the association of brand writers and analysts in the country, would be holding its 2020 Conference in Lagos this November.

The annual conference which is scheduled to hold on November 27, 2020 at The Sojourner by Genesis Hotel, GRA-Ikeja, Lagos.

In line with its tradition of bringing together seasoned analysts and minds to crack some puzzles facing brand Nigeria, the panel of discussants shall include: Dr. Tunji Owoeye, President, Rice Millers Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria, Mr. Segun Atho, National Deputy president, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria and Mr. Paul Gbededo, Group Managing Director, Flour Mills of Nigeria.

The theme of this 8th edition of the annual event shall be,‘’Consolidating Nigeria’s Agricultural Revolution: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons, being the carefully crafted theme to drive effective deliberations this year.’’

the association has assembled a team of experts to dissect this year’s theme,

Ijewre

The event shall be facilitated by the Vice President, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ijewere, who is to deliver the main paper of the conference.

Other panel of discussant assembled by the association to dissect the paper by the guest speaker are: Otunba Femi Oke, Vice President, West, All Farmers Association of Nigeria; Mr. Ade Adefeko, Vice President, Olam Nigeria and Mr. Tunde Okoya, Vice President, Cold Chain Association of Nigeria.

Other commentators include: Mr. Richard Mark Mbaram, Senior Special Adviser to Minister of Agriculture on Communication; Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed, Managing Director/CEO, Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and Mr. Thomas Oloriegbe, Managing Director/CEO, NOSAK Group.

A seasoned brand analyst, Kayode Olagesin, Managing Director/CEO, Towncriers Limited would be the Moderator of the event.

An awards ceremony is scheduled to kick off immediately after the conference lecture at the same venue.

Just like all previous editions, this year’s conference is structured for the express purpose of collating, analysing and aggregating all shades of opinions, ideas, suggestions and thoughts that will return Brand Nigeria to a sustainable path of greatness as the economy gradually opens up after months of near-total lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Princewill Ekwujuru, Chairman, Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN), “Our plan at this year’s conference is to brainstorm on the imperatives in developing our very vibrant agricultural sector, utilizing various techniques in value chain development to grow agriculture infrastructure and create big brands that will jump-start the much desired industrialization Nigeria needs for her economic development and expansion”.

In line with current trends, there would be a hybrid of virtual and live attendance for the conference. The event will attract a live audience of about 200 socially- distanced persons that will be composed of about 50 brand Journalists, students from various tertiary institutions and professionals institutions like APCON, NIPR, NIMN, NIJ as well as industry professionals, government officials and brand Managers.

A larger audience of thousands of students, young professionals, industry players and observers will join across the globe readers via zoom and other social media platforms.

Commenting on what the association hopes to achieve at the end of this loaded programme, Lukman Ishau, Secretary of the association said, “Akin to last year’s event, the 2020 conference will definitely create innovative in-roads that will lead to solutions to the myriads of challenges facing brand Nigeria.

“Of particular reference is the increasing temperature boiling over brutality of our security forces, insurgent activities and banditry that has really affected agriculture, the current COVID 19 pandemic and the threat of economic recession just to mention a few. It is our belief that at the end of this conference, we will generate a lot of answers to most of these problems,” Ishau said.