NLNG wins best corporate training partner award 2025 - ITREALMS

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The Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has been recognized as the Best Corporate Training Partner 2025 by the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN) at the 4th edition of OGTAN Human Capital Development (HCD) Awards held in Lagos, reports ITREALMS.

This accolade underscores NLNG's longstanding commitment to workforce development, skills transfer, and capacity building within Nigeria's oil and gas industry.

Corporate blackmailers as Tinubu enemies by Aliyu Gaya - ITREALMS

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Corporate blackmail is fast becoming the fancy of some netizens, corporate bodies, individuals, especially fly-by-night persons who target the rich and their businesses for diverse reasons. It’s not restricted to Nigeria, though.

The likes of Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Leo Stan Ekeh, Segun Agbaje, Tony Elumelu, and corporates like GTCO (Guaranty Trust Holding Company), Zenith Bank, Zinox, Globacom, among others, have at one time or another faced a blizzard of blackmail. The blackmailers’ intents are multifarious: to make easy money (ransom), damage the reputation of their target, ruin an enterprise, or inflict emotional trauma on their victims.

Corporate Blackmail: My story as case study by Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman Zinox Group - ITREALMS

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An end-of-year inspirational talk delivered on 14th December, 2024 to his select mentees of young entrepreneurs in Nigeria monitored in Lagos, Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh advised them not to lose hope in the Nigerian economy, as he projects that the country shall start returning to a comfortable zone from the 3rd quarter of 2025, he also warned them to apply greater caution in transactions with persons and corporates of questionable character, stressing why due diligence and being local are both critical and an added advantage. Below are excerpts from the lecture.

The new fraud is corporate and Personal blackmail, which my companies and I have fallen victim to. I am sure you have read some in the newspapers where CEOs of responsible corporations in Nigeria are tagged fraudsters. This is the work of blackmailers, and they partner with a few blogs, engage some innocent respected law firms for hyping and a few government officials to achieve their set objectives to destroy your corporate and personal reputations. These negative online materials are then lifted by Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms so that when people search your organisation or personal names, you are seen as a crook. This is with the intent to destroy your brand and affect your credit rating globally.

Protest: GOCOP condemns attacks on journalists by security agents, says act undemocratic - ITREALMS

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The Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) condemns, in very strong terms, the serial attacks on journalists covering the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protest, describing the act as undemocratic and repressive.

GOCOP notes that journalists are partners in national development as well as critical stakeholders in the advancement of democracy and civil liberties and therefore deserve to be protected, and not suppressed as the security agents tried to do during the protest.

FirstBank wins corporate bank award - ITREALMS

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FirstBank, Nigeria’s premier financial institution and financial inclusion services provider, was announced as the Best Corporate Bank at the recent prestigious Euromoney Awards for Excellence, Nigeria 2023.

The Bank clinched the coveted award based on its 130-year commitment to enabling its corporate customers achieve success through relevant and tailored financial solutions.

FirstBank, Best Corporate Bank in Nigeria says Euromoney - ITREALMS

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The First Bank of Nigeria Plc has been pronounced the Best Corporate Bank in the country by Euromoney, reports ITREALMS.

Officials of the bank in reacting to the award said they were thrilled.

"We are thrilled to announce that FirstBank has been recognized by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023 as the Best Corporate Bank in Nigeria. This achievement is not just ours; it belongs to you too," official declared.

ICT centres: 2,500 Lagos pupils to benefit @Dangote Cement infrastructure rehabilitation - ITREALMS

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Estimated 2,500 Lagos pupils are to benefit from the Educational Support programme under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), of the Dangote Cement Plc, as they deploy Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centres, reports ITREALMS.

The company commissioned these centres at the weekend and handed over several multi-million naira rehabilitated educational infrastructure in Lagos Island, Lagos State.

2023 Gala/Awards Nite: NUJ recognises outstanding individuals, corporate organisations - ITREALMS

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The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State Council, has recognised some outstanding individuals and corporate organisations during the 2023 Gala/Awards Nite on Friday at the Combo Hall of Lagos Television (LTV), reports ITREALMS.

Welcoming guests made up of media entrepreneurs and journalists among the guests the council chairman, Mr. Adeleye Ajayi, noted that this year’s edition of Gala/Awards Nite, as one of the major events of its Annual Press Week.

