SYLVESTER MOEMEKE
- TRIBUTE TO AN EXCEPTION DOYEN
He was surrounded by the best that life provided, yet, was
loudly averse to ornate living. At public functions, Mr. Sylvester
Ifeanyichukwu Moemeke was scarcely ever caught with any drink other than a
clean glass of water, which begged to be sipped, just as any cuisine placed
before him waited for the waiters. If you compeered a ceremony in which he was
present, and tried patronising him with the introduction; “Chief I. S. Moemeke”,
you would have to be grateful for his mastery of decorum in politely educating
you how not to repeat the expensive joke. “I am simply MR. IFEANYI SYLVESTER
MOEMEKE. I am not a chief and do not desire to be one any time,” he would assert.
Sighting him from afar within the office complex as Chairman
and chief Executive of Lintas was akin to an encounter with the Commander-in-Chief
of the Armed Forces when the military held sway. If you were a bench-warmer,
then, you had signed for professional attrition, as every year ended with SALARY
STATUS QUO ANTE or EX-GRATIA award until you sorrowed out. Well, did he suffer
fools gladly? If you slinked into his office to feed him with gossip so as to
massage his ego, you must be ready to hang around his office until the accused
materialised to share the dish with you. The Client Services man knew not to
risk being mentioned before Moemeke for default in Contact Reporting, just as
any Line Director would be ready for the huff on account of deadline breaches. ENIGMA
was his unpublished name!
Moemeke savoured the English language so meticulously, you
would desire to yank it off his tongue, chew delicately and swallow. Indeed, if
you desired acceleration in the mastery
of that language, you needed to draw close to cultivate Moemeke’s rare knack
for diction, idioms, expression, innuendoes, satires and all that constructed
his enigmatic public relations adroitness.
The odyssey of this giant mystique is a must study for
prospective industry captains. Never capitulating in boardroom manoeuvres, accounts
rolled into Lintas by mere deference to this debonair personage who beat the
pathway even for the audacious. When the Nation hit the still wall in past
administrations, policy chieftains advised themselves to be advised by this
gentleman.
Have you anything to do with Advertising in Nigeria today? O
well, like me, you are a beneficiary of Sylvester Ifeanyichukwu Moemeke who birthed
Lintas, the pioneer Advertising Agency that nurtured the giant marketing
ensembles of today. I was personally tanned and honed under the blazing Lintas sunshine
for a little over a decade. How do I measure my gratitude?
As all roads lead to the dual destinations of Lagos and Onicha-Uku
this weekend for his obsequies, I join all those personalities, organisations
and numerous icons impacted by Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Moemeke to wish him bon
voyage. And for good measure, I post in my blog one of my humour pieces
published in the Sunday Concord on July 8, 1984.
For all those who identify with this great icon, let your contribution
be a resolve for diligent industry attractive to posterity.
Lest we forget…CHANGE IS HERE
