By Segun Ajayi
For the right reasons, Nigeria is yet again the focus of all eyes in Africa and the beyond. In a ground breaking fashion, one of the continent’s leading communications firm headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Chain Reactions Africa (CRA) lifted seven trophies at this year’s edition of the globally-regarded SABRE Awards, organised by Provoke Media. The event was held at Grand-Bassam, a resort town near the city of Abidjan, capital of Côte d’Ivore from 13 to 17 May.
Israel Opayemi Opayemi, who leads the Public Relations and Integrated Communications Consultancy as Managing Director/Chief Strategist, was the cynosure of all eyes as he walked up the podium seven times to receive seven awards, all in one night. The feat, never before experienced in the history of the prestigious awards, elicited pleasant words from CEO/Editor-in-Chief of Provoke Media, Arun Sudhaman, who gushed: “It seems winning awards is just a Chain Reactions thing!”As he held the trophies aloft in the gliterring night, Opayemi, who described Chain Reactions’ outing as a “seven stars performance” also said, “to emerge as the highest winner at the 2024 edition of the award with seven SABRE Awards is humbling as well as exciting for us at Chain Reactions Africa. We are immensely proud to be honoured on such a global platform like the SABRE awards which is the holy grail of Public Relations globally as the awards programme is dedicated to benchmarking the best PR works across the globe”.
In dedicating the awards, an enthused Opayemi said: “I am making a three-fold dedication of these multiple trophies to our clients who believe in us, my team members who do the brave works relentlessly and our dear country Nigeria. Ten years ago, we were at the SABRE Awards in Miami, Florida in the United States watching and applauding as winners took turns on stage. Ten years ago, we were asking for a seat at the table. Today, we are sitting in creative resplendence at the head of the table. Today, we are flying the Nigerian flag on the global stage. We are now a territory of reckon and relevance in the global PR space.
“Chain Reactions Africa’s entries which yielded the honours include its campaigns for the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and its Blue Rail project which clinched the CEO of the year award and Public Affairs/Government Relations category. 9mobile’s “The Hack – Expand Your Hustle” scooped the SABRE Award for Superior Achievement in Reputation Management; ‘Taming the Bull’ which was done for the presidency also won in the Crisis and Issues Management Practice Area category for its handling of issues and crisis management campaign around the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government. Chain Reactions also topped the ‘Employee Communications rating for its ‘Next Era of Happiness’ campaign for leading biscuit company, Pladis Foods Nigeria Limited.Moreover, the PR consultancy picked up four Certificates of Excellence in recognition of its work launching the Nigerian Youth Trend Report 2024 known as ‘ARAMANDA’, ‘Next Era of Happiness’, ‘Lagos Blue Rail’, ‘The Hack – Expand Your Hustle’, and ‘Taming the Bull’.
President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr. Ike Neliaku while felicitating with CRA at the event described the awards as “a harvest of honours for Nigeria”. He thanked the Chain Reactions Africa team for their outstanding works saying, “thank you for making us proud.”
Back home, congratulatory messages have been pouring in torrent since awards were announced last weekend. Over the years, CRA has won several prestigious SABRE awards and smiled home with more than 15 Certificates of Excellence. At last year’s edition, the company won in the CEO-of-the-Year category for the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for using PR to tell the story of his administration’s enviable achievements and scooped. Also in CRA’s kitty are two Certificates of Excellence in the Corporate Image category for the ‘Momentum Campaign’ for Cellulant, a flagship payment solution provider; and ‘Marketing to Consumers’ category for ‘The #NaijaHighlandah Campaign’ for William Lawson’s, Scotch Whiskey brand.
The 2024 Africa SABRE Awards drew over 500 entries out of which 120 campaigns were shortlisted for this year’s competition. The SABRE Awards is the premier showcase for the best that Public Relations viz recognition of Superior Achievements in Branding, Reputation and Engagement. The campaigns were evaluated by a jury of industry leaders.
The Sabre Awards is world’s most prestigious PR awards programme dedicated to benchmarking the best PR works across the globe. It recognizes works and campaigns in public relations across United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.