Jobs/Appointments
Chain Reactions Appoints Ugorji to Achieve 5-Year Business Growth Plan
One of Nigeria’s leading Public Relations and Integrated Communications Consulting firms, Chain Reactions Nigeria Limited, has announced Mr Uche Ugorji as Vice President, Strategy and Business Development.
Mr Israel Jaiye Opayemi, who is the Managing Director and Chief Strategist of Chain Reactions Nigeria, which is the Nigerian affiliate to Edelman, the world’s largest Public Relations firm, said in a statement that the appointment of Mr Ugorji was part of a holistic and aggressive business development drive the company was embarking upon.
Mr Opayemi, who said the appointment was effective Friday 1, November 2019, stated that Mr Ugorji was picked with the sole aim of “turbo-charging our bold client acquisition drive towards 2020 and beyond.”
“He will effectively function as a Vice President and Chief Operating Officer with the mandate to give our 5-year business growth plan the leadership kick it requires. We see in Uche a man with incredible understanding of the art of selling, hence our decision to put him in charge of our growth train,” he added.
The statement further disclosed that Mr Ugorji’s choice was deliberate considering his robust cross-functional marketing communications background.
“We have deliberately primed our business for the age of convergence and this is evident in the kind of work we do for clients and the kind of talents we retain to do them. We do not engage in run-off-the-mill PR works for our clients.
“We have fully embraced Edelman’s concept of Communications Marketing for our clients and so Uche is yet another bright example of the kind of talents we parade in Chain Reactions to deliver amazing results to our clients,” Mr Opayemi said.
In his reaction to the decision of the management of Chain Reactions to bring him on board, Mr Ugorji said, “I am super delighted at the opportunities ahead. I love the shared vision of Chain Reactions and the intentionality of its founder. It is bold and daring. I love the trajectory of the company, its international flavour in creed and in action. I love the company’s audacity to play big in not just Nigeria but in Africa. That is why I am in.”
Mr Ugorji has about 16 years of practical experience in the Marketing Communications industry within and outside the shores of Nigeria. He began his career in Public Relations with the then CMC Connect, now CMC Burson Cohn and Wolf before making a switch to core advertising as a strategic planner with Bluebird Communications.
He later joined SO&U Saatchi & Saatchi where he was once described by one of the living legends of the industry, Udeme Ufot as “more than a Star but a genius!” upon his impressive performance on the Guinness account. This commendation came off the back of a character and dedication testimonial Uche had received from the Guinness Brand team in which he was described as a “rock” and a man who could deliver against incredibly impossible timelines”. The Guinness Marketing Manager at the time had cause to describe Uche as a man who exudes “nothing else but a can-do attitude even at the craziest deadlines” within the Guinness brand team.
Mr Ugorji displayed similar impressive performance at Etuodi Communications and DDB Lagos respectively before joining Ogilvy as Business Director and Agency Council Lead for West Africa Region where he had oversight for all Ogilvy Integrated Marketing Communications interest accounts.
Chain Reactions Nigeria’s current clientele include Facebook, 9mobile, HP, Motorola Solutions, Dubai Tourism, First Bank, Lagos State Governor’s Office, The Jack Ma Foundation, Propertymart amongst others.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Mr Peter Maila has been appointed as the chief executive of Zvilo Africa, with the mandate to strengthen the company’s market footprint on the continent and help the business go for growth.
The working capital lender provides funding support to businesses in the European Union (EU), Türkiye, Africa, and the Middle East.
Zvilo services local and cross-border trade finance needs of entire supply chains, ensuring businesses have the working capital they need, when they need it, for sustainable long-term growth.
“I am thrilled to join Zvilo at such an exciting time, as Zvilo seek to strengthen its market footprint into Africa and help drive its expansion across the continent.
“The senior team at Zvilo – led by my old colleague Admir Imami – is determined to go for growth, which is why we have both dedicated ourselves to the business,” Mr Maila said of his appointment.
“We are thrilled to welcome Peter Maila to the Zvilo team as our CEO of Zvilo Africa. He will bring exceptional experience and depth of expertise in in investing and building a book of business, both from an African perspective but also from risk, regulatory and governance perspectives.
