Category: Business Day

A friend once questioned: ‘Do they learn leadership?’ At first, I thought about my own education. During my degree in Business Administration, I remember taking a course titled Leadership, that lasted eight weeks. I wrote, on average, about ten essays, completed two graded quizzes, and sat for an examination.

And yet many still walk around expecting social conditioning to somehow produce leadership behaviour. But my own experience of leadership did not begin with social conditioning because people immediately imagine that being the firstborn meant I was inherently leadership material. Ask my siblings; I was too fragile for that.

How did it happen then? At 22, I was seeing schools with dilapidated libraries and thinking, these children need books; perhaps I should do something about it. And I remember nailing a partnership with Heinemann Books. I had also been the child who was a Brownie, who genuinely thought she could save the world. Perhaps I did.

But what I did not yet understand was that the responsibility of a calling is only the beginning of leadership. Business Administration-and that leadership course in particular-began teaching me something my enthusiasm could not: that wanting to solve a problem is not the same as knowing how to lead its solution. You need judgement. You need strategy. You need to understand people, institutions, resources and incentives. You need to make decisions when the answer is not obvious. You need to stay when the excitement wears off. You need to persuade people who do not already agree with you. And sometimes, you need to carry responsibility for an outcome that does not go according to plan.

The Problem with Relying Solely on Conditioning

As I earlier explained, it was quite counterintuitive for me to be a leader. You can ask my primary and secondary school peers. And that is the thing about relying on social conditioning alone to reproduce leadership behaviour: people are not always equally socialised or given equal opportunities to practise agency, risk-taking, confrontation or decision-making.

We hold boys to a different set of expectations. They are often encouraged to be bold, take risks, speak up and take charge. Girls, on the other hand, are often encouraged to be caring, polite, accommodating and protected. Over time, these expectations can shape the behaviours people practise and become comfortable with. Assertiveness, agency and independence become more strongly associated with masculinity, while care, deference and receptiveness become more strongly associated with femininity.

There is nothing inherently wrong with either set of qualities. The problem begins when we treat them as opposites, or assume that one belongs in leadership while the other does not. A good leader needs both. You need the courage to make a difficult decision and the empathy to understand its consequences. You need the confidence to speak up and the humility to listen. You need the ability to take charge and the willingness to collaborate. You need firmness without becoming domineering, and care without becoming conflict-avoidant. When social conditioning gives people unequal opportunities to practise these different capacities, however, we can end up reproducing stereotypes rather than developing leaders.

Make Leadership Healthier, Not Easier

Some people have argued that, in our effort to make workplaces more inclusive, we are simply trying to make things easier for women. No. We are trying not to reproduce trauma. We are trying not to codify harmful norms. We are trying to build workplaces where women do not have to endure dysfunction or unnecessary hardship simply to prove that they belong. But there is an equally important conversation we need to have. If we have spent years challenging leadership models built around aggression, emotional suppression, constant competition, and the idea that exhaustion is evidence of commitment, we must also be careful not to swing to the other extreme. We cannot prepare women for leadership by protecting them from everything that makes leadership difficult. Because leadership is difficult.

Leadership sometimes means making a decision when everyone will not agree. It means delivering difficult feedback, disappointing people, holding someone accountable, and making an unpopular call. It means sitting with ambiguity, taking responsibility when the outcome is uncertain, and having conversations you would rather avoid.

It means withstanding criticism. It means carrying the consequences of a decision. It means saying no. It means making decisions with incomplete information. And sometimes, it means choosing what is institutionally right over what is personally comfortable. These are not male qualities. They are leadership capacities.

The objective, therefore, is not simply to get more women into leadership. It is to prepare women to exercise leadership. Getting women through the door is representation. Preparing them to make difficult decisions, exercise authority, navigate conflict, withstand pressure, and carry responsibility is leadership development. And perhaps that is the balance we need to find: remove unnecessary hardship, but do not remove necessary challenge.

