Brands/Products
Mouka Splashes N111m on Business Partners, Staff
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Over N111 million worth of scholarships, high-end laptops and educational materials have been given to the children of business partners and members of staff of Mouka.
The items were given to the beneficiaries during the annual Business Partner Awards of the company, which took place at D’Podium International Event Centre in Lagos on Saturday, February 5, 2022.
A total of 15 junior staff of Mouka went home with scholarships worth N5 million as an act of goodwill from the company.
Speaking at the event, the CEO of Mouka, Mr Raymond Murphy, praised the business partners who have stayed committed and contributed immensely to the company’s growth trajectory.
“Their unwavering commitment is evident in their sales and distribution of Mouka’s portfolio of quality products to millions of consumers across the country. They have demonstrated an immense commitment to this partnership and Mouka’s revenue growth despite Nigeria’s economy for our mutual benefit.
“With extensive collaboration on many initiatives, they have made our brand a household name in Nigeria in pursuance of our mission of adding comfort to life,” he stated.
According to the Managing Director of Mouka, Mr Femi Fapohunda, Mouka continues to look for ways to add comfort to the lives of its stakeholders, including its business partners.
“Mouka, for many, is a generational business passed from parent to child. Mouka seeks to empower the next generation of Business Partners through this initiative. We are safeguarding the future of our business by investing in our loyal Business Partners, their businesses and their families,” Mr Fapohunda said.
The company’s Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Dimeji Osingunwa, said without the business partners, Mouka could not achieve such impressive brand penetration, a factor that has earned it the industry’s leadership position.
To reward the continued commitment of these business partners, Mouka has consistently showered them with various gifts to expand their businesses while also safeguarding their health and wellbeing.
“In the recent past, we have presented trucks to our partners to ease the burden of distribution. Likewise, most of our Business Partners and their families are on various health plans fully catered to by Mouka.
“This year, we thought to ourselves, how else can we add comfort to the lives of these people whose dedication knows no bounds? We decided to reward them with over N111 million worth of educational support for their children to ease the burden of tuition.
“We believe this would further strengthen our relationship even as we continue to partner to ensure the Mouka brand remains Nigeria’s leading brand in this industry,” he said.
Speaking on the scholarship presentation to junior staff, Ifeoma Okoruen, Mouka’s Head of Human Resources, said, “Mouka is a company that indeed values its people, continuously looking for ways to do right by them.
“From investing in training programs with the Lagos Business School to various welfare packages and incentives, Mouka always puts the needs of its people first.
“As an act of goodwill from the company, we decided to support our junior staff with scholarships for their children to lessen their burdens. The response from our people to this gesture has been simply overwhelming.”
Eulogising the management of Mouka for the laudable scheme, Nollywood legend and Mouka brand ambassador, Sola Sobowale, said she is proud to be associated with such a brand that indeed cares for its people, partners and consumers.
She also shared her experience with the brand since childhood while encouraging others to join the Mouka family. The A list celebrity also narrated how sleeping on Mouka has helped safeguard her wellbeing to ensure she stays on top of her game in the movie industry.
Similarly, the beneficiaries commended Mouka for the goodwill, which would relieve them of the stress of tuition fees. They said this came as a surprise, applauding the market leader as the huge gesture is unprecedented in the industry.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Canal+, which now owns MultiChoice, a pay-TV firm, has announced its decision to discontinue the streaming service, Showmax.
The company said the Showmax board has made the decision to discontinue the service in the near future.
“This decision reflects our focus on strengthening our overall digital offering and ensuring long-term sustainability in an increasingly competitive streaming environment.
“Importantly, at the moment, there will be no interruption to your current service. You can continue streaming as usual, and no action is required from you at this time,” it said.
It added that it will share further details in the future, including timelines and any future steps, should they be required.
MultiChoice launched Showmax across Africa 10 years ago in August 2015 to compete with the advent of streamers like Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon’s Prime Video, Disney+ and others, which all became available on the continent and started biting into MultiChoice’s legacy pay-TV subscriber base on DStv and GOtv.
However, it soon faced some challenges and couldn’t hit its target.
In February 2024, MultiChoice, in partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal, relaunched Showmax, utilising the technology behind the Peacock streaming service.
The investment, which was pegged at over $300 million, still did not bear the expected fruit, with other streaming giants seeing growth over the years.
With Canal+’s takeover and its aggressive cost-cutting moves, it was no doubt that Showmax got the axe.
Regardless, it said, “Streaming remains central to our strategy. We will continue to invest in premium content, technology innovation and partnerships to deliver the best possible entertainment experience to our customers.”
