ERSTWHILE Director of New Media at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Pius Oghenevwairhe Ughakpoteni, has been appointed the new Director, Corporate Affairs of the Commission, following the retirement of the outgoing Director, Dr. Ibitoye Abosede.
A management expert and skillful writer with insightful and analytical skills, which he apparently acquired during his many years in journalism practice, Ughakpoteni has been serving as the Director of New Media since October 2022, after a seven-month stint as the Director of Abuja Liaison Office of the NDDC, leading a team of talented and passionate professionals who have been using digital platforms and tools to communicate the vision, mission, and achievements of the Commission to the public and stakeholders.
This appointment, which is with immediate effect, comes with a new mandate and responsibility given that the New Media Department has been merged with the Corporate Affairs Directorate, creating a unified and integrated function that will oversee all aspects of external and internal communications, stakeholder engagement, reputation management, and brand strategy for the NDDC.
“This is a significant change and a great opportunity for me and my team to leverage our skills and experience to support the NDDC in achieving its goals of facilitating the rapid, even, and sustainable development of the Niger Delta region,” Mr. Ughakpoteni remarked on Friday.
“I am confident that we have the talent, creativity, and passion to deliver on this mandate and to make a positive impact on the lives of millions of people in the region,” he added.
Ughakpoteni has, over a period of 30 years, garnered a wealth of experience that spans journalism, management, public relations, and practice-driven research across Nigeria’s private and public sectors, as well as universities in England and Switzerland.
Born in Eruemukohwarien, Ughelli North Local Government Area of of Delta State in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, Ughakpoteni started his academic career as a home boy in St Paul’s Primary School, Ughelli, from where he moved on to the Government College, Ughelli.
That humble beginning has today blossomed and taken Ughakpoteni into the international arena where he is currently a doctoral candidate at Business School Lausanne, Chavannes, Vaud, Switzerland, working on Business Administration, Business Transformation & Entrepreneurship, C-Suite Leadership for Corporate Sustainability Performance Advancement.
His research interests lie at the intersection of leadership, sustainability, innovation, change and strategy implementation. According to him, he is fascinated by collaboration and constructive engagement for change as well as by questions around how to work with top executives to advance corporate sustainability performance for the good of all.
Passionate about continuous professional development, Ughakpoteni earned three Master’s degrees from three universities in England in six years. These are: Master of Science in Business and Management Research from Henley Business School at University of Reading (2017); Master of Business Administration in Leadership and Sustainability from the University of Cumbria (2014) as well as Master of Arts in Leading Innovation and Change from York St John University (2013). He had earlier bagged the PR Academy, Maidstone House, Maidstone, United Kingdom Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Diploma Public Relations.
Before his international laurels, he bagged a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Management from the University of Calabar in 1991. That was more like a consolidation, as he started his higher education at the Auchi Polytechnic, where he graduated with a National Diploma, Business Administration in 1983.
Ughakpoteni began his working career in 1991 as a Management Assistant. Two years later, he veered into Journalism as a Researcher/Reporter at Nigeria’s THISDAY newspaper, where he worked on the Business, Energy and Politics desks in several newspapers and eventually became Associate Editor of Leadership newspaper.
While in journalism, he collaborated successfully with other journalists, as a member of the pioneer teams that established two thriving national newspapers in Nigeria: THISDAY and LEADERSHIP. This reinforced his strong need for achievement and ability to work efficiently with others in a team as well as equipped him with work attributes that are transferable to other settings.
Since joining the public service in 2004, he has risen from the position of Senior Manager to Director Media Relations at the NDDC, where his roles in different capacities included contributing to broadening and deepening media coverage of the Commission by working in collaboration with colleagues within the organisation as well as with external print, electronic and new media practitioners to foster and improve public awareness of, and support for, the Commission’s development projects and programmes.