2013: 12 things every public relations professional in corporate sector should do - ITREALMS

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The saying, “Inch by inch, life's a cinch" is one for all seasons. As you go about your job as a public relations practitioner in a corporate organisation this year, you will do well to bear it in mind, always. You make progress in little steps.

This year, like all others, has 12 months. I have written out 12 things, you can do this year to be better at your job.

Igbalajobi: Intelligent, committed workforce key to overcoming corporate challenges – ITREALMS

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As technology continues to play an increasingly important role in transforming Human Resource Management (HRM) operations across the world, Africa’s human capital solutions giant, SystemSpecs Technology, a subsidiary of renowned tech giant, SystemSpecs, has underscored the importance of an intelligent and committed workforce for corporate organisations in overcoming challenges.

During a recent visit by students and staff from the Industrial Relations & HRM Unit of Covenant University to the SystemSpecs office in Victoria Island, Lagos, the Managing Director of SystemSpecs Technology, Demola Igbalajobi, said intelligent, committed employees of good character have played a huge role in helping the company overcome various challenges in its 30 years of existence.

Bolarinwa emerges president of ACAMB - ITREALMS

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The Head of Corporate Communications at Polaris Bank, Mr. Rasheed Bolarinwa, has emerged as the new president of the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB), reports ITREALMS.

New ACAMB executive till 2024

Bolarinwa-led executive committee was elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of ACAMB held on Thursday, January 19, 2022, at the Bankers’ House, CIBN Building, Victoria Island, Lagos.

29% of corporate users experienced financial malware attacks, first half of 2021 - ITREALMS

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Latest Kaspersky report has shown that some 29 per cent of corporate users experience financial malware attacks in the first half of 2021, reports ITREALMS.

They also said that this is particular in Kenya, their Kaspersky research showed that the overall number of financial malware attacks in Kenya has decreased in the first half of 2021, when compared to the same period in 2020, 29.3% of the 7 962 attacks recorded in the country targeted corporate users, which is a cause for concern, warn Kaspersky experts.

Survey shows corporate boards lack cyber demands - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The latest global survey by the Deloitte has showed that boards of several corporate organisations lack cyber demands of their entities, reports ITREALMS.

Cyber, ITREALMS gathered, is growing and moving in multiple dimensions across multiple disciplines—beyond an organisation’s perimeter and IT environments, permeating the products it creates, the factories where it makes them, the spaces where its employees conceive them, and where its customers use them. Cyber is at the centre of digital transformation.

According to Deloitte’s 2019 Future of Cyber survey, there are notable gaps in organisations’ abilities to meet cybersecurity demands for the future. Findings indicate that many cyber organisations are challenged by their ability to prioritise cyber risk across the enterprise (16 percent), followed closely behind by lack of management alignment on priorities and adequate funding, each at 15 percent.

“Cyber leaders today are focused on digital transformation as a catalyst for change for both the greater enterprise and their cyber agendas. The good news is the survey results show that organisations are no longer taking a wait-and-see philosophy to preparing for and responding to cyber incidents”, says Deloitte Africa Risk Advisory Cyber leader Eric Mc Gee, “There is a whole new way of thinking that is starting to occur with how organisations are going to achieve their business outcomes, and that is with a cyber everywhere mindset.”

Findings from the 500 C-suite cybersecurity executives surveyed also suggested that there is still much work to do in aligning cyber initiatives to executive management’s digital transformation priorities. There is a real gap that must be bridged, with finite budgets and resources as well as a lack of prioritisation by executive management. The overall consensus was that many organisations aren’t fully equipped to efficiently and effectively tackle today’s cyber demands.

Findings of the Future of Cyber survey include:

· 43 percent of surveyed CISOs indicated they report directly to the CEO. This is consistent across the total survey population where 32 percent of respondents indicated the CISO reported to the CEO, with only 19 percent indicating that the role reported to the CIO. In Deloitte’s experience facilitating hundreds of CISO transformation labs over the past five years and through informal collection of data, nearly 80 percent of CISOs report to a CIO or CSO. This indication that CISOs are, in fact, directly reporting to a CEO is quite encouraging but counter to Deloitte’s experience.

· Half of organisations (49 percent) have cybersecurity on their board agenda at least quarterly. On the other hand, half of boards are not discussing cyber as often as they should. More concerning is that only 4 percent of respondents say cybersecurity is on the agenda once a month.

