Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA
One good measure of Femi Babafemi’s distinction as a corporate communications professional is the fact of his being the first and only spokesman of two federal law enforcement agencies at different times. You have to be really outstanding to earn that.
He first served as the Head of Media and Publicity of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before his latest appointment by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as its Director of Media and Advocacy.
While in EFCC, he edited two official magazines of the Commission – Zero Tolerance and Milestone. He also served as the supervising producer of the Commission’s Radio and Television programmes called The Eagle. He has taken the same initiative to the NDLEA where he serves as Editor of the agency’s official magazine and Producer of its Television programme, NDLEA Today.
In his new role at NDLEA, Babafemi’s primary duty is the projection of the image of NDLEA and its leadership. He directly handles the agency’s relationship with the public and the media; develops and manages communication strategies that enhance better communications with the public, other organisations, policy makers and strategic stakeholders using various media platforms and public relations engagements.
Since his assumption of office, the NDLEA spokesman has been leveraging on his almost two-and-a-half decades of experience in journalism, media, and strategic communications to lead the publicity and advocacy campaigns of the agency as envisioned by its Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. General Mohamed BubaMarwa (Retd). He has been projecting the sterling performances of NDLEA prominently in the media. These efforts have attracted commendations from governments of foreign countries and the agency’s strategic partners who have shown renewed trust in NDLEA in words and action. NDLEA has gained international recognition as a regional force in drug law enforcement and attracted partnerships from similar agencies around the world.
Babafemi holds a Master’s degree in Public and International Affairs from the University of Lagos and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language from the ObafemiAwolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife. Besides, he holds certificates in Computer-Assisted Research & Reporting (CARR), Panos Institute, USA & IJC, Lagos, 1999; Communication Strategies, Royal Institute of Public Administration (RIPA) London, 2008; Managing People For Strategic Advantage, Lagos Business School, Pan-African University, Lagos, 2009; and Effective Public Relations Planning, The Management School, London, 2011.
The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy has under his belt close to three decades post-graduation experience in Journalism, Media and Public Relations, Strategic Communication and Reputation Management
Babafemi started his career in the pen profession in the defunct National Concord in the 1980s. He joined The Sun in 2003 as a pioneer staff and left as Deputy News Editor in 2008 when he joined the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as the agency’s Head of Media and Publicity. He returned to The Sun in April 2012 as an Assistant Editor and promoted Deputy Editor in June 2013. In January 2017, he was appointed the substantive Editor of Saturday Sun.
An author of two books and member, U.S-based Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), among others, Babafemi has attended various international conferences and seminars. They include the World Bank/United Nations Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009; United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Conferences, New York, USA 2009, 2010 and 2011; International Anti-Corruption Conference, London, UK, 2010; and Commonwealth Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies Conference, Gaborone, Botswana, 2011.
