General News
The Pivotal Role Of An Executive Assistant Especially During A Global Pandemic
By Precious Emechebe, Executive Assistant to John Ugbe, Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice Nigeria,
There is this saying that “behind every great CEO is an exceptional and committed Executive Assistant”. The Executive Assistant job has recently become a lot more complicated because asides the novel experience of working from home fully and potentially alongside family demands, you are also working your hardest to go above and beyond to provide some sense of certainty and regularity for the Executive, which of course is one of the core functions.
But truly, this is the time for EAs to shine. Why? The Executives will need all the support they can get in this time of uncertainty. And there is perhaps no one more qualified to give this support than the EA. Proactivity and empathy are very crucial both to provide the best support possible and to show how valuable you are to the team regardless of non-physical availability.
Adapting to the new order implies retaining the star that you are. You are pliable enough to fit in into the new ways of doing things; Putting in conscious effort to wow the Boss and other executives through courageous help and ambitious progress; Focusing on what matters and what works. You must respond to that task speedily and timely with zero or very minimal excuses. You must be a fixer.
You must set up your workstation and ensure little or no network interruptions. This implies that you must work with the best internet provider as being irresponsive may be tagged as inefficiency. EA’s must present a professional and credible image on behalf of the bosses. They are the filters that allow the executives to remain focused on priorities even in these peculiar times where physical meeting requests are minimally advised. You must work side-by-side with the executive to absorb his or her knowledge and learn how the business functions as the pandemic elongates.
Exceptional EAs are high-performing, excellent professionals who must have basic knowledge of the business such that they can operate as a seamless extension of the executive. The EAs understand that for their executive to be effective, they must take over the functions that are not a good use of the executive’s core or basic focal point. EAs never doubt what their executives want or do not want because the executive communicates to them their objectives and vision. Consequently, EAs speak on the executives behalf with confidence and authority. They also keep them protected from non-essentials or calamities.
During this pandemic, EA’s must take charge and accept responsibilities even more than they used to. They must get clarifications to ensure they are working within scope. All gaps must be closed without prompts. You must forestall, anticipate, look ahead, avert crisis, resolve issues and be a problem solver. Be resourceful, using good instincts and constantly looking for ways to improve and ease the Boss.
Self-Development in relevant professional areas is also one of the very keyways to adapt in this critical time. Online courses that would widen your horizon is a good way to go.
Exercise helps hugely. You do not want to look totally out of shape when you eventually resume physically at work. if you’re not into anything high intensity then yoga is awesome, dance exercise is fantastic, same as taking walks. Loads of videos are online to guide you. Remember you are now doing this in the comfort of your home.
Have you considered exploring that project you’ve been set to work on, go beyond just completing your responsibilities – research possibilities, explore beyond the job on hand? You have more time, so use it to fall in love with what you do and other things you are passionate about because when you do, staying inspired is easy.
Remain proactive, not reactive. Find other ways to bring value – be the eye of the boss even at the tiniest feedback that would make a meaning to the business. Become more than an EA. Keep your ears wide open for advice that would matter.
Indeed, walking over to the boss’s office or the fact that you do not see yourselves daily as the case may be, may seem like your relationship with your boss is slipping away, so you need a new way to maintain that. Keep at it daily. Set up catch up online meetings where you can run through your plans and progress. It keeps you on track while making sure your interactions are still valid.
When the day hits you hard, it is so easy to just move to the sofa, switch on the TV and stare blankly at your screen waiting for the hours to tick by. Knowing how to overcome these days can be tough: There aren’t colleagues celebrating birthdays, or clients and customers interface that could take your mind away or motivate you, so you’ve got to do it for yourself. Take a break, play some music, play with the kids, get your brain moving again and then when you come back to your workstation, throw yourself into the most intense piece of that task and deliver.
In all seriousness, the flexibility of working from home is incredible, however, it can be hard to turn off your laptop or phone sometimes when you are working from home because you really do not want slip-aways. Ensure work is not still heavy during this time otherwise it would become difficult to separate life and work when they are unified.
Keep staying safe, think big and self-motivate.
Anonymous Nigeria, hacktivism, known for launching coordinated cyberattacks and protests in support of socio-political movements, has threatened to leak stolen South African government data unless its demands were met.
The group, called for the department to stop xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa, or it will expose the data.
“They call themselves correctional services, but they can’t correct the citizens. What a shame,” the group said in its Telegram channel, MyBroadband reported.
“They killed a lot of Nigerians while the so-called correctional services watched and the ministry of justice.”
