CBN’s Corporate Communication Like A Battle Front, Says Director

Director at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Isaac Okoroafor, is due to bow out after over 15 years in the Corporate Communications function of the bank.

The Abuja Branch of the University of Nigeria Nsukka Alumni Association (UNAA) gave him an award in recognition of his being a worthy ambassador of the UNN, having positively impacted the institution and members of the association.

In a brief chat with newsmen at the ceremony, he said, “I look at it from the point of view of National Service.  National Service comes above every other thing, after the worshiping of God.  National Service takes precedence above every other thing.  It has been more than 15 years.

“I came in from the private sector.  I told my people before I left Businessday Newspaper that I was going for national service.

“Our country needs to be served. Whether we like it or not; whether we are happy in it or not; we must do whatever we can for the people of Nigeria, especially the ordinary people, who do not have the opportunities that some of us have.  We must continue to work for the betterment of their lives.

“I am very happy , I am very fulfilled that I am coming to the end of my public service.  But national service continues.  I will continue to do that because until all of us come out to serve this country, this country will not make progress.

“For me my sleeping pattern will now change.  For 15 years, I have been waking up at 3. 00 am to look at what some of you (media) write and to prepare for it the next day.  My phones don’t go off.  Even when I am sleeping. That is the spirit and I am happy I will have some time to rest now.

“Running the corporate communication is like being in the battle front.  Every day, you are on duty.  There is no weekend, no vacation, no public holiday.  Even when I travel outside the country, my phones will be ringing and I had to operate from there.

“It means a whole lot.  It denies you your private life, your community life and all that.  At a time my town union granted me leave and told me I should come whenever I wished to come because they understood what I was going through.

“Corporate communication is a very tough battle and you must be strong physically, you must be strong and alive mentally, you must be somebody who must move-on-the-go and keep  pacewith the media, especially the social media.

“In the media, you see all sorts in the media and you have to know that.  You will see people who do not see anything good in what you are doing. There are also contending interests.  They are always there.  It is your job to manage them and see how to make everybody happy.

“You may not succeed all the time in making everybody happy but you strive to make most of the people to understand your point of view so that they can buy into your initiative.”