General News
Leo Stan @ 70: Blessed and Bruised by Country, Eyes Next Disruption
One a quiet Wednesday, February 22, 1956, in Ubomiri, Mbaitoli, Imo State, the family of Chief and Lolo Ebenezer Ekeh leaped for joy at the birth of Leonard Stanley Nnamdi Ekeh- their second son.
Leonard Stanley Nnamdi Ekeh
His birth was both cosmic, and disruptive as his journey down this 70 years on earth has proven.
Leonard Stanley Nnamdi Ekeh, popularly know as Leo Stan Ekeh or LSE is human by birth but profound, rare and has higher consciousness.
Imbued with deep intuition, intense creativity, and compassionate nature, Leo Stan possesses critical thinking ability.
He has relentless drive to succeed across multiple facets of life. This is a self-made construct driven by his deep spiritual and purposeful living, rather than just mere survival.
Despite the recurring and abrupt reversal of government policies, which leave companies including his hemorrhaging, Leo Stan has remained committed and actively participate in the development and nation-building of Nigeria.
Am one of the lucky people to have known him up close and personal for nearly 30 years.
He has endured lots of back biting and campaigns of calumny from competitors and even betrayals from least expected people.
But his tenacity makes him stand firm on his beliefs regardless of feelings, or circumstances.
He has stumbled in businesses, failed in some ventures; but he always get right up. At one point, he nearly lost his head selling international commodities.
LSE takes every loss with equanimity as a dogged fighter.
A serial entrepreneur and with eyes for great minds, Leo Stan does not just walk through life; he leaves a trail of light, lifting everyone around him with kindness and wisdom. And there are testimonials.
For me, he is a pillar of strength and a beacon of hope. My benefactor.
He is also a benefactor to many. He has a way of making associates feel vital, loved, and valued.
Today is his Platinum Birthday but his roads have not always been paved with gold.
His early life was as ordinary as it can be, LSE attended Holy Ghost College, Owerri for his secondary education.
During his early years, he wanted to own the biggest transport company in Nigeria.
He later went to India for his university education, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Punjab University.
Leo Stan believes that studying in India was a great turning point in his life because he found the economy of India a realistic economy”.
He later also earned an MSc in Risk Management from the University of Nottingham.
At 70, he attained his height by trust in God, determination and CAN DO attitude.
Today, his business opinions and advisory are welcome around the world.
Leo Stan once told me “I saw myself from the beginning even when my parents were alive as an orphan. It drives me.”
He has three brothers and two sisters, His mother was a dietitian, and his father was a nurse
“I come from a lineage of people who served God dedicatedly. I am a miracle child and I remember my mother had always predicted that I would be great. I have siblings but I live my life as if I am the only child of my parents” he said
He believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world.
His solid prints in the business world is well documented. He has his hands in his hands in several businesses including ICT, e-commerce, broadcasting, oil and gas, media publishing and real estate.
Leo Stan is a man of many firsts: he pioneered a new world of digital economy at a time the country was deeply analogue both in the workplace and in schools.
The Nigerian media industry, from advertising to newspapers, owes him much gratitude for changing their operational processes and methodologies from mundane, medieval analogue to the robust and elegant digital platform.
Within 30 years, he has transformed a start-up that sprouted from a make-shift apartment that also doubled as his home into a digital conglomerate with incursions into oil and gas, entertainment and property.
Leo Stan started Zinox Technologies Limited in 2001 to manufacture computers.
He ensured that at launch Zinox Computers already had the WHQL certification, the first in sub-Saharan Africa, consolidated 5 years later with the attainment of the NIS ISO 2000: 9001 QMS Certification.
In October 2013, the company announced the production of its computer tablet line named Zipad
Task Systems, Technology Distributions Limited, Konga (Africa’s foremost truly composite e-commerce outpost combining offline-online mix in service delivery), Konga Radio, and TD Mobile, to name a few, complete the ensemble of businesses in his thriving conglomerate.
In all his companies, there is a growth pathway for every employee.
He deliberately creates a system that rewards every hardworking and dedicated employee.
From drivers sponsored to universities and returning to the conglomerate as degree holders to persons who joined the organisation as janitors working their way up the corporate ladder, he has brought his humanity to bear on people around him.
Making some lowly staff home-owners and sponsoring indigent students to universities at home and abroad comes to him as a routine.
Just a few days ago, ahead of his 70th birthday, he offered University scholarships to additional 1,000 Nigerian indigent wizkids to study Computer Science in Federal Universities. He is committing about N10 billion to the scholarship scheme.
This is so the country’s private and public sectors have a new generation of tech wizkids to support the economy’s growth.
Recall that his group has trained and retrained over 3000 Nigerians and donated tech centres to over 25 institutions nationwide just to mention a few.
The former alter boy and chorister in his local community Catholic Church at Ubomiri, now a multi-billionaire, has stayed humble.
He draws a distinct line between capitalism and welfarism.
Leo Stan is great man, a leader with unparalleled integrity and a heart of gold.
He has earned over 6o international and local awards over many years of incisive entrepreneurship, was equally singled out and honoured by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the occasion of Nigeria’s Independence Anniversary on October 1, 2001 with an ICON OF HOPE award as a pride to modern Nigeria and as a model for Nigerian youths.
Again, President Obasanjo honoured him with another national award – the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) in 2003.
A Fellow of the Nigeria Computer Society, the umbrella body of all computer associations in Nigeria, he was also awarded the pioneer ICT Personality of the Year by this professional body.