A Real World Example

Perhaps this is why I think of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. In an interview about taking on the leadership of the World Trade Organization, she was asked about what she described as an ‘impossible job.’ Her response was revealing: ‘maybe I’m a masochist, and I like challenges.’

But the point is not that women should enjoy suffering. It is that leadership will sometimes place you in situations where there is no easy option. Okonjo-Iweala has had to navigate those kinds of situations precisely. As Nigeria’s Finance Minister, she led the country’s delegation in the 2005 Paris Club negotiations, at a time when Nigeria’s public-sector debt stood at about $36.2 billion, including roughly $30 billion owed to Paris Club creditors. Later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, her work with Gavi involved confronting another kind of difficult problem: how to secure access to vaccines in a world where supply was scarce, and countries were competing for doses.

These are not simply stories about a woman occupying an important position. They are stories about judgement, negotiation, strategy, uncertainty and consequence. They remind us that preparing women for leadership cannot mean preparing them only to be visible, collaborative or inspiring. We have to prepare them to carry responsibility when the answer is unclear, the stakes are high, and somebody still has to make the decision.

Final Thoughts

So, do they learn leadership? I think we have to stop treating leadership as something that people simply absorb from their environment and start treating it as something we intentionally develop.

Social conditioning matters. It shapes what people believe they are capable of, the risks they are encouraged to take, the authority they are comfortable exercising, and the behaviours they get to practise. But conditioning is not leadership development. If anything, relying on it alone can reproduce the very inequalities we are trying to change.

We should give girls opportunities to take risks, make decisions, disagree respectfully, solve problems, manage resources, fail, recover and try again. We should teach women not only how to enter rooms, but how to use their voice when they are in them. And perhaps this is where the conversation about women and leadership needs to mature.

We should not have to make women suffer to prove that they are capable of leading. But neither should we confuse a healthier leadership environment with an easier one. The goal is not to protect women from every difficult experience. The goal is to ensure that they encounter necessary challenge without unnecessary harm because leadership will always ask something of us.

And sometimes, as Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s example reminds us, to walk towards problems that other people might reasonably consider impossible.

When Oloruntomi Akintade left banking to pursue beauty full-time, she was not simply changing careers. She was betting on an industry that was still largely informal and relatively fragmented in Nigeria.

Today, Akintade is the founder of YBB Beauty International, with operations in Abuja and Lagos, and is recognised in her biography as the artist who introduced Nano Brows to Nigeria.

Her journey reflects a broader shift in Nigeria’s beauty industry, where technical expertise, specialised services and professional standards are increasingly becoming differentiators.

Akintade’s entry into beauty began long before YBB Beauty. As a secondary-school student in Lagos, she was already known for styling her friends’ hair. After studying Sociology at the University of Lagos and completing her national youth service in Abuja, she launched a beauty business, Maquilage by Tomi, while pursuing a career in banking.

She subsequently worked with Zenith Bank and FCMB, maintaining the two careers simultaneously for several years. The decision to make beauty her primary career came after encouragement from a fellow beauty technician, Onyekachi of Beauty Ateliers.

Akintade eventually applied the discipline she had acquired in banking to an industry she had always been passionate about.

‘I chose beauty, but I chose to pursue it with the rigour I had learned in banking,’ is effectively the trajectory reflected in her professional journey.

Akintade’s transition into permanent makeup was deliberate.

In 2017, she travelled to the United Kingdom to train in permanent makeup, where she graduated at the top of her class. She later undertook additional cosmetology training in the United States, expanding her knowledge beyond the practical application of beauty techniques into the science underpinning aesthetics.

Back in Abuja, she established her practice, initially offering frontal installations, microblading and lash extensions.

But rather than continue operating as a generalist, Akintade chose specialisation.

Her focus increasingly shifted towards brows and lashes, with an emphasis on precision and results. That decision would eventually provide the foundation for YBB Beauty’s positioning in the permanent makeup market.

