Larry Uwajeh, head of Communications and Promotions at the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), has been named the ‘Rising Star in Digital: Public Sector’ at the Nigeria Digital Public Relations summit, celebrating excellence, innovation, and impact in digital communications and public relations in Nigeria.
The award recognises emerging leaders who are changing how public institutions show up, speak, and connect in the digital age. For Larry, it is the culmination of four years of deliberate, consistent work built on the belief that public sector communications could be something people actually felt.
Uwajeh serves as Head of Communications and Promotions at the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), where he has led the organisation’s digital and communications strategy shaping narratives around employment, entrepreneurship, and economic opportunity for Lagos residents. LSETF was also recognised on the same night as Public Sector Digital Communications of the Year which was a recognition that reflects the communications culture he has been quietly building.
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Four years ago, Larry stepped into communications with a conviction that public sector storytelling did not have to be dull, distant, or disconnected from the people it was meant to serve. Every campaign, every press release, every piece of content since has been shaped by that conviction. This award says it was worth it.
“Good work, done consistently and with intention, gets seen,” Larry said.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Benin in 2018. While at the university, he was involved in the Nigerian Universities Association of Management and Business Students, serving as assistant director of socials during the 2015/2016 academic session.
How poor communication undermines Nigeria’s employment programmes
According to Uwajeh, effective communication requires institutions to balance the needs of different stakeholders, as poor communication can limit the impact of public employment and enterprise programmes preventing jobseekers, businesses and development partners from accessing opportunities and understanding their outcomes.
“The best communications strategy has to revolve around your key stakeholders: government, development partners, private sector, beneficiaries all at once, all with different needs,” he noted.
He also argued that grassroots channels can sometimes reach intended beneficiaries more effectively than social media.
“Radio, community champions, physical touchpoints can convert faster than Instagram for the audiences that matter most,” he said.
For employment agencies, this means combining digital platforms with community outreach to ensure jobseekers know about available training, vacancies and enterprise support. It also means measuring success beyond the number of people trained to establish how many secure jobs or grow their businesses.
Larry said institutions often struggle to communicate their achievements because they lack the structures to sustain visibility beyond individual staff members.
For Nigeria, where job creation remains a major policy concern, communication must do more than publicise interventions. It must connect people to opportunities and demonstrate whether public and development funding is delivering measurable economic benefits.
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Ngozi Ekugo holds an MSc in Management from the University of Hertfordshire. She is also an alumna of University of Lagos, Queen’s College, and an Associate Member of CIPM. Her experience includes a brief exposure in the Human Capital Management division of Goldman Sachs in London. She draws on her cross-sector experience to cover employment trends, career opportunities and international mobility.