“His appointment will dramatically strengthen the leadership team by adding deep strategic insight, which will be pivotal in driving growth in the African continent, attracting impactful partners, maximising value and helping reduce the African 120bn trade gap,” the chief executive of Zvilo, Mr Admir Imami, stated.
Mr Maila brings 30-years of finance and investment experience to Zvilo, where he worked for African and international banks, where he has been instrumental in investments worth over $2 billion in Africa and South Asia over the last 15 years in FMCG, Infrastructure (incl. renewable energy), Real Estate and TMT (incl. FinTech) using both debt, mezzanine and equity instruments.
He joined the firm from FMO, the Netherlands-based entrepreneurial development bank where he was Co-Chief Investment Officer covering its private equity and emerging markets team.
Zvilo has ambitious plans to help reduce the 2.5 trillion global trade gap, of which $120 billion is in Africa.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Anthony Ikemefuna Idigbe, has been appointed to the board of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc as an independent non-executive director.
A regulatory notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by the company disclosed that the appointment of Mr Idigbe took effect from Thursday, March 27, 2025.
However, this appointment, according to the statement signed by the company secretary, ALSEC Nominees Limited, is subject to ratification at the next Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the organisation.
The appointee, a Senior Partner at PUNUKA Attorneys and Solicitors, has over 40 years of experience in corporate governance, insolvency, business restructuring, arbitration, dispute resolution, privatization, capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and oil and gas.
The graduate of Law from the University of Ife in 1982, was elevated to SAN in July 2000.
He is a member of the Board of Directors (Trustees) of the Canadian Association of Nigerian Lawyers (CANL); Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dominican University, Ibadan; Fellow of the Institute of Directors Nigeria (IOD), INSOL International, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London, the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN) and the International Bar Association (IBA).
In addition, he is a member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA); Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA), International Chamber of Commerce, Nigeria (ICCN), American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and International Insolvency Institute (III).
Mr Idigbe chaired Capital Hotel Plc from 2017 to 2022 and currently chairs Ikeja Hotel Plc and The Tourist Company of Nigeria Plc, all listed on the NGX, until two were delisted, according to business strategy.
He is a director of Royal Exchange Plc, listed on NGX and chaired the Statutory Audit Committee of Seplat Energy Plc from 2015 to 2023, which is listed on NGX and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The new board member was elected the President of the Asaba Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ASACCIMA) in 2022, and President of the Delta Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (DACCIMA) on 12 December 2022.
He was appointed the National Legal Adviser for the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) in May 2023.
He established the Capital Market Solicitors Association (CMSA) and chaired the 2017 Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Legal Profession Regulation Review Committee, which reviewed the regulation of the legal profession in Nigeria.
In 2013, he was appointed the National Coordinator for Nigeria, World Bank Global Forum of Law, Justice, and Development Project on Treatment of Shareholders’ Rights in Insolvency of Companies (2013 to 2014); and in 2012 a Member of the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force set up by President Goodluck Jonathan.
In addition, he chaired the Technical Drafting Committee for the Bill that became the Investment and Securities Act 2007. He recently chaired the review committee for the same law, resulting in the Investment and Securities Bill now Act. As a consultant to the Bureau of Public Enterprises, he and the now Hon Justice Nnamdi Dimgba drafted the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Bill now Act relating to anti-trust and competition law in Nigeria.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
President Bola Tinubu has appointed Mr Nasir Naeem Abdulsalam as the Managing Director of the Ajaokuta Steel Company, Kogi State.
A statement from Mr Segun Imohiosen, the Director of Information and Public Relations on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr George Akume, disclosed the appointment took effect from Thursday, April 3, 2025, and is in accordance with the provisions of the Certain Political and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc) Act 2008 as amended.
Mr Abdulsalam, according to statement, has been tasked by Mr Tinubu to leverage his wealth of experience in the steel industry in his new assignment in revolutionising the company to generate important upstream and downstream industrial and economic activities that will position the nation as the industrial hub of Africa in line with the diversification drive of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Until his appointment, the appointee served as the Technical Adviser to the Minister of Steel Development, Mr Dele Alake, as well as the Special Assistant on Academics to Director General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Professor Abubakar Sulaiman.
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