By SEBASTINE OBASI

Memories of Levi Ajuonuma, the former Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, resonated at the recently concluded Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, USA, when he was given a post-humous award, by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, PETAN.

The PETAN Outstanding Leadership Award was given in recognition of his distinguished and outstanding contributions to the development of the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria. The award which was presented by Andrew Yakubu, Group Managing Director, NNPC, was received by Michael Ajuonuma, first son of the deceased, on behalf of the family.

Yakubu said that for eight years, Ajuonuma was in charge of organizing NNPC’s participation at the OTC. According to him, ”the passion and exceptional enthusiasm he brought on the job would be missed. Ajuonuma died in the ill-fated Dana Airline crash that occurred on the third of June, 2012, at Agege, Lagos, which claimed the lives of about 153 passengers on board.

Dr Levi Ajuonuma

With his foray into full time public relations practice as the chief image maker of the NNPC, Ajuonuma was able to deploy relevant communication tools to get Nigerians to understand the workings of the oil and gas industry and the NNPC to dispel the wrong impressions most Nigerians used to have about the Corporation and the entire industry.

Before his appointment as the Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division of the NNPC in November 2003, he was a broadcaster and public relations consultant with a string of radio and television talk/entertainment shows such as Levi Ajuonuma Live, The Sunday Show and Showtime on NTA Network, as well as The Nation Today Live on NTA Channel 10 and Open House Party on Raypower 100FM, a programme that ran from the late 80’s through the 90’s.

Between producing and presenting the series of talk and entertainment shows, Ajuonuma, as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Lasom Communications Ltd (a consortium of media and public relations consultants), engaged in marketing and public relations consultancy for a number of organisations ranging from the United States Information Service, Federal Road Safety Commission to the Nigerian Institute of Structural Engineers. He also designed and produced corporate marketing and brand promotional TV programmes for corporate giants like Nigerian Breweries Plc, Cadbury Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc and a host of others.

Ajuonuma started his working career in 1977 as an announcer/newscaster with the Imo Broadcasting Service, IBS, in Owerri, Imo State. He left IBS in 1979 and proceeded to the United States of America for further studies at Huntington College, Indiana, where he bagged a Bachelor of Arts in Communications.

He later got a Master of Arts and Ph.D in Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota in 1983 and 1987 respectively. He topped these qualifications with an MBA from Plymouth State College of the University System of New Hampshire in 1989.

He had a stint in the academia as Assistant Professor at the Department of Journalism, Keene State College of the University System of the State of New Hampshire, USA, before returning to Nigeria to his first love – broadcasting and public relations.

One of his legacies in television broadcasting is the NTA Network programme, Network Nightline which metamorphosed into Tuesday Live, which runs till date. He was the pioneer producer and presenter of the programme. He is also credited with innovations such as the first simulcast of TV and radio program achieved on the second anniversary of The Sunday Show Live in 1995 by NTA channel 10 and Raypower FM.