· While organisations are prioritising digital transformation, only 14 percent of cyber budgets are allocated to provide for cybersecurity in transformation efforts.

· Less than 20 percent of organisations have security liaisons embedded within business units to foster greater collaboration, innovation, and security.

· Organisations are turning to third parties to manage certain functions of their cyber operations. According to 65 percent of the CISOs surveyed, 21-30 percent of total cyber operations are outsourced, with nearly half (48 percent) of CISOs selecting insider threat detection as a top function that they turn to third parties to manage.

· There’s a disconnect between the majority (85 percent) of the survey respondents who indicate that they are using Agile/DevOps in application development and then ranking DevSecOps lowest (11 percent) on the cyber defence priorities and investments areas, which may explain why 90 percent of organisations surveyed experienced disclosures of sensitive production data within the past year.

· Data integrity (35 percent) was the top-ranked cybersecurity threat respondents were most concerned about followed by unintended actions of well-meaning employees (32 percent) resulting in a negative event and then followed by technical vulnerabilities (31 per cent).

Chuks Egbuna/DoP

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Ikeja Electric bags Corporate Pacesetter - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The leading electricity distribution company, Ikeja Electric Plc (IE), has won two prestigious awards - Corporate Pacesetter (Power Sector) and HSE Campaign of the Year awards, in recognition of its HSE Initiatives and innovative approach in educating Nigerians through the use of its proprietary Power Play game, reports ITREALMS.

Presented at the 2018 Nigeria Safety Award for Excellence (9jaSAFE Award), a respected body set up to recognize the outstanding performances/initiatives of companies/organization, Individuals/groups, Schools/institutions towards promoting and raising safety consciousness.

Speaking on the awards, the company’s Head of Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE), Engr. Jamiu Badmos noted that the recognition further testifies to our consistency, commitment to high safety standards and our drive to always improve our safety initiatives.

He said: “We are proud to be honored with these awards which not only establish us as a pacesetter in the energy sector, but also confirms that we are on the right track through all our various initiatives over the years”.

“Our track record speaks volume about our commitment to the highest standard of safety. In 2017, Ikeja Electric won the Corporate Pacesetter and Best use of Social Media amongst over six hundred (600) nominations received across the country. We also won an award in as an organization committed to Safety Excellence in 2016, while at the maiden edition in 2015, we won the Best Health & Safety Practicing organization in the Power Industry,” he explained.

In addition, Mr. Olabode Jegede, a staff in the Technical Department of Ikeja Electric emerged as one of the 9jaSAFE Torchbearers for his passionate implementation and enforcement of safety standards in operations and maintenance operations.

According to Engr. Badmos, the successive awards and others accolades were earned as result of the unrivalled commitment of the Board and Management coupled with outstanding passion of our staff for safety excellence. Through its impactful HSE policies, fatality among its staff has dropped to zero while the third party fatality has declined significantly.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Pix: Third from left, Mr Steve Doriigi, Operation Manager, Ikeja City Mall and third from right, Hon. Kehinde Bamigbetan, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State and Ikeja Electric Safety Officers displaying their awards during 2018 Nigeria Safety Award for Excellence (9jaSAFE Award) in Lagos.

Emulate Airtel, Shittu tells corporate Nigeria

ITRealms:

The Honorable Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, has urged corporate organizations and wealthy Nigerians to support humanitarian causes as this could help reduce the rate of poverty in the country, reports ITRealms. 

Speaking at the premiere of Airtel Touching Lives season 4 in Lagos, the Minister applauded Airtel’s commitment and consistency in reaching the downtrodden and empowering them.

He urged other corporate organizations to follow in the footsteps of the telco in extending a helping hand to those in need.

“I think that the companies doing business in Nigeria who have been benefiting from the enabling environment in Nigeria and the individuals and businessmen who have been benefiting must certainly come to the rescue and multiply what Airtel has been doing,” he said.

He stated that government needs the support of the private sector, NGOs, philanthropists and other well-meaning organizations to eradicate hunger and poverty.

The Minister also called on the National Assembly to inspire and encourage businesses in Nigeria to embark on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

“On the part of government, I think particularly, the National Assembly, which is saddled with making laws for us, should also feel challenged by what we have seen tonight by trying to initiate laws which would inspire or encourage Corporate Social Responsibility to be a major issue in the running of businesses of Nigeria”, he said.

