President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a sweeping leadership overhaul at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), appointing veteran media executive Rotimi Richard Pedro as the new Director-General of the state broadcaster.

The announcement, made on Thursday, also confirmed the appointment of Karimah Bello as Executive Director of Marketing, Stella Din as Executive Director of News, and Sophia Essahmed as Managing Director of NTA Enterprises Limited.

Mr Pedro, a Lagos native with nearly three decades of experience in broadcasting, sports rights management, and marketing communications, is widely regarded as one of Africa’s most accomplished media entrepreneurs.

From Sports Management to National Broadcasting

A trained entertainment and intellectual property lawyer, Pedro also holds a Master’s degree in Investment Management & Finance from City University Business School, London.

In 1995, he founded Optima Sports Management International (OSMI), which became one of Africa’s leading sports content providers. The company distributed premium events such as the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup, and CAF competitions to audiences in more than 40 countries.

Pedro’s career also includes leadership roles at Bloomberg Television Africa, Rapid Blue Format, and consultancy work for FIFA, UEFA, Fremantle Media, and the African Union of Broadcasters (AUB). Notably, he helped the AUB secure exclusive pan-African free-to-air media rights for all CAF competitions.

Industry analysts have credited him with developing commercially viable broadcast platforms, attracting high-value sponsorships, and delivering world-class content tailored to African audiences.

Signalling a New Direction for NTA

The appointments are among the most significant leadership changes at NTA in recent years. Media experts see the move as part of the Federal Government’s broader effort to modernise the broadcaster, improve content quality, and compete effectively in Nigeria’s increasingly dynamic media market.

“Pedro’s track record in sports rights, global broadcasting partnerships, and content innovation positions him to lead NTA into a new era,” said a senior industry analyst.

The new leadership is expected to prioritise audience engagement, digital transformation, and strategic partnerships, as NTA seeks to reclaim its position as a leading broadcaster in Africa.

The Lagos State Government has launched a fresh registration exercise to capture poor and vulnerable households that were left out of its earlier database, in a move aimed at strengthening social protection and equitable welfare delivery across the state.

The exercise, coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget under the supervision of Commissioner Ope George, began at Ajibola Community Development Area (CDA) in Ikosi-Isheri LCDA, Kosofe Local Government.

Speaking at the flag-off, Mrs. Oluwakemi Garbadeen-Adedeji, Director of the Social Protection Coordinating Department, who represented the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Olayinka Ojo, stressed that the initiative reflects the government’s commitment to targeted support.

“This registration is a key step in achieving our goal of targeted support for poor and vulnerable households,” she said.

She explained that the fresh registration is designed to include families that missed out in the earlier exercise, ensuring the Lagos State Single Social Register (LASSR) remains accurate and comprehensive.

Community leaders also welcomed the exercise. Alhaja Arikawe Adewale, Chairman of Ajibola CDA, praised Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for what she described as “the dividends of democracy” through his administration’s welfare programmes.

“We appreciate the government’s commitment to social protection. This large turnout shows residents understand the benefits of being captured in the social register,” she told the officials present.

The update is part of the state’s ongoing integration of LASSR with the National Identification Number (NIN), which began on 9 April 2025 across all 57 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas.

The LASSR, a subset of the National Social Register, is a critical database used to identify beneficiaries for targeted welfare interventions. It includes information on households experiencing poverty and vulnerability, enabling more efficient distribution of government support.

According to the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, the updated register will help ensure all eligible households can access benefits under Lagos State’s social protection delivery programmes, reducing gaps in welfare coverage.

Civil society organisations in Lagos have accused the Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) of disregarding public opinion by going ahead with plans for a stakeholder engagement on a pilot Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the water sector.

The event, scheduled to discuss the theme “Attracting Investments for Improved Water Supply in Lagos through Public Private Partnership”, was announced in a statement signed by LWC Managing Director, Engr. Muktaar Tijani, on 8 August 2025. The LWC said it aims to create awareness and secure support for the sustainability of the initiative.

But three water justice organisations — the Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), the Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), and the Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF) — say the plan runs against the wishes of Lagos residents who have “firmly rejected” any form of water privatisation and want public-sector-led solutions instead.

They argue that the proposed PPP represents “a stubborn push for privatisation” of water infrastructure developed with public funds, despite growing global evidence of failed water privatisation experiments and a trend towards re-municipalisation.

Public opinion ‘ignored’

RDI Executive Director, Philip Jakpor, said:

“We have stated time and again that the major challenge militating against access to water in Lagos is the unwillingness of the state government to listen to popular opinion which has rejected privatisation and firmly supports public sector solutions to the Lagos water crisis.

The so-called stakeholder engagement being planned by the management of LWC is not a gathering of the real stakeholders who reject the attempt of the Lagos government to be stampeded into accepting a new form of colonialism.”

EDEN’s Executive Director, Barrister Chima Williams, criticised the state government’s determination to proceed:

“By coming up with the so-called stakeholder engagement to endorse the PPP plan in the water sector it would seem that the Lagos State government is stubbornly determined to push through privatisation despite glaring evidence of the failure of water privatisation across the globe including in the UK which the Lagos government used to cite as a model of successful water privatisation.”

CFSF’s Executive Director, Comrade Sani Baba, added:

“It is disturbing that the LWC is not sensitive to the implications of pressing ahead with the planned privatisation of utilities built with public funds. It is adding insult to injury to want labour and civil society to endorse the handover of such utilities to for-profit-only entities. It is unacceptable.”

A call for alternative solutions

The coalition said the planned engagement is “a one-way discussion with predetermined outcomes” and warned Lagosians not to expect anything meaningful from it.

Instead, they urged the state government to abandon privatisation entirely, commit to sustainable public funding for the water sector, and consider adopting a Public-Public Partnership (PuP) model — an approach they say has succeeded in other countries.