General News
Zain Nigeria Appoints new Officers
Mobile telecommunications operator, Zain Nigeria has announced key appointments in the company’s commercial, operations and human resources directorate as part of its effort to strategically diversify and strengthen its leadership for a crucial challenge for the top spot of the telecom market.
The newly appointed officials are Khaled Khorshid, Shamel Mohamed Hanafi and Jubril Saba. Khorshid will take charge of the Operations Group, formerly headed by Lars Stork, while Hanafi and Saba will have responsibility for the Commercial Group and Human Resources Directorate respectively. Hanafi and Saba take over the responsibilities previously handled by Norman Moyo, a Zimbabwean and Roy Masamba, another Zimbabwean, both of whom have taken up new appointments in Zain Group Headquarters in Bahrain.
According to Bayo Ligali the chief executive officer of Zain Nigeria, the appointments are strategic to the implementation of Zain Group’s Drive 2011 initiative, which is aimed at realizing the objective of becoming one of the top 10 global telecommunications companies.
“I have no doubt that the newly appointed executives have the right kind of experience and competence to lead the company in the great task of building a world class network which is capable of delivering the highest possible quality of service to our customers”.
Speaking specifically of Jubril Saba, Ligali declared that “this is another demonstration of Zain’s commitment to promoting from within young Nigerians with the right leadership capabilities and a demonstrable track record of excellent performance identified through the company’s Talent Management and Leadership Development processes”.
Khorshid, the new chief operating officer brings to Zain Nigeria 18 years experience in Information Technology and Telecom fields. He started his career in North America with leading consulting firms EDS and Accenture in systems integration and management consulting. For 10 years, he participated and managed large consulting projects for Fortune 100 companies including giant telecom operators like AT&T, Cable & Wireless, and SBC Communications.
Khorshid joined Zain Nigeria in January 2009 as the head of operation with direct responsibilities for Network, Information Technology, Customer Service, and Project Management Office. He is also an additional responsibility of leading the transformation of the company’s culture, aligning it with Zain brand values: Heart, Radiance and Belonging.
Shamel Mohammed Hanafi, the chief commercial officer is an experienced telecom executive with specialization in commercial and operational management. He has over 15 years of professional experience split between customer-centric hospitality industry and the fast paced, competitive telecommunications industry.
Prior to joining Zain Nigeria, Hanafi was the chief commercial officer of Zain Iraq, where he was responsible for stringent management of distributors to attain quarterly and year-end sales targets, restructuring and integration of distribution channels of operations, re-engineering of an integrated commission scheme and re-branding of IraQna to Zain Iraq.
He was also responsible for managing and overseeing all aspects of sales, marketing, communications, customer services, business development, quality control and logistics within his professional domain.
A consistent strong performer, Hanafi was a member of the Zain team that overcame several challenges in establishing and operating the GSM licence in Iraq, a war ridden environment. As one of the first expatriates in Iraq, he ensured that the Zain group objective of creating a team that would succeed and move the business forward in the unstable environment was achieved.
Aside Zain Iraq, Hanafi has played key roles in other leading telecommunications organisations. Between October 2004 and November, 2007, he was the Vice President/Chief Commercial Officer of Orascom Telecom in Iraq. In this role in Orascom, he was a key driver behind the strategic commercial roadmap of the business just as he was primarily responsible for delivering all commercial Key Performance Indicators within the operation.
He also held the position of Director of Sales, Orascom Telecoms from October 2003 to October, 2004. Prior to which he was Commercial Development and Support Director in Orascom, Tunisia (OTT) – Tunisiana. In this role he had the responsibility of establishing all commercial reporting, analysis, training, logistics, merchandising, remuneration and commissioning system for both distributors and OTT’s direct sales force. He was also responsible for establishing the structure to manage the entire sales logistics, in addition to developing corporate sales with a direct sales team.
Hanafi’s exploits in the telecommunications domain began in March, 2000 when the Egyptian Company for Mobile Service (ECMS) –MobiNil (Orange/France Telecom & Orascom Venture) appointed him as Regional Sales Manager. He had the responsibility of defining the branding policy, Customers Centres & merchandizing material needs layout, introducing budget-Tracking tool of the National Sales Department, driving targets for 90 customer centres throughout Egypt with total head count of 600 persons in the National Sales Department and creating strategic and business plan for Mobinil Customer Centres.
Abdullahi Jubril Saba, the new human resources director, brings to the job varied experience in Customer Care Management and Training & Development.
A graduate of Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Saba joined Zain Nigeria as Customer Care Representative and later rose to the position of Training & Development Manager before he was transferred to the Human Resource Group where he was given the responsibility of leading the Learning & Talent Management Division. He was later assigned to the Technical Group as Human Resource Manager, a position he held until his recent appointment.