“I am sure that Airtel might have spent fortunes to do what they have done, it is my prayer that Almighty God will continue to prosper the management of Airtel Nigeria and to help prosper Airtel itself. I want to challenge all of us tonight to make resolutions to touch lives in the same vein that Airtel has been doing” he added.

According to the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, the telco will not relent in its effort to restore hope and helping the less privileged in the society in line with its vision of creating empowerment opportunities and making life better for Nigerians.

“I want to thank everyone in this room and to encourage you again; there is no limit to how kind any of us can be. My parting message is don’t spend your time asking why there are poor people in the world; it’s a waste of time.

“The right question is what can we do to change it? We are always going to have poor and unfortunate people amongst us. What next is what you can do to affect their circumstances and I am encouraging you to do something,” he said.

Since Airtel launched the Touching Lives initiative three years ago, it has achieved remarkable successes having restored hope of despaired individuals and families, saved many from the throes of death and empowered many underprivileged Nigerians.

The event was attended by several dignitaries including Senator Ajayi Borrofice, Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology; Hon. Ujam Chukwuemeka, Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Communications; Representative of the First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Adeniji Kazeem; Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission; Bimbo Ashiru, Ogun State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry; Leo Stan Ekeh, founder, Zinox and Oby Ezekwesili, Former Minister of Education & Renowned Public Intellectual, among several others.

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Corporate guru, Ijogun emerges Konga chairman

ITREALMS: 

Konga, Nigeria’s leading electronic commerce (e-commerce) giant, has appointed a frontline corporate guru, Olusiji Ijogun as its chairman, with effective from Sunday, April 1st, 2018, reports ITRealms.

Konga, ITRealms gathered, has dominated the news recently after its recent acquisition by the Zinox Group, Nigeria’s foremost technology conglomerate, in a move that several industry watchers believe will position the company on a stronger footing and raise the profile of e-commerce in Nigeria.

A seasoned and widely experienced technocrat, Ijogun boasts over three decades of top-notch performance in finance and management which he has brought to bear on the fortunes of a number of thriving businesses across various sectors.

His sterling career has seen him hold several top positions including Senior Group Manager, Unilever Audit, Divisional Managing Director, UAC Foods, Group Finance Director, UAC of Nigeria Plc and Commercial Director, Lever Egypt. He was appointed to the Board of Honeywell Group where he positioned the Group in the foods sector of the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) segment.

Mr. Ijogun holds a B.Sc (Hons.) degree from the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Lagos. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Cost and Management Accountants UK and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. He currently serves as the Chairman of Ackmen Nigeria Limited and CEO of Innodel Consulting.

His wealth of experience across several brands and sectors is expected to come in handy in positioning Konga on a path of sound corporate governance and a greater share of the e-commerce market in Nigeria and beyond.

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NCC to hold consultation on corporate governance in telecom

ITRealms:

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has concluded plans to host stakeholders to a one-day forum on corporate governance in the telecommunications industry in Lagos, reports ITRealms.

A public statement made available to ITRealms, showed that the forum would hold Tuesday, June 21^st, this year at Sheraton Lagos Hotel, Ikeja by 9am.

According to the Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, the Commission beckons on all critical stakeholders comprising but not limited to telecommunications companies, investors, financiers, Value Added Service (VAS) operators and industry experts.

Ojobo also confirmed, formal invitation have been extended to industry players, including Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of Nigeria (NATCOMS), Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), and other stakeholders.

“Deliberations at the Forum shall usher in a new Code of Corporate Governance for the Sector,” he said.

ITRealms further reports that the consultative forum is in line with the Commission's Practice of Industry-wide consultations.

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Koko Master @Yudala, applauds retail revolution

PR@ITRealms: 

The self-styled KokoMaster and one of Nigeria’s most iconic entertainers, D’Banj has paid a courtesy visit to the Corporate Head Office of Yudala to congratulate the company on the revolution being spearheaded in the retail business space with the launch of its Retail Stores Division which held last Saturday July 25^th. 

Yudala, Nigeria’s first true composite retail chain, has carved a niche for itself by being the first company to combine an online shopping platform with offline retail outlets spread across major cities in Nigeria, with a target of further expansion into other African capitals.

