FEMI BABAFEMI, Director, Media & Advocacy
Corporate Image Maker of the Year
Femi Babafemi is one of the most sure-footed image makers in Nigeria’s public service today. He 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 Obafemi Awolowo University (O.A.U), 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; among several others. He is currently the Director of Media and Advocacy at the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA. He had worked in a similar capacity as the Head of Media and Publicity at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), thus becoming the first Nigerian to serve as spokesperson for two different law enforcement agencies at different times.
Babafemi who joined The Sun newspaper in 2003 as a pioneer staff left as Deputy News Editor in 2008 when he joined the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission 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. 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. With 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 newspaper.
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, he has attended various international conferences and seminars including 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; Commonwealth Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies Conference, Gaborone, Botswana, 2011 and Conference of Heads of Drug Law Enforcement Agencies Africa (HONLEA), Nairobi, Kenya, 2022, among others.
Babafemi has won several awards/honours including:
*National Association of Northern Nigerian Students (NANNS) Distinguished Merit Award 2022 – Icon of Societal Development Award
*National Youth for Women Empowerment and Education in Nigeria: The Mrs. LadiKwali Platinum Leadership Award of Excellence 2021- Icon of Women Development
*Coalition of Northern Nigerian Ethnic Youth Leaders Award 2021- Sir Ahmadu Bello Platinum Leadership Award;
*National Association of Online Security News Publishers 2021- Certificate of Credence
*European Union and the UNODC Response to Drugs and Related Organized Crime in Nigeria (2012-2022)- Recognition for excellent contribution to the implementation of the project 2022
*SABRE Awards Africa 2022- Certificate of Excellence in Public Service/Government
*Spokesperson’s Digest, Spokesperson’s 2nd Award 2021/2022- Spokesperson of the Year 2022
*Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ondo State Council- Distinguished Media Ambassador of the Year 2022
* 11th TM News Summit and Awards – Media Personality of the Year Award 2024. Femi Babafemi is being honoured as The Top10 Magazine’s Corporate Image Maker of the Year based on his outstanding performance in the area of effective media engagement, visible positioning of his agency and above all, his ability to sustain positive public perceptionof his agency over time.