It is immediately know if Anonymous Nigeria is affiliated to Nullsec Nigeria.
But in a post on a hacker forum, Nullsec Nigeria included a link showcasing an example of data stolen from the department.
It included two bid invitation notices, bid results, a copy of the bids received, and a notice of a bid awarded in various formats.
“We’ll expose all your evil deeds for the world to see, unless this attack stops. But if not, we’ll leak everything they got,” Nullsec Nigeria said.
“Unless the government of South Africa ends these xenophobic attacks on Nigeria, we’ll expose everything about you, your evil deeds will be exposed, and the world shall know.”
MyBroadband asked the Department of Correctional Services about the claimed breach and Nullsec Nigeria’s demands, but it did not immediately respond to our questions.
Nullsec Nigeria also claimed responsibility for breaching several other entities in South Africa, while responding to an X post about its OpSouthAfrica campaign in its Telegram channel.
“I wanna express something here. I saw a report on the #OpSouthAfrica hack by Nullsec Nigeria, but it was stolen by another person,” it said. “Tag the real breachers next time.”
In a separate thread on the hacker forum, Nullsec Nigeria also claimed responsibility for breaching the Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality’s systems.
It claimed to have hacked the local government’s website and threatened to expose “everything you got for others to see how heartless you are. You killed mothers, brothers, students.”
Nullsec Nigeria said the breach and the threats were in response to the xenophobic attacks on and killing of Nigerians and the South African government’s supposed silence on the issue.
“These attacks are still going on in the dark, and we’ll expose them all. If the South African government doesn’t act first, the whole of South Africa will suffer,” it said.
“This is just a wave. These documents are about 11GB, but we decided to pull just this one.”
Its post included two images: one for a public hearing and another, a handwritten tender document for the appointment of an insurance service provider.
It also included a link to several other documents, including an old annual report, council resolutions, financial statements, and various other notices.
The Nigerian Government recently announced plans to bring citizens back to the country from South Africa after violent protests over foreign nationals in the country erupted earlier in May.
President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the protests and criminal acts directed at foreign nationals in his From the Desk of The President weekly newsletter on 11 May 2026.
He emphasised the recent demonstrations and attacks did not represent the views of the South African people, nor the government’s policy.
“These are the acts of opportunists who are exploiting the legitimate grievances, particularly those of the poor, under the false guise of ‘community activism’,” The President said.
“Some of these people are assuming functions that only state officials are permitted to perform, including stopping people to check identification and conducting searches of private property.”
He added that such lawlessness would not be tolerated, regardless of who the perpetrators or victims were.
World Bank has restricted comments on its Instagram page after thousands of Nigerians flooded the platform begging them to stop lending money to Nigeria.
The protest erupted after reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is seeking a fresh $1.25 billion dollar loan for approval on June 26.
Some Nigerians asked the World Bank to provide more details about the purpose of the loan and how the funds would be managed.
Others said the country should reduce dependence on foreign loans and focus on improving local revenue.
The federal government has continued to defend its borrowing plans.
Officials say the funds will support economic reforms, development projects and efforts to strengthen the economy.
Nigeria remains one of the major borrowers from the World Bank in Africa, with different administrations securing loans over the years for infrastructure, social programmes and economic support.
The Lagos State Government plans to establish a Cybersecurity Operations Centre to strengthen protection of government systems, digital services and citizen data amid rising cyber threats linked to the city’s expanding digital economy.
Tunbosun Alake, Lagos commissioner for innovation, science and technology, said the centre would help secure the infrastructure supporting online payments, e-government services, cloud platforms and technology-driven business operations across the state.
According to Alake, the facility will monitor, detect and respond to cyber threats targeting government networks, digital transactions and sensitive public data.
The move comes as Lagos accelerates its smart city agenda through investments in broadband infrastructure, digital identity systems and automated public services.
Alake said Lagos had already deployed 109 Data Protection Officers across Ministries, Departments and Agencies, which he described as the highest number among Nigerian states, to strengthen compliance with data protection regulations.
Alongside the proposed cybersecurity centre, the state also launched the Lagos Campus Network Upgrade project aimed at improving digital infrastructure within the public sector.
The upgrade is expected to improve network performance, automate internal government processes and enhance digital engagement with residents. The cybersecurity initiative follows the release of Lagos State’s cybersecurity guidelines in April.
The framework recommends measures including multi-factor authentication, vulnerability testing, encrypted backups and tighter endpoint security controls.
The guidelines align with Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act 2024, the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy 2021.
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