General News
MTN’s PR Manager Dr. Goodluck Named ‘Changemaker’ In 2025 PR Power List
The 2025 PR Power List ceremony brought together Nigeria’s communications industry leaders to recognise professionals driving innovation and excellence in public relations practice. Organised by GLG Communications in partnership with the Guardian Newspapers, the annual event highlights practitioners whose work has significantly impacted the industry and shaped contemporary communication strategies across various sectors.
L-R: Segun McMedal, Lead Partner at Upticomm Marketing Company, and Former Chairman of the Lagos NIPR; Jimmie Akinsola, TV host and Actor, and Founder, Lagos Athletics; Dr. Olubukola George-Taylor, Managing Director, Robert Taylor Media; and Dr. Lakinbofa Goodluck, Public Relations Manager, MTN Nigeria, during the Lagos World PR Day Soiree and Power List Presentation where Dr. Goodluck was recognised as one of Nigeria’s top PR Changemakers, held at the Alliance Française, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Dr. Lakinbofa Goodluck, MTN Nigeria’s Public Relations Manager, was one of the 19 recipients of the ‘Changemaker’ category, a select group of Nigerian professionals whose innovative approaches are reshaping how organisations engage with their audiences in an increasingly complex media environment.
The category featured notable industry leaders, including Ike Neliaku, President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Mabel Adeteye, who heads Corporate Communications at Wema Bank, and Diran Olojo, the Group Head of Corporate Affairs at FCMB Group, along with other respected practitioners. This recognition reflects the calibre of professionals driving strategic communication excellence across Nigeria’s corporate and institutional sectors.
Speaking during the event’s panel session, Dr. Goodluck addressed the delicate balance between authenticity and appropriateness in corporate communication. “Typically, authenticity has layers, but the easiest one to see may be how you appear. A man can wear boxers at home; it’s acceptable. But imagine that someone comes in through this door wearing boxers. What happens? Everybody is looking like, ‘Are you alright?’ The society is already punishing him for going against the expected standard of behaviour,” he explained. He advised professionals to “express your authenticity, you first need to understand the context and the acceptable standard of behaviour, so that your authenticity is not dead before it is even expressed.”
“Public relations is often a thankless job, with the brilliant minds doing the magic for brands and corporations usually operating behind the scenes,” explained Omawumi Ogbe, Organiser of the PR Power List. “Yet, we know that PR is absolutely crucial for success. We created this list and these events precisely to celebrate the dedicated professionals who make brands, both individual and corporate, truly shine.”
The recognition comes as Nigeria’s PR industry experiences significant transformation. NIPR President Ike Neliaku announced the establishment of the Nigeria Reputation Management Group to safeguard and project the country’s image globally, while industry leaders prepare for hosting the World Public Relations Forum and African PR Conference in 2026. Dr. Goodluck’s changemaker status positions him as a key voice in this evolution, advocating for data-driven, audience-centric communication strategies that reflect how modern Nigerians actually consume media rather than traditional assumptions about audience behaviour.
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.
Dangote Refinery’s Private Placement Reportedly Hits $2.5Bn
FG, UNODC Plan National Strategy against Organized Crime
EFCC Busts NIS Visa Overstay Racket, Uncovers N700m in an Account
CBN to Monitor Every Dollar with FXBT, Forex Tracker
NCC, NDLEA Partner to Fight Piracy and Drug Trafficking
NRC, Ponzi Scheme Collapses Resulting Loss of Billions of Naira
NASENI Moves to Digitize CCB’s 5m Assets Declaration and Operations
Lebara Nigeria Launches Lebara Play, Africa’s First Telecom-Owned Micro-Drama Platform
CANAL+ Partners Samsung to Pre-Load DStv Stream on New Samsung TVs In Nigeria, Other African Countries
Tokenization, Blockchain Technology will Transform Financial Institutions – IMF
Telecom2 days agoHelios Towers Secures $29m Facility to Expand Across Africa
News2 days agoValueJet Expands Fleet with Boeing Aircraft, Targets Wider African Network
Telecom2 days agoNCC Begins Stakeholder Consultation on MVNO Business Rules
E-Financial2 days agoFirst Securities Brokers Empowers Nigerians to Trade in the Stock Market with the Launch of FirstInvest App
Telecom2 days agoSurge in Fibre Cuts Hobbles Service Provisioning
E-Business2 days agoJumia Seeks for Payment Harmonisation, Stronger Policies to Boost Africa’s Digital Trade
Broadcasting2 days agoNBC Scraps Annual Digital Access Fee on DSO
News2 days agoCourt Orders Final Forfeiture of 48 Properties Linked to Former AGF Abubakar Malami