Chiemelie Ezeobi
Come May 5 to 6, 2025, prominent media executives across Nigeria will converge on Abeokuta, Ogun State, for the third edition of the Nigerian Media Leaders’ Summit, a high-level gathering designed to explore how media owners and executives can strengthen their engagement with audiences and communities—while harnessing emerging opportunities in the age of artificial intelligence.
The summit, which will take place at Academy Suites in the Ogun State capital, is organised by The Journalism Clinic and will host around 60 media leaders, including newspaper publishers, editors-in-chief, TV and radio chief executives, general managers, directors of programmes, and editors.
In a statement released ahead of the event, Founder and Director of The Journalism Clinic, Mr Taiwo Obe, said the gathering would seek to “charge up the power to their connections”—a metaphor for transforming relationships with readers, listeners, and viewers into sustainable value.
“How to turn the connections with their audiences and communities into gold in the AI age will be what will engage dozens of Nigerian media leaders at the summit,” said Obe.
The summit is being supported through sponsorships and partnerships from a broad coalition of public and private sector organisations, including the Nigeria LNG (NLNG), Lagos and Ogun State Governments, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidelity Bank, and Polaris Bank.
Prominent media organisations have also signed on as partners. These include The Punch, The Nation, The Cable, and Business Day newspapers. Other supporters are the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Innovation Media Consulting Group, Real Pharmaceuticals, Academy Suites, and Penpushing Media.
“Besides the enriching intellectual engagements,” Obe revealed, “a major outcome of last year’s edition was the formation, based on one of the speakers’ presentation titled Where’s The Money, of the Innovative Media Partners Cooperative Multi-purpose Society (IMPCMS).”
This year’s edition promises even more dynamic discussions, with one of the centrepiece sessions being the Owners’ Forum, where five top media entrepreneurs will discuss challenges and strategies around audience engagement and market positioning in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
The speakers include Mr Frank Aigbogun, Publisher of Business Day; Mr Joseph Adeyeye, CEO/Editor-in-Chief of Punch Newspapers; Ms Toun Okewale Sonaiya, CEO of WFM 91.7FM, Nigeria’s only radio station dedicated to women; Ms Betty Dibiah Akeredolu-Ale, CEO of Branama TV, Nigeria’s first television channel focused on children; and Mr Musikilu Mojeed, Chief Operating Officer and Editor-in-Chief of Premium Times.
Tolu Ogunlesi, a former Presidential aide and media strategist, will moderate the forum.
“It is an occasion for the leaders to square up to their markets for enduring prosperity, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence,” Obe stressed.
The summit will also explore pathways for collaborative innovation and business model sustainability, especially as traditional media contend with rapidly changing audience behaviours, digital disruption, and monetisation challenges.
With the backing of institutions like the Central Bank and state governments, the summit underscores a growing recognition of the media’s role in national development and democratic accountability—one that needs constant re-imagining to remain viable and impactful.
The Nigerian Media Leaders’ Summit, since its inception, has served as a strategic forum for knowledge exchange, policy dialogue, and leadership networking in Nigeria’s complex media ecosystem.
As the media industry faces up to the disruptive forces of artificial intelligence, economic pressure, and audience fragmentation, this year’s edition is expected to foster fresh strategies and renewed momentum for transformation.
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