BREAKING: LTC JWT Fires Finance Director

Barely six months after MD pulls out.

Frontline third generation advertising agency, LTC JWT has fired its Finance Director, Mr. Oluwawole Emmanuel, formerly known as Mr. Ajewole Emmanuel. Industry sources alleged that Mr. Emmanuel’s disengagement may not be unconnected with suspected irregularities in management issues and certain procedural abnormalities.

The name and photograph of Oluwawole has since disappeared from the list of the board of directors of the LTC JWT’s website, giving no one any clue about his new whereabouts.

The new development is coming against the backdrop of the voluntary resignation of former managing director, Pastor Charles Abraham. The ebullient adman preacher took industry watchers by surprise as he was said to have resigned voluntarily six months into his four year tenure as chief helmsman of the motorways, Lagos based agency.

Though the board accepted Abraham’s decision to pull-out the agency was silent on the forces behind the action.

Rather, the agency only went to town with the announcement of replacement in person of Mrs. Bisi Afolabi who has also been a top official of the agency. In the last seven years, LTC has been bedeviled with incessant top management challenges either through resignations, disengagements or apparent succession crises.

The agency’s succession palaver started with the forced exit of partner founder managing director, Mrs. Bola Thomas past president of Association of Advertising agencies of Nigeria (AAAN). Mrs. Bola Thomas, an advertising Amazon and a reputable copy writer per excellence was said to have been locked in board room maneuvers with his colleagues, especially pioneer managing director and co-owner Mr. Billy Lawson.

As Thomas gracefully bowed out about eight years ago, Lawson was said to have surreptitiously brought in his favourite, Mr. Mich Maduekwe, who came into the agency after he was allegedly disengaged from Guinness Nigeria Plc as marketing services manager.

The near three years sojourn of Mich Maduekwe was said not to have improved the fortunes of the agency which continued to lose accounts as well as capable hands.

Following the agency’s soft-landing approach to Maduekwe through redeployment to its experiential agency, leading to his pull out from the agency.

He was promptly replaced by Victor Edegbe, one of the pioneering team members of the agency. Edegbe, who started out as an art director ended up as a business development director.

He was said to have struggled to put life into the embattled agency but the injuries have been too deep to immediately revamp or restore. The new chieftain was there for three years during which the agency got some relief and recorded some successes. He eventually retired and handed over the baton to Pastor Charles Abraham.

Since its 27 years of existence in Nigeria, the brand, LTC JWT has groomed and produced great minds like Chief Bola Thomas- the first female President of AAAN, Mrs. Bunmi Oke now of 141 Worldwide, a leading integrated marketing communications agency, Mr. Kelechi S. Nwosu the MD of TBWA\Concept unit among several others.

Source:marketingedge