Stakeholder Engagement, Strategic Communication & the Pursuit of Trust

The past 15 months have been, without a doubt, some of the hardest of my career—second only to the first two years of starting my own company. Working 18-hour days, often in high-pressure situations, Monday to Sunday, has pushed me to new limits. But I took on the challenge because I wanted direct public sector experience. And what better way to gain that than working with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, an institution at the heart of the country’s economic direction?

Of course, when you’re working with a hard taskmaster like the Governor, who sets the bar impossibly high and moves at an intense pace, your brain is always on edge. But his leadership style allows those ready to work to excel - pushing them to their limits, but as they say, hard work never killed anyone... or so we hope! ?? My consultancy role spans stakeholder engagement, strategic communications, legal, and high-impact projects that demand critical thinking. It has reinforced my belief that effective engagement and communication are not just about delivering messages - they are about shaping perception, building trust, and ultimately driving outcomes.

I have always been drawn to big, transformative projects and I’ve built two globally acclaimed platforms from nothing: African Women on Board and Africa Soft Power. Both initiatives were born from the need to shape narratives, elevate African voices, and drive strategic change on a global stage. That same problem-solving DNA is what fuels my work in the public sector, where stakeholder engagement and trust-building are at the core of everything.

One of the best podcasts I listened to this year was In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen, specifically the episode featuring Julie Sweet, Accenture’s CEO. What stood out most? She started her career as a lawyer, became General Counsel, and then transitioned into the CEO role. That path resonated with me deeply.

At one point, I was a law lecturer before becoming General Counsel. My ambition was to follow in my family’s footsteps and become a Supreme Court judge, until I was asked to become CEO of Spinlet, the biggest indigenous streaming platform on the continent at the time. We were early pioneers in music streaming, playing a role in pushing Afrobeats to global prominence. But being first in any industry comes with its challenges: investor fatigue, market education, and ecosystem gaps.

Leaving Spinlet, I started my consulting firm. Those first two years were brutal and I often thought the work would break me. But I had the privilege of working with some of the biggest global companies looking to enter the Nigerian market, helping them map critical stakeholders and mitigate risks. That experience sharpened my ability to see multiple dimensions of an issue - ideate, execute, and drive solutions from start to finish.

One of my biggest superpowers is being comfortable with not knowing everything. I may not always know the technicalities or jargon of something, but I usually know what needs to be done, who the key stakeholders are, and how to get from A to Z - i.e., how to execute.

Perhaps that superpower comes from being trained as a lawyer. The best lawyers don’t just know the law; they know how to think widely, critically, and where to find information. The ability to connect dots, analyze problems from multiple angles, and synthesize solutions has been invaluable in this role.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication: A Means to an End

At its core, strategic communication and stakeholder engagement are about driving results. In negotiations or meetings, success means ensuring that all parties walk away feeling their objectives have been met.

Some of our biggest wins are not by accident. They happen because the Governor has a clear vision of the road of travel. As a result, we have:

• A well-defined agenda on what needs to be done
• A mapped-out engagement strategy that we are actively executing
• A feedback loop to continuously refine what isn’t working

A prime example of this in action is the Governor’s early decision that doubling remittances should be a key strategy. To execute this, he established a dedicated working group with him as Chair. We designed the entire ecosystem - starting with meetings with International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) in the spring, followed by engagements with the Nigerian diaspora in Houston and D.C., and culminating in the launch of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number earlier this year.

Executing a project of this scale required careful coordination, ensuring alignment among key players, both internal and external, keeping momentum, and striking the right balance between collaboration and accountability. At every stage, it was about knowing when to push, when to listen, and when to adapt, ensuring that all stakeholders remained engaged and focused on delivering the intended outcome.

Above all, it is a privilege to serve and be part of a team united by one goal: for Nigeria to win.

And one critical ingredient that cannot be overstated: having a leader who is decisive, focused on outcomes, and trusts the process without being bogged down by micromanagement. It takes a village to drive meaningful change, but just as importantly, it takes clarity of vision and trust in the process.