MTN’s Funso Aina bags innovator award in Germany

MTN Nigeria’s Senior Manager, External Relations, Funso Aina, has bagged the “Innovator of the Year” award in the brands’ category at the SABRE IN2 awards.

The award was presented to Aina, a media and public relations professional, at the PRovoke EMEA Summit in Gesellschaftshaus Palmengarten Frankfurt, Germany, on March 23, 2023.

The SABRE IN2 awards recognise excellent work that highlights the expanding scope of the PR profession, from content creation to the evaluation process using data and analytics to inform, enhance and evaluate campaign successes across the globe.

Reacting to the award, Aina said the feat would serve as an inspiration to him and others at MTN.

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“I am grateful for the recognition from SABRE and its dedication to acknowledging exceptional content produced by modern PR professionals.

“This award is inspiring for all of us at MTN; it emboldens our commitment to improving the media landscape and implementing our ‘Good Together’ initiative. I am convinced we still have feats to achieve in the industry, and with strategic thinking, we will cover even more grounds,” he said.

Funso, a member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, and a corporate communication professional with over two decades of experience emerged top across Europe, the Middle East and the African region (EMEA). He was named ‘Most Influential Public relations professional in Nigeria’ by the industry regulator, NIPR in 2022.

Funso Aina has close to three decades of work experience in journalism, cultural diplomacy and telecommunications. He has various competencies and hands-on experience in public relations, corporate communications, media relations, public affairs and reputation and crisis management. He is a Fellow of the prestigious US State Department’s International Visitors Programme (IVP) and the British Commonwealth Press Union (CPU).

Before joining MTN Nigeria in 2009, he was Communications Manager of the British Council, Chief Correspondent at Punch newspapers, Assistant Editor with The Nation newspapers and Senior Reporter with Independent Communications Network Limited, publishers of The News, Tempo magazines and PM newspapers.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History (University of Ilorin, 1992) and a Master’s degree in International Relations (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, 1998).