When Jide Odusina became head of communications at Londond Borough
of Waltham Forest, he gave himself five years to knock the department’s
reputation into shape. A year ahead of schedule, he says his mission is
accomplished and it is time to move on - in January he heads off for a
fresh set of challenges at the London Borough of Ealing.
In his new job, he will head a team of 11, responsible for external and
internal communications, and the council’s web site. The two areas have
a very different flavour - Ealing is not as far down the social
deprivation scale as Waltham Forest, which scores 22 on a national index
of 354 English councils. It has a busy film studio industry, and some
affluent neighbourhoods.
’Whereas in East London you’re dealing with poverty and a lot of
regeneration issues, Ealing has a nice social mix and there will be more
about quality of life issues,’ says Odusina. There are problems too -
its social services department was severely criticised this June by
former health minister Paul Boateng for failing children in its
care.
In conversation Odusina appears a fairly laid back character, but at
heart he is a man of great conviction. Growing up in London’s Ladbroke
Grove, he was set on being a scientist until one day in 1976, when the
annual Notting Hill Carnival ended in riots. Through his involvement in
a local black community group, 16-year-old Odusina somehow found himself
on national television acting as a spokesperson for black youths. ’When
you grow up as a black youth in London, you have no real voice, and I
suddenly realised that by working with the media, I could give a voice
to others in my community,’ he says.
As a student, Odusina was committed to promoting equal opportunities,
and did voluntary work for a number of organisations which eventually
led him into public sector PR. At Waltham Forest, his main concern has
been to communicate to residents what the council is trying to achieve:
’If people understand, they can make an informed choice on issues, and
that helps democracy work.’
To the extent that he has succeeded in this endeavour, he has paved the
way for the Government’s anticipated ’best value’ legislation, which
would drive councils to provide a more effective raft of services by
finding out what the local community actively wants.
Sensing that local government PR in the 1990s has lacked a degree of
self-confidence, Odusina has taken every opportunity to boost his own
team’s morale. Thanks to him, Waltham Forest now has a bespoke IT system
to help with day-to-day inquiries, and he is a great believer in staff
development. Odusina’s superiors have tended to give him a loose
rein.
’My career has definitely been helped by people who have given me the
chance to take risks,’ he says.
Those who know him say he has a knack for drawing out people’s
strengths.
Friend and former colleague Christine Johnson, media and communications
manager at the Local Government Management Board, says, ’He is someone
you can trust, who wants you to develop personally as well as in your
career.’
Odusina clearly thrives on the daily grind of local government. ’The
scope for unhelpful news stories is huge - people will pick up anything
from a report, give it any kind of twist and then give it to the press,’
he says.
Odusina grew up in London, part of an extended family with parents from
petit aristocratic Nigerian stock who were strongly nationalistic. He
attributes his evident taste for the push and shove of public sector PR
to what he calls the endless ’family shenanigans’ over land and money
that characterised his early life. Now settled with a wife and three
young children, he spends his spare time researching African culture,
and plans to write a book on his family history. Workwise, his mind is
firmly set on Ealing. ’I want to involve the people in the changes that
are taking place in local politics - we’re moving into a very exciting
time.’
HIGHLIGHTS
1989
Press and PR officer, The London Borough Grants Committee
1992
Senior publicity and information officer, The London Housing Unit
1994
Communications head, Waltham Forest Council
1998
Communications head, Ealing Council