The pivotal moment came with Nano Brows.

The technique, which emerged from Korea around 2018, caught Akintade’s attention.

According to her biography, she searched for Black practitioners who had mastered the technique and did not find any at the forefront of the field.

Rather than seeing this as a limitation, she saw a market opportunity.

By 2019, she had committed to mastering Nano Brows and began demonstrating the technique

on models in Abuja. At the time, microblading was significantly more familiar to Nigerian consumers, while Nano Brows remained largely unknown.

The early results helped establish the proposition.

Clients responded to the natural appearance of the healed brows, while the successful trials helped reduce some of the hesitation surrounding permanent makeup.

By 2020, Akintade had opened her Lagos studio, further establishing YBB Beauty’s presence and her position as a pioneer of Nano Brows in Nigeria.

The evolution of YBB Beauty reflects an approach that places technical expertise at the centre of the business.

Akintade’s operating philosophy is built around three principles: safety, science and professionalism. The company positions itself not simply as a beauty service provider but as a solution-driven business focused on addressing clients’ aesthetic needs through considered procedures.

That positioning is particularly relevant as Nigeria’s beauty economy becomes more sophisticated.

For operators in the permanent makeup space, differentiation is no longer limited to aesthetics.

Training, hygiene, technical knowledge, client experience and consistency can determine the sustainability of a beauty practice.

Akintade’s strategy has therefore been to build credibility around the craft itself.

The biography notes that she has prioritised results over certificates, reflecting an emphasis on demonstrated technical ability rather than credentials alone.

Akintade’s ambitions extend beyond the growth of her own client base. She intends to train more artists and contribute to a more inclusive permanent makeup industry in Africa.

Her outlook is that as the technique develops, Nano Brows will become an increasingly important part of the repertoire of professional permanent makeup artists.

This could prove significant for an industry where technical knowledge is often acquired through individual practitioners rather than structured professional ecosystems.

For Akintade, building YBB Beauty is therefore also about building knowledge around the discipline.

The company’s name, YBB, stands for Young Black Billionaires, reflecting the founder’s ambition to build a beauty house centred on empowerment, ambition and a new standard of practice.

Akintade’s journey illustrates the commercial possibilities that can emerge when a traditional career skill set is applied to a creative industry.

Banking gave her exposure to structure and discipline. Beauty gave her the opportunity to build around a personal passion. International training provided technical depth, while Nano Brows offered a specialised category through which she could differentiate her business.

Today, YBB Beauty operates across Abuja and Lagos, while Akintade is focused on expandingthe pool of trained practitioners and shaping the future of permanent makeup in Nigeria. Her story is ultimately not just about eyebrows.

It is about identifying an emerging category early, developing the expertise to compete within it and building a business around a standard of service.

For a Nigerian beauty industry moving increasingly towards specialisation and professionalisation, Tomi Akintade is betting that the next phase of growth will belong to practitioners who can combine artistry with science, business discipline and technical excellence.

Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, has denied any involvement in the activities of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, saying he has never betrayed the President’s trust.

Gbajabiamila clarified allegations linking him to the organisation and claims that he authorised its activities.

The House of Representatives committee investigating the purported agency has, however, said its preliminary findings found no evidence that Gbajabiamila approved, established or participated in its operations.

Instead, the committee said documents before it showed that the Chief of Staff took steps to alert security and investigative agencies after concerns about the organisation were brought to his attention.

The committee said Gbajabiamila communicated with the Nigeria Police Force, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, while also initiating administrative checks.

The panel further found that a letter purportedly appointing Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi as Director-General of the PFIPC and allegedly bearing Gbajabiamila’s authority was fabricated.

Evidence obtained from the State House showed that no such appointment was made or approved by the Presidency and that Gbajabiamila neither issued nor signed the letter, according to the committee.

