Double Mention As NCC Directors Make The Top 50 PR Professionals In 2025 Power List

By Clifford Agugoesi, Editor-in-Chief

It was double honours for the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) as two of its directors made the cut in the list of top 50 public relations professionals honoured last Wednesday. The immediate past Director of Public Affairs(DPA) and the Head, Media Relations, at the Commission, Reuben Muoka and Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan, respectively, were honoured alongside 48 others.

The recognition, jointly announced on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, by GLG Communications in partnership with The Guardian newspaper and Edelman Afrique, celebrates professionals redefining strategic communication across Nigeria and the diaspora.

The exclusive soirée and awards ceremony, held on July 18 at Alliance Française, Mike Adenuga Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, south west Nigeria, attracted industry leaders, innovators and storytellers for an evening that collocated inspiration, recognition and frank dialogue.

The 2025 PR Power List features honourees in four categories: Rising Voices, Community Impact, Changemakers, and Fourth Estate, spotlighting professionals whose work influences policy, shapes perception, and fosters sustainable communication practices.

Managing Partner of GLG Communications, Oreani Ogbe said the selection committee recognised professionals “using influence for public good, leading strategic change, and building narratives that matter.”

Cyber Era NG can report that both Mr. Muoka and Dr. Ibietan were honoured in the Changemakers category. The duo are fellows of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.

Muoka is a former Communication Editor of Vanguard Newspaper, an ex-deputy general manager of Nigeria First Mobile Telephone Operator (MTS First Wireless) and recently retired as the director of public affairs of Nigerian Communications Commission.

Muoka obtained his first degree in Performing Arts from University of Ilorin. He moved to University of Lagos for his master’s degree in Mass Communication where he specialised in Public Relations and Advertising.

Muoka became part of the  Nigerian Communication Commission in 2007 as a Principal Manager and was assigned to a Public Affairs Department where he was the head of Media and Public Relations Unit. In 2010, he became assistant director and in 2015, he became a deputy director assigned to head the re-engineered Public Relations Unit of PAD. In 2017, he was moved to the department of Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis in order to head the Economic Analysis unit of department. In 2021, he was appointed as the head of the Special Duties Department, which includes the International Relations Unit; Emergency Communication Centres Unit; the Public-Private Partnership Unit; and the Security Services Unit of the commission.

Muoka is a member of multiple communication bodies including but not limited to the Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ), Nigeria Institute of Public Relations(NIPR) and Registered Practitioners of Advertising.

Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan is a Nigerian writer, journalist, and author, who was also a Special Media Adviser to Nigeria’s  former Minister of Information and Communication, Frank Nweke.

Career

Dr. Ibietan was appointed as the Head of Media Relations of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2022, in a career that has lasted over twenty years in journalism, academia, and public relations. Before his current role, Ibietan was the Head of Online Media at the NCC, and also worked at Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and Communication, where he was Special Media Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Communication.  He has been involved in engaging the National Assembly (Nigeria) on behalf of the Nigerian Communications Commission as part of his duties.

Ibietan is currently the Secretary-General of the African Public Relations Association (APRA) following his election at the association’s 35th annual general meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in May 2024, for which former Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, commended him.

Ibietan is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), a member of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), an Associate Registered Practitioner of Advertising (ARPA), and a member of the International Institute of Communications (IIC). He lectures postgraduate students at the Nigerian campus of Rome Business School, where he is also a faculty member.

Writing

Ibietan is the author of the book titled Social Media, Social Demography, and Voting Behaviour in Nigeria. He was commended by the then Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta, at the book launch for his “passion to write a book on cyberpolitics.”

Education

Ibietan studied at the University of Uyo, south south and the University of Ibadan, south west, where he earned a bachelor of arts (BA) in Communication Arts and Communication, and an MA in Language Arts, respectively. He also earned a PhD in Communication from the North-West University in South Africa, as well as a mini-MBA in Telecommunications from Neotelis in Paris.-With additional reporting by Angeline Mgbele, Bureau Chief, Northern Nigeria.