Canal+ is looking to cut a combined €400 million by 2030, which will affect content.
NBCUniversal has a 30 per cent stake in Showmax as a joint venture. In its last annual results before the Canal+ takeover, MultiChoice revealed that Showmax’s trading losses had worsened by 88 per cent while revenue significantly declined.
According to the company, “The decision to axe Showmax was made by the Showmax board and reflects the continued focus of MultiChoice, a Canal+ company, on financial discipline and investment optimisation, in an increasingly competitive and capital-intensive global streaming environment.”
Since Canal+, as part of its agreement to take over MultiChoice, isn’t allowed to get rid of any staff for a period of three years, MultiChoice won’t let any Showmax staff go but will reassign them to other positions within the broader company.
MultiChoice has already started to quietly rebrand Showmax Originals as Africa Magic, M-Net, kykNET and Mzansi Magic Originals, with original series that will transition to these various DStv linear TV channels on the MultiChoice pay-TV platform.
Showmax’s closure comes two years after Amazon MGM Studios shocked Nigeria and South Africa’s creative community in January 2024 when it announced that it would stop commissioning any new local original content in Africa, and also ended already-existing development deals with a dozen production companies.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Marketing Manager of a leading bleach brand in Nigeria, Hypo Bleach, Mr Adebayo Adeyemo, has condemned the presentation of the brand as a beverage for trends, jokes, or views by influencers and bloggers.
In a statement, Mr Adeyemo said Hypo Bleach was formulated to “remove stains, whiten your white fabric, deodorise and kill 99.9 per cent of germs” and not produced as a “drink.”
“We have observed people seeming to have fun creating and sharing videos and AI-generated images designed to make Hypo look like a beverage.
“Your health and safety are serious business. We want to be unambiguous: those images are fabricated, that framing is false, and anyone encouraging others to consume Hypo, even as a joke, even for views, is putting lives at risk. It is not something to consume for the sake of trends,” the Marketing Manager stated.
He further said, “To every influencer, blogger, and content creator. Your reach is real; so is your responsibility. A trend that ends in ill-health is not a trend worth starting.”
“To every young Nigerian seeing this content, you do not have to prove anything to anyone. Not online. Not offline. Not ever. If someone is pressuring you to try this, that is not a dare. That is harm.
|If you or someone you know is struggling emotionally or feeling pressure they cannot handle, please reach out to someone you trust.
A guardian. A counsellor. A healthcare professional. Asking for help is not a weakness; it is a strength.
“Also, we urge people to prioritise their mental health. Evaluate the quality of your conversations with people. Should you notice inconsistencies in their thinking, encourage them to seek professional help. Depression is real and should be treated with utmost concern. Let’s keep social media fun, but safe,” Mr Adeyemo added.
By Dipo Olowookere
A conference designed to examine how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally reshaping crisis communication, institutional response systems, governance frameworks, and reputational risk management is slated to take place on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Lagos, at 10 am.
The event, planned by a renowned Public Relations (PR) firm, CMC Connect LLP, is themed Crisis Management in the AI Milieu: New Threats, Smarter Responses.
It is an offshoot of the company’s flagship industry initiative, Crisis Management Advocacy Month, scheduled to be held throughout March 2026.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, is expected to deliver the keynote address, while the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris Malagi, is the Special Guest of Honour.
Earlier in the month, the Vice President for Corporate Communications and CSR at Airtel Africa, Mr Emeka Oparah, will headline a closed-door media workshop convened exclusively for senior media executives in Lagos.
The 2026 edition will also feature strategic collaborations with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) through its Monthly PR Clinics in both the Lagos and Abuja Chapters, where the Senior Corporate Communications Analyst at CMC Connect LLP, Ms Affiong Edet, will deliver a thematic presentation aligned with this year’s focus.
The initiative will also partner with the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice through its weekly webinar series to interrogate the intersection of AI, Crisis Management, and the Law.
“Artificial Intelligence has fundamentally altered the crisis landscape. Crisis Management Advocacy Month 2026 is intentionally designed to convene cross-sector leaders to interrogate emerging risks, strengthen institutional preparedness, and promote smarter, ethical response architectures in an AI-driven environment,” the Project Coordinator, Ms Bright Emmanuel Okon, commented.
Also, the Lead Partner of CMC Connect LLP, Mr Yomi Badejo-Okunsanya, said, “In today’s digital ecosystem, crises evolve at unprecedented speed. Institutions must move beyond reactive communication toward intelligent crisis architecture. Crisis Management Advocacy Month represents our commitment to advancing national and institutional resilience in the age of AI.”
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