Anyika: A Familiar Road To Be Taken Again

“Great vision without great people is irrelevant” – Jim Collins

Over the last four years, the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIOTA) Nigeria has grown in leaps and bounds, especially since its Charter in 2019. The Institute has evolved with a great vision and an even greater mandate, requiring great people in positions of relevance like the image maker-Mrs. Chizoba Anyika, an excellent communicator, Maritime Transport expert and Brand strategist.

As Jim Collins puts it, “great vision without great people is irrelevant”, and Anyika represents a great personality whose two years as National Publicity Secretary has availed the Institute excellent services characterized by competence and exemplary Public Relations services.

Chizoba Anyika is currently a Deputy Director at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Vice President of the Nigerian Institute of Shipping; Secretary of Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria; the National Publicity Secretary of the CIOTA Nigeria; among others, but the recurring theme in her performance in these positions have been a penchant for excellence, diligence and astounding leadership.

Having garnered extensive experience in Branding and Marketing that span across divers areas such as Branding, Advertising, Communications, Public Relations and Digital/New Media and previously worked as Senior Public Relations Officer with the then National Maritime Authority(NMA) now NIMASA and erstwhile Public Relations Officer of WISTA Nigeria; she has amassed intrinsic and hands-on experience in brand management.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree from University of Port Harcourt, a Masters degree in Marine Policy from the Prestigious Cardiff University Wales, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D programme in Transport at University of Port Harcourt. Prof. Ibeh , the Training and Education Chair is her external supervisor.

As a result of her significant contributions in the maritime space and other leadership roles, in last two years, she has been singled out for top awards including; the African Women Impact Summit Awards in the Public Sector category; the United  Nations   Amazon  Awards  by MMS  in  commemoration  of  2020 International Women’s Day celebration (IWD) for her contribution to Women Advancement   &   Empowerment   in   the   Maritime   Sector   and   commitment   in inspiring   emerging   generation   of  young   maritime   women.

From astutely managing the public image of the Institute via robust engagements with the journalists to keep the ‘Fourth Estate of the Realm’ abreast with the developments at CIOTA in a mutually beneficial manner, to moderating in-house and public CIOTA events like the Public Policy Dialogues, Road Safety Walks, and the 2022 mid-year Induction ceremony; providing quality transport sector news updates on the Institute’s official social media platforms and website; stimulating lavish publicity of the Institute’s annual national summits and other outings; ensuring decorum on CIOTA official social channels especially amid the heated electioneering process; among others, there is no doubt that Anyika brings the intellectual nous along with diplomacy and poise required for branding at CIOTA.

She is also currently the Editor-in-Chief/ Publisher of the CIOTA Nigeria official magazine with the maiden edition primed to be launched in few weeks. At this role, she has brought to bear her robust editorial expertise she honed as erstwhile WISTA Public Relations Officer where she published the maiden edition of WISTA Nigeria magazine.

Good Public Relations connotes a process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. Essentially, public relations specialists manage an organization’s public image and on this scorecard, Anyika has done admirably in the last two years, but with her personality one can be sure that she remains driven to achieve the Institute’s defined objectives and delivering exemplary public relations services.

Anyika has been Secretary of NIMASA-Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board   (NCDMB) inter-agency collaboration on Local Content for close to a decade. She was also part of the team that developed the scope for executing capability and competency audit of the maritime   sector. Her contributions also significantly supported high-level committees’ setup in Cabotage Department for strategic implementation of the Act. She has been commended for her service in various leadership capacities and sits on the Advisory Board of Women In Maritime Awards (WIME).

She is actively involved in the activities of continental Women in  Maritime Africa (WIMA) Nigeria and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Nigeria where she serves in the membership Committee of the Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) a branch of CILT. Anyika is also a board member of Maritime Handbook, member of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) working with Nigerian chapter to progressively improve intra-Africa trade for African businesses to trade within the continent and benefit from the growing African market; an Advisory Board member, Women in Maritime and Energy Awards (WIME);  She brings a plethora of ideas with humility and inclusivity that will be advantageous to CIoTA.

With over 20 years experience in Branding and Communication in transport operations, Anyika’s career, which started in Nigerdock Nigeria Plc Snake Island, Lagos from where she moved to Embassy of Palestine PLO Lobito Crescent Abuja, has observed a consistent rise till date. She prioritizes professional development initiatives which have seen her emerge as the Head of the Mentorship sub-group of WISTA International Diversity Committee. Nevertheless, her professional pursuits extends beyond the corporate maritime landscape, as she avidly   participates in a number of gender based development initiatives such as her contribution to women through her commitment as an active member of WISTA Nigeria, a branch of WISTA   International  with technical Memorandum of Understanding with International Maritime Organization (IMO). She is a high performer who advocates for and implements programmes to  encourage and enhance women in  leadership roles in the maritime sector. Anyika also executes these roles through her foundation, Voice of Women Foundation for Peace and Unity (VoW).

Having functioned as a choice resource person in many fora, some of her contributions have inspired sectoral changes such as her plenary delivery at Nigerian Oil and  Gas   event   in   Yenagoa   2018  on building Nigerian content gained traction from policy makers as her thoughts were sought after on similar platforms. In September 2022, she was one of the panelists at the Maritime Business Luncheon organized by WISTA Nigeria in commemoration of World Maritime Day and her speech set the discourse for the event. In October 2022, she was a Panelist at Oriental Hotel to discuss innovation in the transport sector.

As CIoTA’s National Publicity Secretary for the past two years, she has worked assiduously creatively and innovatively aligning the Institute’s Branding and Communication strategy towards the attainment of the Institute’s vision and goals.

When one considers that in few years CIOTA has moved from a peripheral institute to a leading brand and an amazing place to be as a transportant, this appeal hasn’t just been a function of the charter obtained in 2019, but also fueled by rebranding of the Institute led by the amiable Chizoba Anyika. Yes! The influx of contestants for several positions at CIOTA is evidence that the brand has been strategically positioned*

While members of the Institute may have a torrid time deciding those to be responsible for other leadership roles at CIOTA as a result of the plethora of competent contestants, this conflict captured in Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” should apply for the CIoTA National Publicity Secretary as Chizoba Anyika has key deliverables in the road taken in publicity at CIOTA in the past two years.

We respectfully urge you to Re-Elect Chizoba Anyika as National Publicity Secretary.  She has scored a distinction. We will send her again.