He is currently pursuing an MBA in Business Administration at the Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, United Kingdom. He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and a certified Global Professional (Human Resources).
Chinonso Akujobi, former staff of Access Bank in Lagos, has been remanded in Ikoyi prison after she was arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on stealing to the tune of N294.5m.
Akujobi who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was arraigned before Justice I.O. Ijelu of the State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.
EFCC alleged that Akujobi stole the money between January and December 2025 while under the employment of Access Bank Plc.
As stated in one the charges, the defendant stole the money through unauthorized payments from the general ledger of Access Bank to her account number 0036668871 with the name Chinonso A., Uchechi A. and Florence A., thereby committing an offence of stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The defendant pleaded “not guilty“ to the charges when they were read to her.
In view of this, S.M.Yabo, prosecution counsel, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed for the remand of the defendant in a Correctional centre.
Justice Ijelu, thereafter, adjourned the case till October 8, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application and the commencement of trial.
The Judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in the Ikoyi correctional Centre.
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) says the flight captain of the VMO Aero aircraft that landed on a roadway near Asaba Airport in Delta State told investigators that the observer pilot mistakenly identified the paved road as the runway before touchdown.
The bureau disclosed this in a preliminary report released on Thursday on the June 10 incident, which prompted the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ground the private jet.
The aircraft had seven people on board, including the pilot-in-command (PIC), second-in-command (SIC), an observer pilot, a cabin crew member and three passengers.
According to the report, the aircraft was cleared by Air Traffic Control (ATC) to approach Runway 11 at Asaba Airport after the crew requested a right orbit.
The crew initially discontinued the approach, executed a missed approach and repositioned for a second landing attempt.
NSIB said the crew reported that the aircraft’s navigation systems indicated it was correctly established on the published RNAV Runway 11 approach.
“The PIC and SIC reported that the observer pilot identified the paved surface ahead as the runway,” the report stated.
However, the observer pilot gave investigators a different version of events.
According to NSIB, he said the aircraft remained inside cloud until late in the approach and that the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) repeatedly issued “TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP” alerts.
He also said he observed a telecommunications mast directly ahead and instructed the flight captain to abandon the approach and climb immediately.
The bureau further disclosed that a cabin crew member reported that one of the passengers became concerned after overhearing discussions among the pilots and asked whether one of them was undergoing training. The passenger was reportedly reassured that all three pilots on board were experienced captains.
NSIB said no abnormal events were reported in the cabin before touchdown.
The aircraft eventually landed at about 8:57 a.m. on an under-construction paved roadway near Asaba Airport instead of the designated runway.
The bureau said its investigation into the incident is ongoing, while the preliminary report highlights conflicting accounts among the cockpit crew over the circumstances that led to the erroneous landing.
European Union has warned Meta Platforms Inc. that it could face a significant financial penalty unless it changes what regulators describe as the “addictive design” features of Facebook and Instagram.
The European Commission issued the warning in preliminary findings released on Friday, saying Meta had failed to sufficiently address risks posed by its platforms, particularly to children and vulnerable users.
The Commission said features such as infinite scrolling, personalised content recommendations and automatic video playback were designed in ways that encouraged excessive engagement with the platforms.
EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, said protecting the physical and mental well-being of European citizens should be a priority for social media companies.
The Commission said Meta should consider introducing design changes, including disabling autoplay and infinite scrolling by default, providing effective screen-time reminders and adjusting recommendation systems to reduce the focus on maximising user engagement.
The findings were issued under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which sets obligations for major online platforms to address risks associated with their services.
Meta, however, rejected the Commission’s conclusions, saying it disagreed with the findings but would continue engaging with European regulators.
The company said it had already implemented measures aimed at protecting younger users, including Teen Accounts that allow parents to manage screen time limits and restrict access during night hours.
The EU said its investigation, which began in 2024, found that existing time-management tools on Facebook and Instagram could easily be bypassed, while parental controls required technical knowledge that limited their effectiveness.
Regulators also expressed concerns over children’s nighttime use of the platforms and the possibility that features such as Reels and Stories could encourage compulsive behaviour.
If the Commission’s preliminary findings are confirmed, Meta could face a fine of up to six per cent of its annual global revenue under the DSA.
The warning comes as the EU steps up efforts to strengthen online safety measures for children, with an expert panel established by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expected to present recommendations on protecting minors online.
Several EU member states, including France, have also supported discussions on restricting social media access for children, following Australia’s decision to ban users under 16 from accessing social media platforms.
Meanwhile, the Commission is continuing a separate investigation into whether Meta’s recommendation algorithms create “rabbit hole” effects by directing users towards increasingly extreme content.
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