In November 2019, Ekeh was honoured by President Muhammadu Buhari with the National Productivity Order of Merit award for his sustained leadership in the area of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
With over four Doctorate Degrees (Honorary) and fifteen fellowships from recognized institutions and as a former global advisor to Microsoft, as well as Forbes Best of Africa Leading Tech Icon Award his outstanding entrepreneurship.
Leo Stan is Ochiririozuo Ubomiri, Ebekuo Dike, Ideato and Iyi of Mbaitoli
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is reportedly nearing completion of a $2.5 billion private placement that values the company at about $40 billion ahead of its planned public listing.
Private placement is the direct sale of company shares or bonds to pre-selected investors instead of the general public and it is used to raise money quickly while avoiding strict public reporting rules.
People familiar with the transaction said investors acquired as much as 6 per cent of the refinery, according to a BusinessDay report.
The reported terms would value the business at approximately $40 billion.
Neither Dangote Group nor the refinery has publicly announced the final amount raised, the identities of most subscribers or the precise percentage sold.
The figures should therefore be treated as transaction details supplied by unnamed sources rather than confirmed company disclosures.
The reported $2.5 billion total is nevertheless significant as it indicates strong demand for exposure to a privately controlled refinery that has rapidly become central to Nigeria’s fuel supply and an increasingly important exporter of petroleum products.
The placement was said to have attracted more demand than the available shares, allowing the company to secure substantially more than the amount initially associated with the fundraising exercise.
Femi Otedola, chairman, First HoldCo, is the only major participant publicly identified in the report.
He reportedly committed $100 million to the transaction and sold his investment in Geregu Power Plc to finance the acquisition.
Nigeria’s pension industry was also reportedly cleared to participate.
Access to more than $17 billion in retirement assets would broaden the refinery’s potential investor base beyond wealthy individuals and conventional institutional buyers.
Participation by Pension Fund Administrators would, however, require careful attention to valuation, liquidity and portfolio-concentration limits.
Retirement funds must balance the attraction of a large Nigerian industrial asset against their responsibility to protect contributors’ savings.
The implied $40 billion valuation represents investor expectations about the refinery’s future earnings rather than only the physical cost of constructing the facility.
Its ability to process 650,000 barrels of crude daily gives it a central role in supplying Nigeria and other markets, but its commercial performance remains connected to crude availability, product prices, exchange rates and regulation.
The refinery has struggled to obtain all the Nigerian crude it requires under the government’s naira-for-crude arrangement.
It has consequently purchased some feedstock internationally and recently moved local petroleum-product pricing into dollars to align sales revenue more closely with its foreign-currency expenses.
Those constraints will be important during any public offering.
Prospective shareholders will want greater clarity on crude-supply contracts, debt, operating margins, export revenue and the company’s relationship with Nigerian regulators.
It is also unclear whether the private placement involved newly issued shares, a sale by existing owners or a combination of both.
That distinction determines whether the reported $2.5 billion becomes fresh capital for the refinery or proceeds received by selling shareholders.
The transaction could provide a useful price reference for the planned initial public offering.
Federal government will next month launch Nigeria’s first national organized crime strategy to strengthen the country’s response to terrorism, cybercrime, human and drug trafficking, kidnapping, illicit financial flows, and other forms of organized crime.
Major General Adamu Laka, national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser, disclosed this in Abuja during the validation of the strategy document.
He said the strategy provides a coordinated national framework for tackling organized crime through improved intelligence sharing, stronger collaboration among security agencies, and closer cooperation with the criminal justice system, civil society organizations, and international partners.
Major General Laka explained that the document was developed through a partnership involving the Federal Government, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United States Government, and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, Cheikh Toure, UNODC representative, said the strategy would strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to combat transnational crimes, including drug trafficking, cybercrime, human trafficking, kidnapping, and illicit financial flows.
Also speaking, Douglas Grane, acting director of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, reaffirmed the U.S. government’s support for Nigeria’s efforts to tackle organized crime through stronger inter-agency and international cooperation.
Representatives of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, and the National Cyber Security Centre also endorsed the initiative, describing it as a major step towards improving Nigeria’s fight against organized crime.
FATE Foundation, with funding from the Citi Foundation, has launched the Youth Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme to equip young people in Nigeria with financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills.
Delivered through free, safe, and accessible platforms, the programme supports the incubation and scaling of youth-led enterprises, enabling income generation and job creation.
In October 2025, FATE Foundation was selected as a recipient of Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge to Accelerate Youth Employability. Joining the cohort of 50 organisations globally, the Foundation will receive $500,000 over two years to advance its youth employability initiative.
“We are excited to be selected for Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge,” said Ayomide Akindolie-Igwe, Executive Director of FATE Foundation.
“This support enables us to equip young entrepreneurs in Nigeria with the financial literacy and skills needed to build and scale sustainable businesses.”
The programme addresses youth employability by tackling Africa’s growing jobs crisis. By 2030, the African continent will be home to 40% of the world’s youth, and with one in three under 35 already unemployed, this initiative will support Nigerian youth with a two-phase approach. It begins with financial literacy training before progressing to entrepreneurship development, incubation support, and access to tools needed to build viable, job-creating businesses.
“Through this innovative initiative, FATE Foundation is supporting low-income Nigerian youth to develop essential financial and entrepreneurial skills using accessible platforms.
“This support is not just helping individuals to succeed; it is building a solid foundation for sustainable enterprises that will drive job creation and contribute significantly to our nation’s economic vitality. This initiative is empowering and investing in the future of Nigeria, one youth at a time,” said Nneka Enwereji, MD/CEO Citibank Nigeria Limited.
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