The committee also found that the purported organisation had no valid legal basis, saying it could not identify any authentic Act of the National Assembly, executive order or other lawful instrument establishing the PFIPC.

Its preliminary findings further uncovered alleged irregularities involving official documents, bank accounts and entities linked to Adeyemi.

The panel said its investigation identified about 58 bank accounts linked through identifying information associated with Adeyemi, with more than 30 accounts apparently operated in the names of several agencies, companies, foundations or related entities. It stressed that the investigation was ongoing and that not every identified account or transaction had been established as unlawful.

The development followed separate allegations made against Gbajabiamila by Adeyemi, who was accused of operating the purported agency.

Gbajabiamila has rejected the allegations and previously instituted a N15 billion defamation suit against Adeyemi at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.

In the suit, the Chief of Staff denied ever meeting Adeyemi, communicating with him or authorising anyone to demand or receive money on his behalf.

The European Union (EU) and Kwara State Government are strengthening efforts to improve reproductive and adolescent healthcare in the State.

The push is aimed at improving health services, workforce capacity, family planning and community engagement while addressing gaps in healthcare delivery.

The development followed a two-day mission by an EU delegation led by Massimo De Luca, Head of Partnerships at the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, which began with a meeting with top officials of the Kwara State Government, according to a statement by the EU.

The EU and the dtate Government took stock of progress under the EU-supported health interventions, as a visiting EU team assesses results on the ground and explores opportunities for deeper cooperation.

De Luca said the mission offered an opportunity to assess how cooperation was translating into results for communities. ‘It is very important that we take stock, and we see how we are moving together,’ he said.

According to the statement, abkey focus of the visit is the EU-funded Strengthening Access to Reproductive and Adolescent Health (EU-SARAH) programme, implemented by UNICEF and UNFPA in collaboration with Nigerian government institutions.

The four-year programme operates in Adamawa, Kwara and Sokoto states, supporting reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and contributing to Nigeria’s progress towards universal health coverage.

In Kwara, the programme is supporting stronger health services, workforce capacity, family planning, data use and community engagement, with particular attention to women, children and adolescents.

De Luca said the partnership also placed importance on domestic investment and government ownership as EU support grows.

‘With the growing budget from our side, we would also like to understand how much Kwara is investing and delivering to the health sector,’ he said.

AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Governor of the state, who was represented by Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi. said the state would continue working with partners to strengthen coordination, use evidence to guide decisions and increase its own contribution to health services.

‘Kwara State Government is committed to working with you on practical steps to strengthen coordination, use evidence to guide decisions, and increase the state’s contribution,’ he said.

Amina El-Imam, Kwara State Commissioner for Health, said EU-SARAH was helping the state strengthen services while identifying areas requiring further investment.

‘The EU-SARAH emphasis on service quality, workforce capacity, community engagement and overall system strengthening has helped us identify gaps and direct resources,’ she said.

She highlighted improvements in health infrastructure, referrals, family planning and services for adolescents and young people, as well as the state’s counterpart funding for family planning commodities.

Africa’s biggest central banks are taking increasingly divergent paths on interest rates, with Nigeria delivering a sharp cut, South Africa tightening policy, and Egypt, Ghana, and Morocco keeping borrowing costs unchanged as policymakers respond to different inflation and growth pressures.

The Central Bank of Nigeria cut its benchmark interest rate by 350 basis points to 23 percent at its September meeting, its largest reduction since 2007. The move followed the bank’s decision to keep the rate unchanged at 26.5 percent at its May and July meetings.

Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN, said the decision was aimed at improving the transmission of monetary policy, after market interest rates increasingly diverged from the benchmark rate. He said the adjustment was an operational reset rather than a change in the overall policy stance.

‘The committee decided to reset the MPR and recalibrate the policy corridor as an important operational realignment aimed at strengthening monetary policy transmission and reinforcing the primacy of the monetary policy rate,’ Cardoso said.