The company had commissioned four stores: two Experience Stores at Medical Road, Ikeja and at the 1st Floor of The Palms Shopping Complex, Lekki as well as two Smart Stores at 25B Idowu Martins Street, Victoria Island and Redemption Crescent, Gbagada last weekend.

The glamorous and well-attended event attracted eminent Nigerians from all walks of life including bank CEOs, captains of industry, representatives of Corporate Nigeria, A-list artistes and crowds of enthusiastic shoppers who were on hand to take advantage of the unprecedented discounts and freebies on offer. 

Yudala Online is set to go live in August, with the Management of the e-commerce platform promising even bigger deals at launch.

Speaking during his visit to the office, the multi-award winning D’Banj commended the vision behind the emergence of Yudala, while acknowledging the company’s status as a Nigerian-owned business as a thing worth celebrating.

“I am glad to be here today to key into the Yudala revolution. The combination of online and offline retail is a master-stroke and I offer my sincere congratulations to the Management of Yudala for this idea. Also, the fact that Yudala is a purely Nigerian company is good news for us all. I had assumed the company was a foreign-owned business, especially considering the strategy, standards and ambience of the Yudala Experience Stores.”

D’Banj, who stormed the Yudala office armed with the Evolution award which he received at the 2015 MTV Africa Music awards (MAMA 2015), presented the award to the Management of the company as well as his latest brand offering - KokoGarri, a packaged variant of the staple food.

Vice President, Yudala Retail Stores, Mr. Stanley Uzoechina, who was on hand to welcome the KokoMaster with excited staff of the company, congratulated D’Banj for his 2015 MAMA Evolution award and hailed him as a true ambassador and pride of Nigeria.

Mr. Uzoechina who seized the opportunity to further share the company’s vision with the artiste, revealed that Yudala is indeed a revolution worth identifying with. According to him, the company has a road-map to reach millions of unreached Nigerians with the launch of 10 additional stores nationwide before the end of August 2015 and the commissioning of 151 Yudala Stores by June 2017.

This figure, he noted, will increase to 512 Stores by June 2019, stressing that in no time, there will be a Yudala Store in virtually every local government council in the country which will create a minimum of 150,000 jobs for Nigerians.

Yudala – which means Best wishes, Peace of mind and Prosperity - has strong partnership for products from major brands in the ICT sphere including HP, Apple, Lenovo, Tecno Mobile, INNJOO, Infinix Mobility, Wiko Phones, X-Touch, SONY, YEZZ, DELL, Philips, ITEL, IBM, Microsoft, APC Schneider, Cisco, Canon, D-Link and many more, with the delivery of quality products and services at the right prices. The company will continue to roll out multiple products from the biggest and most renowned brands, with the Yudala product network set to also feature Consumer Lifestyle, Urbane Fashion, Healthy Living Products, Consumer Electronics and others which will be unveiled in segments.

Backed by its multi-pronged yet standardized business model, the company has a bold ambition to dictate the pace and set new milestones for online and offline retail business, with the delivery of world class products and services in every Yudala store and on the online platform.

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Corporate executives, cultivate healthy lifestyle – Obaro

ITRealms:

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer SystemSpecs, John Obaro, has called on corporate executives to cultivate a healthy lifestyle through active participation in sports, ITRealms reports.

Obaro in a press release made available to ITRealms, said the Remita Corporate Championship this year would focus on sports as a powerful social force to promote the health and wellbeing of professionals in corporate Nigeria in an atmosphere of fun and excitement.

He further stressed that Remita, a product of SystemsSpecs, is an electronic platform designed to make it very easy for organizations and individuals to receive and make payments through many channels such as website, internet banking, local and international cards, PoS, mobile devices, bank branches and electronic wallets.

Stating that the championship which continues to attract giants of corporate Nigeria has the 2015 finalists as MTN, UBA, Leadway Assurance, Nestle, Swipha Nigeria, Etisalat, Ecobank and Unilever represents one of the company’s social responsibility initiatives.

The eight participating organizations ITRealms learnt are champions and runners-up from the banking, telecommunications, insurance and fast moving consumer goods [FMCG] industries and are battling for supremacy from May 10 to 24 at the Campos Stadium, Lagos to determine the king of corporate football in Nigeria that will lift the 2015 RC3 cup.

Daniel Nsolibe/GEE

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