In a year when Nigeria’s business climate tested the nerve of even the most seasoned executives, leadership has emerged as the single most valuable currency.
This is why, today (September 25) at the Centre Point, Ikoyi, Lagos, BusinessDay Media Limited, in partnership with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), hosts the Top 25 CEOs & Next Bulls Awards 2025 – a celebration of the leaders and companies that turned crisis into competitive advantage in the 2024 financial year.
The 2024 financial year will be remembered for seismic shifts in the economy: the removal of petrol subsidies that redrew cost structures across industries; the devaluation of the naira that redefined balance sheets overnight; inflation running at multi-decade highs; and interest rate hikes that placed unprecedented pressure on capital and credit.
These were not just abstract numbers in macroeconomic reports. They were real headwinds that confronted boardrooms, disrupted strategy, and strained investor confidence.
And yet, some leaders did not just survive. They scaled.
For over a decade, the Top 25 CEOs Awards has set the benchmark for recognising chief executives of listed companies who have delivered exceptional value to shareholders through bold strategy, operational discipline, and market innovation.
In tandem, the Next Bulls Awards honours high-performing private companies regarded by informed investors as tomorrow’s initial public offering (IPO) stars – the businesses that, if listed today, would spark immediate demand.
What makes these awards different is rigour. Behind every name shortlisted is a proprietary evaluation conducted by the BusinessDay Research & Intelligence Unit (BRIU), supported by surveys of analysts, investors, journalists, and sector experts. The awards are not popularity contests; they are research-driven affirmations of resilience, growth, and leadership excellence.
The logic of celebrating these CEOs is straightforward but profound. When leadership meets adversity, the entire economy benefits: investors regain trust, jobs are preserved and created, and sectors find new paths for growth. By highlighting those who navigated Nigeria’s toughest year in decades with vision and skill, BusinessDay is sending a clear message – that leadership still matters, and that even in turbulence, there are models worth emulating.
Past awardees of the Top 25 CEOs Awards include some of the most transformative names in Nigerian business. Odunayo Ojo, CEO, UPDC Plc; Stephen Alangbo, MD/CEO, Cornerstone Insurance Plc; Babatunde Fajemirokun, AIICO Insurance Plc; Owen D. Omogiafo, president/CEO, Transcorp Group. Others were Andrew Ikekhua, MD, NEM Insurance Plc; Abiola Lukman Lawal, MD/CEO Eterna Plc; Wassim Elhusseini, MD/CEO, Nestle Nigeria Plc; Oluwole Oshin, GMD/CEO, Custodian Investment Plc; Hans Essaadi, MD/CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc; Lolu Ayade-Akinyemi, GMD/CEO, Lafarge Africa Plc; and Peter Ashade, GCEO, United Capital Plc, among others.
Past awardees of the Next Bulls Awards include Tolaram Group, OPay Digital Services Limited, Global Properties and Facilities Limited, Rainoil Limited, and Mojec Limited, among others.
This year’s honourees join that lineage – proof that enterprise in Nigeria, though often tested, continues to find leaders who refuse to shrink in the face of storms.
In a country where the odds often feel overwhelming, celebrating those who scaled them is not just recognition. It is strategy. It is an affirmation that resilience and foresight are still the surest way to move markets, create wealth, and shape the future.
On Thursday night, the spotlight will not only be on plaques and podiums. It will be on the kind of leadership that keeps the wheels of Africa’s largest economy turning.
