Osaro Onaiwu, the earl of protocol

According to the Wikipedia Grace Murray Hopper, one of America’s pioneer Computer Scientists and United States Naval Officer was a woman that had a number of accomplishments to her name. She is often referred to as “Amazing Grace.” It was she who reasoned that when “You manage things, you lead people.” This saying holds true for the one that wears the title of Earl Osaro Onaiwu.

    Onaiwu, a man of many parts, is today unarguably, Nigeria’s King of Protocol. For him, image is everything and driven by this passion, he is constantly in the process of rebranding and promoting the image of state governments, organizations and corporate individuals.

    Given the nature of his calling, he is impeccably dressed and with his heavy build, you simply cannot miss him in a gathering. Speaking on his passion for branding, image and protocol, Onaiwu says that “The world today is driven by success stories, the craving of that which is appealing and inspiring, and how this is achieved depends on how it is presented”.

    If there is anything he detests, it is the bandwagon following the norm in nearly all sectors of Nigerian society, that’s why he dislikes the words “Event Manager” or “publicity”.

    According to him, there are so many pseudo-event managers around town; “people who went into it simply to earn a living; you see them all over the place without the passion and the know-how.

    “For us it is a calling; serious business. We are not just what they call ‘Event Managers’, No, we are into rebranding and imaging and we are determined to always be the leaders in this sector.”

    The Earl driven by the passion to break new grounds, set up the first protocol company in the country, Red Carpet Protocol. Besides the Red Carpet Protocol, he has two other outfits: Jalomeseki Couture, Africa’s first all-white fashion house; Orovie-OO7 Properties, a Real Estate, Leasing and Sales Company which provides lifestyle and Luxury homes for the affluent. He also publishes Governors Mandate-1st Online Magazine that showcases the activities of Nigeria’s 36 State Governors

    As the Coordinating Consultant of the Governors Forum, Onaiwu has demonstrated an uncommon flair for the coordination and organization in handling the meetings of the forum and event of governors. 

According to him the lumping of state governors as corrupt and non-performing is as a result of a disconnect between the public and the governors.

He however posited that all that is now changing given the re-branding the governors are getting. 

On the future of branding, image and protocol in the country, the Earl opines that it is bright and tough at the same time. But for those that are driven by excellence and the desire to continue to set standards like himself, there would always be in business. 

His words: “I can tell you the future is promising and challenging. Promising for those who have the passion and the desire to excel, set new bars and surpass them”.

Concluding, he stated that “Organizations, corporate individuals want class, style and something uniquely different not the run-of-the-mill service that some so called ‘Event Managers’ dish out. It follows that if you cannot match the expectations of your clients, you will simply fizzle out or in the least be at the rung of the ladder”.   

Hassan Usman,

Abuja 

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