Nigeria’s decision came as inflation continued to ease, with annual inflation slowing marginally to 15.39 percent in August from 15.43 percent in July. Cardoso said inflation was expected to moderate further in the short to medium term, supported by previous monetary tightening, exchange rate stability and improved inflation expectations.

South Africa moved in the opposite direction, raising its policy rate by 25 basis points to 7.25 percent in its second increase of the year. The South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously for the increase as the conflict in Iran added to fuel and other price pressures.

‘South Africa’s growth recovery has slowed, while inflation has increased well above our target,’ Lesetja Kganyago, governor of the SARB, said.

The central bank raised its near-term inflation forecasts and lowered its economic growth forecast for the year to 1.2 percent from 1.4 percent. It expects headline inflation to rise above five percent later this year before returning to around its three percent target towards the end of 2027.

‘Global shocks are clearly hurting our economy,’ Kganyago said, while pointing to services inflation as a concern. He added that the rand had remained resilient and food price pressures were relatively contained.

In Egypt, the central bank kept its deposit rate at 19 percent and lending rate at 20 percent for a sixth consecutive meeting. Annual urban inflation slowed to 14.5 percent in August from 14.9 percent in July, although core inflation edged up to 14.9 percent from 14.7 percent.

The Central Bank of Egypt said the decision reflected recent and expected inflation trends and the changing balance of risks, including renewed regional tensions, tighter global financial conditions and supply chain disruptions. Economic growth slowed to 4.7 percent in the second quarter from five percent in the previous quarter.

Ghana also kept its policy rate unchanged at 14 percent for a third straight meeting. The Bank of Ghana said inflation and growth risks were broadly balanced, even as higher food and energy prices linked to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East created new risks.

‘Global tensions have constricted global supply chains,’ Johnson Asiama, governor of the Bank of Ghana, said.

Ghana’s headline inflation rose to five percent in August from 4.6 percent in July but remained below the lower end of the central bank’s target band. Asiama said exchange rate stability had helped contain imported inflation, while inflation expectations had eased.

Morocco’s Bank Al Maghrib also held its benchmark rate at 2.25 percent, extending its run of consecutive holds. Inflation averaged just 0.3 percent in the first eight months of 2026, with the central bank saying the impact of higher energy prices had remained limited because of transport subsidies and stable gas and electricity prices.

The bank expects inflation to average 0.7 percent this year before rising to 1.5 percent in 2027. Economic growth is projected to slow to 4.4 percent in 2026 from 4.9 percent in 2025, before weakening further to 2.9 percent in 2027.

The different decisions show how monetary policy across Africa is increasingly being shaped by domestic inflation, exchange rate conditions and growth prospects, alongside common external pressures from geopolitical tensions, energy prices and disruptions to global trade.

While Nigeria is using easing to improve policy transmission as inflation moderates, South Africa is tightening to prevent temporary price shocks from becoming entrenched. Egypt, Ghana and Morocco are maintaining their current settings while assessing whether falling or relatively contained inflation can withstand renewed external pressures.

Abia State Governor Alex Otti has defended the removal of the petrol subsidy, saying government resources should be directed towards production rather than subsidising consumption.

Otti, who spoke in an interview with Arise Television on Thursday, warned against attempts to restore the subsidy, arguing that the policy encouraged inefficiency, waste and corruption.

‘I’ve always been consistent on subsidies. And I’ve written extensively. I also refer you to my backpage in THISDAY, including the one that I wrote in 2020 during COVID-19. At that time, nobody was buying oil, and I said it was a good time to remove the subsidy,’ Otti said.

The governor said subsidising consumption reduced incentives for efficient use of resources while creating opportunities for abuse.

‘When you subsidise consumption rather than production, you are just subsidising laziness. You are subsidising, sometimes, corruption,’ he said.

Otti said the removal of the subsidy was necessary despite the economic hardship it initially created for households and businesses.

