In a demonstration to the growing global influence of Nigeria’s creative industry, Ntia Usukuma and Jeremiah Agada, the Editor and Deputy Editor respectively of Brand Communicator Magazine, have been selected as jurors for the prestigious Epica Awards 2023.
Epica Awards, renowned for celebrating excellence in creativity and communication, will see the duo representing Nigeria at this year’s edition.
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Usukuma and Agada join a distinguished panel of jurors that includes prominent journalists and senior editors from internationally acclaimed publications like Adweek, Campaign, and Creative Review, among others. These top-tier trade press titles, both specialized and mainstream, converge to evaluate and adjudicate creative works from diverse markets across the globe.
The announcement of their inclusion as jurors was made via a LinkedIn post by Epica, where it revealed, “Epica Awards is an international stage, and among the magazines proudly representing Nigeria is Brand Communicator. Editors Agada Jeremiah and Usukuma Ntia will be joining the jury this year!”
Nicolas Huvé, Chief Operating Officer of the Epica Awards, shared his thoughts on this significant appointment, acknowledging Nigeria’s substantial contributions to the creative landscape: “Nigeria, as one of the most prolific African nations in terms of creative output, our jury wouldn’t be complete without publications such as Brand Communicator to provide their unique perspective on our international entries.
Huvé emphasized the importance of impartial judgment in evaluating the wide spectrum of creativity: “Whether it’s press or outdoor advertisements, films, PR campaigns, or cutting-edge innovations in fields like Artificial Intelligence, the world’s leading communication agencies, design studios, and production houses require objective evaluation to identify and celebrate exceptional creativity.”
In the last 23 years, Ntia, has edited four leading brand-focused magazines in Nigeria’s media history- Brand Communicator – where he is currently the editor, Brandfaces, Mileage, and BrandiQ. He also handled the Brand Intelligence segment of Sat. Guardian for 3 years and served as an Editorial Board Member of Newstar Newspapers. He equally served as the Managing Editor of The Journal, a popular online platform.
In his journalism career, Ntia has won many glamorous Awards including the Golden Pen Award for Best Journalist in 2012, the 2015 ADVAN Brand Journalist of the Year Award, and the 2023 Nestle Nigeria Media Awards (NNMA) where he won Gold. Ntia holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts (1991) from the University of Uyo.
With over a decade’s experience covering the IMC industry, Agada has received various recognitions and awards. He was named the PR Journalist of the Year in 2022 at the LaPRIGA event organized by the flagship Lagos NIPR chapter. He also received the Brand Journalist of the Year award at the 2021 ADVAN Marketing Excellence Awards and has been honoured at the Nestle Nigeria Media Merit Awards. Additionally, his contributions earned him a nomination for the CSR Reporter of the Year at the Sustainability, Enterprise, and Responsibility Awards (SERAS) as far back as 2016.
Jeremiah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, which laid the foundation for his career. He has worked at Vanguard newspapers as a correspondent covering politics and education and at MarketingEdge as an editorial researcher and writer. He has also undertaken various professional courses and training programmes at reputable institutions like the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-Atlantic University among others.
Established in 1987, Epica Awards is unique as it is the only creative prize judged by the press. Today the jury brings together more than 200 chief editors and senior reporters from trade, specialist and mainstream titles in over 60 countries. The awards are open to agencies, design studios, production houses, advertisers, digital marketers – in fact, talents from every corner of the communications business.
Over the years, works that have won its first award at Epica have gone on to reap prizes at other creative awards throughout the season, confirming that the Epica Awards is a barometer of industry trends.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
