ACAMB President, Rasheed Bolarinwa Named “Most Outstanding PR Professional”

Rasheed Bolarinwa, the President of the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) – an umbrella association of communications and marketing professionals, working in Nigeria’s banking sector – has been named the “Most Outstanding Public Relations Professional”.

Bolarinwa was given the recognition at the maiden “Your Image Awards”.

The event organized by reputable Public Relations firm, PR Primus Limited with Akin Okudero as Chief Executive in collaboration with the Ogun State chapter of Nigeria Institute of Public Relations NIPR had Governor Dapo Abiodun as Chief Host and former Governor Gbenga Daniel as Chairman.

PR Primus is famous for its weekly programme “Your Image” on the Ogun State Television OGTV both on terrestrial and cable services

Held at the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel in Kuto, Abeokuta Ogun State on Thursday, September 8, 2022, the award ceremony recorded the attendance of influential stakeholders in and out of the public relations world.

An insight into why Bolarinwa was named the “Most Outstanding Public Relations Professional” is available in the profile put together by the organizers of “Your Image Awards”.

It reads “Rasheed Bolarinwa is one of Nigeria’s sensational and award-winning Public Relations/Marketing and Corporate Communications professionals, whose craft and charisma have positively influenced the fortunes of the profession and the brands he has worked with over the years.

Rasheed is one of the few PR Strategists and marcom practitioners that possess a good mix of academia and foot-soldier experience in a field that has seen tremendous growth on a global scale, buoyed by the social media and increasing ability of the sector to safeguard reputations, support growth of brands and enhance thought leadership.

Rasheed’s marcom odyssey (post-qualification), spanning over a quarter of a century, has seen the media guru apply his well-honed skills in journalism, public relations, marketing, corporate communications, strategic brand management, insurance, HR, consulting and banking.

A certified Integrated Marketing Communications Practitioner and brand management professional, Bolarinwa is a thorough-bred communicator with function-specific and leadership training in top class local and foreign institutions in addition to two Master’s degrees earned from the prestigious Universities of Ibadan and Lagos respectively.

‘With strong expertise in Issues/Crisis Management, the awardee is reputed for his deft handling of change management communication and is among few PR Practitioners that have directly handled the transition and leadership change communication management of 5 CEOs in Nigeria’s financial sector (insurance & banking). His most telling impact came in 2021 when he orchestrated what analysts described as the most impactful in-house executed PR campaign for VULTe, a digital Bank by Polaris Bank that largely contributed to strong TOMA resulting in 1 million customer uptake within the space of 4 months of the Product launch, a record in Nigeria’s digital banking space.

In an era where the industry is facing threatening headwinds from unschooled practitioners, pretenders, and impostors, Rasheed Bolarinwa has continued to uphold the tenets of best practice, driven by an uncompromising commitment to excellence and professionalism – He is indeed, an exemplary professional the PR industry is very proud of!

On January 19 this year, his marcom colleagues across the entire Nigerian Banking sector under the aegis of Association of Corporate and Marketing Communication Professionals (ACAMB) elected him President in the current Executive Committee of ACAMB after a two-term stellar performance holding the position of Secretary General of the Association in the immediate past administration.

The umbrella body of Bankers in Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) recently appointed Rasheed to drive the visibility for the biggest gathering of Bankers and Finance stakeholders in Africa as Chairman, Media & Publicity of the Consultative Committee of the 15th Annual Bankers & Finance Conference holding in Abuja next week Tuesday and Wednesday 13 and 14 September, 2022. A task he has delivered spectacularly on.

He belongs to key Professional Associations in the Marcom space. A Fellow of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), Member, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Registered Practitioner, Association of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) now ARCON, among others.

Rasheed, currently the Head of Corporate Communications of Polaris Bank, is happily married to his heartthrob, Olajumoke, and is blessed with two young adults, Izziyyah & Ridhwan. A widely read professional, his first academic book is eagerly anticipated by end of Q1 2023.”