‘You know, as election approaches, people will be making all sorts of arguments. But removing the subsidy was the right thing to be done,’ he said.

‘If you are pushing for a subsidy to return, you don’t mean well for the country.’

The debate over petrol subsidy has gained renewed attention ahead of the 2027 general elections, with some political actors proposing alternatives to the current market-based pricing regime.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, said in August that he would restore petrol subsidy if elected president. He later clarified that his proposal would focus on subsidising production rather than reviving the former import-based arrangement.

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, another presidential candidate, has also rejected a return to the former subsidy regime, arguing instead that Nigeria should reduce petrol costs through the pricing of crude supplied to domestic refineries.

Otti said businesses that consume petrol for production would benefit more from reliable electricity than from fuel subsidies.

‘For the people who use it for production, for their factories, those people, they really don’t need the subsidy. They just need constant power supply. And once you’re able to guarantee them constant power supply, they’ll pay,’ he said.

President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023, shortly after assuming office. The policy resulted in a sharp increase in petrol prices and contributed to higher transportation and living costs.

Otti acknowledged the immediate pressure created by the reform but maintained that the long-term focus should be on building an economy where businesses can operate without relying on government intervention.

His position comes as the subsidy debate increasingly features in discussions around the 2027 elections, with political parties and candidates offering different proposals on how Nigeria should manage petrol prices and support consumers.

Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign has begun strengthening its policy structure and broadening its membership base as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) intensifies preparations for the 2027 election.

Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, saying the campaign was bringing together party members, experienced political leaders, professionals, young Nigerians and other citizens to deepen its national structure.

Atiku’s presidential campaign council was announced on Thursday, with Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, former Borno State governor, named Chairman; Nasir El-Rufai,

former Kaduna State governor, as Deputy Chairman and Senator Austin Akobundu as Director-General and Campaign Manager.

Shaibu said additional appointments would be announced as consultations continued and the campaign expanded its operations across the country.

‘The campaign is still evolving. Consultations are continuing, and further responsibilities will be assigned as the structure expands across the country,’ he said.

He said the campaign was also developing a policy architecture designed to mobilise Nigerians with expertise and experience around the major challenges confronting the country.

According to him, the policy team will focus on the cost of living, food security and agriculture, security, energy and power, job creation, industrialisation, manufacturing and SMEs, education, healthcare, infrastructure, housing, public finance, governance, technology and innovation.

Other areas, he said, include social protection, natural resources, the environment and human capital development.

‘Nigeria’s challenges are interconnected and cannot be addressed in isolation. The objective is to ensure that every major national problem is matched with a serious, practical and implementable policy response capable of improving the everyday lives of Nigerians,’ Shaibu said.

Shaibu said the campaign structure would extend beyond the national level to the zones, states, wards and polling units. He also reassured supporters who were not included in the first batch of appointments that further engagements were underway.

‘To those who may feel disappointed that their names have not appeared yet, we ask for patience and understanding. No one should believe that years of commitment and sacrifice have been forgotten,’ he said.

‘Our strength has always been our people and the relationships built over many years. We must preserve that bond,’ he added.

He added that the campaign was intended to be a broad-based national movement capable of attracting Nigerians who shared its objective of making life more affordable, creating opportunities for young people and improving the operating environment for businesses.

The re-election of President Bola Tinubu has emerged as a major priority as leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gathered in Maiduguri, Borno State, for a three-day national strategic retreat focused on strengthening the party ahead of the 2027 elections.

The APC, in a post on its X handle on Saturday, said the retreat, which began on Thursday and ended on Saturday, was designed to review the party’s structures, improve internal coordination and sharpen its electoral strategy ahead of the polls.

BusinessDay reports that the APC’s preparations are unfolding against the backdrop of a rapidly changing opposition landscape, with major political figures pursuing different strategies to challenge Tinubu’s bid for a second term.

