Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and his Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Pastor Umo Eno topped the chart as Nigeria’s “most loved” and “most inspiring” governors respectively according to the 2024 leadership survey report released by the Nigeria Social Media Week Group (NSG) on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
NSG Team lead for 2025, Dr. Mark Audu, in a statement at the end of Q1, 2025 roundtable meeting held in Abuja, 2025, said the survey “focused on public perception rating of the 36 state governors in the country independently polled online from respondents drawn mainly from among youth enquiry clusters across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones”
The 2024 leadership perception report showed that Governor Seyi Makinde retained his 2023 NSG rating as the “Most Loved’ and “Most Admired” Governor in the country, holding the voting lead as “the friendliest, most accessible and most nationally recognized governor among Nigerians” according to the cross-country rating index.
Respondents voted Makinde as the most resourceful governor in Nigeria with most points scored on the Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub and key infrastructural projects boosting local and international attention and investments with corresponding leap in business, job opportunities and economic growth in Oyo State.
Also according to the report, most respondents voted Akwa Ibom State, Governor Eno as the “Most Inspiring” Governor in 2024 as he topped the table on “leadership stability, resilience, encouragement and inspiring of hope especially in the face of very trying situations”.
The report showed that Governor Eno scored the highest points on youth mentorship, coaching, networking, entrepreneurship, education support even beyond his state in addition to development projects delivery under his ARISE Agenda.
Respondents acknowledged Governor Eno’s display of courage and resilience in his duties as State governor even while mourning the devastating death of his dearly beloved wife, Pastor Patience Umo Eno.
NSG year Team Lead, Mark Audu underlined that the Nigeria Social Media Week Group remains “an independent social media-based governance and leadership evaluation body focused on peer review and comparative study of leadership performance in Nigeria”.
Audu said that the rating was generally based on performance, legacy achievements, accessibility, friendliness and acceptance in home State, national recognition and profile adding that the NSG will present the award to governors and other awardees at a later date.
