Nigeria’s pioneer and largest brewing firm, Nigerian Breweries, in its 76 years of existence has continued to blaze the trail, going beyond the frontiers of brewing to connect with the daily lives of Nigerians on a deeper level.
The company which was incorporated in 1946 has breweries in Lagos (1949), Aba (1957), Kaduna (1963), Ibadan (1982), Enugu (1993), and Ama Brewery (2003) – which is currently the biggest and most modern brewery in Nigeria. Following the merger of Nigerian Breweries Plc and Consolidated Breweries in December 2014, Nigerian breweries began operations in three additional breweries in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, Awo-Omamma in Imo State and Makurdi in Benue State.
Today, from a brewing journey that began in 1946, the Company has grown to own 9 breweries, 2 malting plants and 26 sales depots from which products are distributed to all parts of Nigeria. The Company’s brands include Star lager beer; Gulder lager beer; Maltina; Legend Extra Stout; Desperados, Amstel Malta; Heineken lager beer; Fayrouz; Climax; Goldberg lager; Malta Gold; Ace Passion; Star Lite; Star Radler and Life Continental Lager.
Over time, Nigerian Breweries has been recognized with awards such as The NSE President’s Merit Award in the Brewery Sector, The NSE Quoted Company of the Year Award and The NSE CEO’s Distinguished Award for Compliance. In 2015, the company returned to win The NSE CEO’s Award as the “2015 Most Compliant Listed Firm” on The Nigerian Stock Exchange. Nigerian Breweries Plc has also received many other awards and recognitions in other areas of its operations including product quality, marketing excellence, productivity and innovation, health and safety, corporate social responsibility and sustainability.
Beyond brewing and the numerous accolades received for excellence in delivery, Nigerian Breweries has shown exceptional commitment towards inspiring a better future for Nigeria, ensuring that it carries out campaigns hinged on its core values which include Passion for Customers & Consumers, Courage to Dream & Pioneer, Care for People & Planet and Enjoyment of Life.
The company has shown itself to be truly Nigerian as exemplified in its campaigns.
LIFE CONTINENTAL LAGER BEER: NIGERIAN BREWERIES’ BEER OF PROGRESS & ACHIEVEMENT
For Life Continental Lager Beer – one of Nigerian Breweries brands – which has taken over the airwaves in recent times with the ‘Turu Ugo Lota’ (Bring Home the Glory) campaign, it cannot get any more inspiring, any more trailblazing and any more Nigerian, with focus on Eastern Nigeria. Life Beer is a pioneer in the Nigerian regional brewing industry, leading for decades to efficiently promote Igbo highlife music, life style and progressive cultural values.
The brand also stretches its warm hands across areas to meet friends and families of Igbos who live outside of Eastern Nigeria while cementing its identity as proudly “Eastern.” It continues to spread its impactful messages of hope and resilience, solidified with its ground-breaking illumination project of the popular Niger Bridge which was commissioned in 2020, and the ‘Turu Ugo Lota’ commercial campaign.
Commenting on the projects, Nigerian Breweries Sales Director, Uche Unigwe under whose directorship and visible business acumen the Niger bridge illumination project and the notable ‘Turu Ugo Lota’ campaign took place, described it as glorious times for people of Eastern Nigeria.
‘‘This is an accomplishment with which we are pleased and glad to be connected. I was present during the bridge’s commissioning, and what struck me the most was that this is a bridge that unites East and West. When you look at it closely, this isn’t just a bridge that connects Anambra and Delta State; it’s also a bridge that embodies unity”.
He further explained that the project was particularly in line with strong messages of inspiration and hope thus: “It is instructive that we carried out this project in the heat of Covid-19 when there was a wave of depression. This also sent a clear signal to the people that all hope is not lost and that wherever there is light, there is life.”
BRINGING HOME THE GLORY
Life Continental Lager launched the proudly Nigerian commercial campaign ‘Turu Ugo Lota’ in 2021, featuring popular father and son duo Pete and Yul Edochie of Igbo extract, as well as iconic locations in the East such as the Niger Bridge, to emphasize the glorious reward of aspirations and hard work.
Turu Ugo Lota itself is an Igbo adage that loosely translates in English to mean “Bring Home the Glory”. The legendary saying encapsulates the Igbos’ arduous objectives; their illustrious spirit and sheer fortitude to overcome all odds in achieving growth and prosperity, both individually and collectively.
Unigwe, in his deeply insightful chat, enlightened that this Nigerian Breweries campaign driven by Life Beer is about bringing knowledge, experience and skills of the Igbos to the fore.
For Unigwe, ‘At this point that the nation is facing diverse challenges, we need the requisite skill, knowledge and experience to mitigate the impact of these challenges. What this means is that in whichever way or form we have experience and skills, we need to deploy them to engage the challenges of Covid-19, insecurity and economic depression. We will need to deploy our expertise. It can be physical or virtual deployment. This can also be how to educate people to stay safe during this Covid-19 impasse. These actionable ideas are also forms of ‘Turu Ugo Lota’. It is always about showing value and impacting positively in our little sphere of influence.’
In his keynote address at the unveiling of the TV commercial in September 2021, he had explained that Life Continental Beer is Progressive hence the brand took the creativity and engagement a notch higher by crafting the awe-inspiring campaign. In addition to the commercial, the brand converged great minds including Nollywood Chieftain, Pete Edochie; MD Anambra Broadcasting Service, Uche Nworah; lawyer, Oby Ohakim and Popular creative Vlogger, Dinma Umeh all of Igbo extract who came together to discuss the limitless opportunities within Eastern Nigeria as a region in a social-cultural discourse titled —Bringing Home the Glory: A Toast to Progress and Success.”
The revered veteran actor, Pete Edochie, during the unveiling chimed in to say, “I am delighted to be a part of this era-defining celebration of the East by Life Beer. No matter who we are and how far from home we travel in our respective quest to attain success, the greatest reward can be found in coming back home to celebrate your wins and pave the way for others to also achieve progress and success.”
Following this campaign, the message has been deeply inspiring, encouraging and most importantly, impactful enough to make people of Eastern Nigerian descent feel seen and appreciated. One can make bold to say that indeed the essence of Bringing Home the Glory is evident seeing as Nigerian Breweries took the lead with its innovative step of initiating this campaign in the first place.
THE GLORY IS HOME
The glory is home now, thanks to Nigerian Breweries Life Continental Lager Beer!
‘Within the East and wherever the Igbo man resides today, TuruUgoLota has been a slogan. It has become the trending language among Igbo people. When they congregate in the bars or occasions, they no longer say ‘Give me Life Beer’ anymore, they say give me ‘Progress’. This is because Life Beer is now synonymous with progress. The impact of a campaign can best be measured by the communal connection among people. This campaign has now become a way of life and philosophical relevance among the Igbo people. In the hearts and minds of every Igbo person, they are aware that there is value in going out there to hustle, conquer and come back home to celebrate. They now take it a step further to deploy their resources to improve the lives of their immediate community and kinsmen.’ – Uche Unigwe, Sales Director, Nigerian Breweries Limited.
SUSTAINING & SHARING THE GLORY
Unigwe admonishes Nigerians especially the youths who are ambitious on how to sustain the glory for their future. In his words, the Sales Director, said that success is not only attributed to money but is about achievement and self-discovery, emphasizing that every youth must set goals and targets for themselves at every point of their lives. He advised that they must also learn to celebrate every milestone and explore how to impact the lives of others within the same community.
For the youths, it is important to know that making progress is all-encompassing and Life Beer associates with everybody who is imbibing the never-say-die spirit of progress and excellence’, he concluded.
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