The party’s National Working Committee (NWC), led by Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, had met with state chairmen and other key stakeholders from across the 36 states at the retreat themed, ‘Strengthening party organisation, unity and electoral readiness towards 2027.’

According to the APC, discussions at the meeting centred on strengthening the party’s organisation and electoral preparedness ahead of the 2027 polls, with Tinubu’s re-election and the election of other APC candidates featuring prominently on the agenda.

The development came barely six weeks after the commencement of the presidential and National Assembly campaigns.

BusinessDay reports that the presidential and National Assembly campaigns began on August 19, while campaigns for governorship and State House of Assembly candidates began on September 9, 2026.

The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while governorship and State House of Assembly elections will be held on February 6, 2027, under INEC’s revised timetable.

With less than four months to the presidential and National Assembly polls, the Maiduguri retreat provides the ruling party an opportunity to assess its readiness, coordinate its structures and address organisational issues ahead of the decisive phase of the campaign.

For the APC, the Maiduguri retreat therefore comes at a point when the party is seeking to consolidate its national structure, align its state organisations and translate its incumbency advantage into coordinated electoral mobilisation.

As the January 16, 2027 presidential election approaches, both the ruling APC and opposition parties are consequently intensifying efforts to strengthen their respective political structures and strategies, setting the stage for a contest in which competing parties will seek to convert their organisational and political alliances into votes at the ballot.

In a crowded landscape, memorable marketing is more essential than perhaps ever before. Whether you’re a not-for-profit organisation or selling retail products, creative marketing can help you grow brand recognition and recall. Fresh and innovative messaging can help you stand out and connect in meaningful ways, and benefit your organisation in a broader sense too.

What is creativity in marketing?

If you can surprise, delight or relate to your target audience in a unique way, they’ll be all the more likely to notice and remember you. Creative marketing can take a multitude of shapes, whether it’s evocative multi-channel storytelling or reaching your audience through unexpected channels. Rather than dazzling people with gimmicks or trends, the best creative advertising comes from a genuine and meaningful place. As the advertising icon David Ogilvy so succinctly put: Tell the truth, but make the truth fascinating.’

Why marketing teams need creativity

Breaking the mould with your marketing doesn’t just benefit your bottom line: it can have far-reaching benefits right across your business. Here are some of the reasons to imbue extra creativity and innovation in marketing for your organisation.

Creative marketing compels action

Whether you’re speaking to customers, clients or other stakeholders, chances are your marketing strategies intend to drive some sort of action. A creative approach can help to inspire interest and interaction, and as such can improve all-important conversion rates.

Creativity can differentiate you and your offering

Every organisation offers something unique – but how do you get your point of difference across when everyone’s clamouring for attention? A blend of strategic marketing and creativity can help you cut through the noise and showcase your Unique Value Proposition (UVP).

Creativity can strengthen key relationships

Engaging, relatable messaging can help to create emotional connections with your customers or clients, who are in turn more likely to trust and recommend your brand. This can also benefit the employee-employer relationship, as a renewed sense of pride can empower your employees.

Creativity can unite

Developing and meeting a creative brief takes thought, which means an organisation’s marketing strategies can be more closely aligned with its overarching goals. Creativity can help to crystallise and clarify what it is you offer, both for customers and team members. Sales teams, marketing teams and after-sales support can therefore all gain a greater understanding of the customer and their expectations leading into an enquiry.

Creativity can help you adapt in a dynamic marketing landscape

When you have fresh thinking coursing through your organisation, it becomes second nature to adapt to external challenges and changes. You could do more with less and reach more people, even on a modest marketing budget. You can adapt to any competitor challenges with strengths and surprises of your own.

How to adopt more creative marketing strategies

It’s easy to see the value of creativity and innovation in marketing, but how do you put this into practice? Here are some of the steps organisations can take to boost originality in their marketing strategies and beyond.

Nurture creative thinking and innovation

Everybody benefits when creativity is infused throughout workplace culture. Foster a collaborative culture with support from C-suite executives and managers, and provide the tools, resources and time needed for innovation to flourish. Share creativity in marketing examples, from classic ad campaigns through to the latest search and social techniques. Focus on building a diverse team, as different perspectives and experiences can bring a lot to the table. Recognise those at every level who come up with great ideas, and support the development of relevant skills through creative marketing credentials.

Use a customer-centric approach

Organisations will commonly focus on their product or offering, but turning the primary focus to the customer can help you unlock new creative insights. What does your audience need and want, and what stands in their way as they’re purchasing a product or choosing a service? What do they find funny – endearing – meaningful? What information are they searching for? This knowledge can be used to drive more relevant and intriguing marketing to connect with your audience in a genuine way.

Focus on your point of difference

Your point of difference could be to do with service, support, expertise, design or something else entirely. How can you focus in and showcase your point of difference in a n surprising way that stands out from the crowd? An expert team could offer genuinely useful advice and information that no one else in their industry offers through high-quality content marketing. Or perhaps the durability of your quality product could be demonstrated in a novel way. Let your strengths guide the way and inspire your strategies for marketing.

Drive ideas through data

At first glance data and creativity might seem somewhat at odds, but data-driven marketing can be ultra-effective when combined with creative thinking. Just consider how Spotify and Netflix employ user data to create highly personalised customer experiences. The average organisation will have many data points that could be used to drive creative strategies, from CRM data and email databases to social media analytics. Powerful ideas could be sparked simply by exploring behavioural, demographic, psychographic and contextual data.

Embrace experimentation

The digital era makes it easy to experiment and adapt quickly, testing out new messaging strategies and digital marketing skills. Fear of failure can quickly stifle creativity, so it’s important to have the right approach. Aim to learn from any ‘mistakes’ with enthusiasm, and use these to refine and strengthen marketing strategies. Remaining open to new ideas as an organisation will help creativity and imagination thrive.

Last line

Amongst the human skills that are essential in any company, creativity is one that is so often undervalued and underestimated. But encourage fresh and creative thinking for your marketing strategies, and you could see the benefits flow right across your organisation.

Ogun State indigenes resident in Enugu State hosted a reception for PDP deputy governorship candidate Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo on Friday, reiterating their commitment to political change in their home state.

Sowunmi-Kolapo, a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, was attending the 22nd All Nigeria Editors Conference in the state capital.

Speaking at the event, group chairman Lekan Oladapo said members had reviewed the manifesto of PDP governorship candidate Oladipupo Adebutu and concluded that the ticket offered genuine commitment to state development and public welfare.

Oladapo stated that Ogun State had fallen behind its development potential and pledged that the diaspora community would help secure progress in the 2027 general elections.

‘Ogun State, by all standards, is not where it should be,’ Oladapo said. ‘We have what it takes to join the struggle to protect our heritage and install good governance in Ogun State for future generations.’

He warned against political exploitation, noting that the state’s rich history and global professional talent require safeguard through accountable leadership.

Oladapo highlighted unrealised opportunities in infrastructure and local industries, pointing to historic hubs such as Abeokuta and Ijebu Ode. He noted that former administrations had failed to leverage cultural sites and traditional herbal medicine for sustainable revenue.

He argued that Ogun State could generate substantial foreign currency through global exports of certified herbal products if supported by government backing and structured export policies.

He added that elite voters across Nigeria and in the diaspora were actively mobilising voters at home to ensure strong turnout for the PDP in 2027.

In her response, Sowunmi-Kolapo expressed gratitude for the support and reaffirmed the party’s commitment to fulfilling its campaign promises.

She highlighted the private philanthropy of the Adebutu family, arguing that public office would enable them to scale these initiatives into structured government policy.

She urged supporters to maintain momentum ahead of the 2027 polls, resist political intimidation, and vote for economic relief.