The Enugu State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr Lawrence Ezeh, has been named among the most influential leaders and public figures in Africa. This is contained in a newly released 2025 Who’s Who Africa Bibliography Compendium, an annual roll call of leaders whose works are shaping the African continent’s future.
Ezeh, who is also a full-blooded Prince in Mburubu Kingdom in Enugu State, was recognised for his contributions to engineering, industrial entrepreneurship, and innovation leadership within Nigeria and the African continent by extension. The compendium noted that for Ezeh, inclusion among such an illustrious cohort of influential leaders and achievers in Africa marks a defining moment in his career, rooted in both traditional heritage and technical expertise.
“Born into the royal family of Mburubu Kingdom in Enugu State, he has emerged as one of Nigeria’s leading technocrats, blending engineering discipline with public-sector vision.
“A Marine Engineering graduate of Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Ezeh later earned a Master’s degree in engineering management and a doctorate that broadened his administrative and research depth. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and a chartered engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
“His entrepreneurial journey began in 2002 with the establishment of Buzuzu International Limited, initially focused on industrial gases and pipeline preservation.
“The enterprise later expanded into a diversified industrial group comprising Buzuzu Construction Company Limited, Promat Coating Company Limited, and Renzolina Services Limited, where Ezeh serves as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
“The companies play key roles in Nigeria’s industrial ecosystem, promoting local content, infrastructure development, and indigenous capacity in the oil and gas sector,” it said.
It said that as Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Ezeh is already spearheading policies aimed at repositioning Enugu State as a knowledge-based and digital-based economy, with initiatives spanning inclusive e-governance; youth digital and innovation programmes; digital strategy development; and stronger collaboration between academia and industry.
“Beyond public service, he runs the Prince and Princess Lawrence Ezeh Foundation, which has provided scholarships, supported widows, empowered small businesses for thousands of people, as well as massively invested in community development efforts.
“His inclusion in the 2025 Who’s Who African Compendium underscores a career defined by technical innovation, industrial growth, and public service, cementing his standing among Africa’s most influential leaders,” it said.
The Who’s Who compendium, widely regarded as one of Africa’s most authoritative registers of influence, also features a constellation of Nigerian political heavyweights, economic reformers, cultural icons, and scientific pioneers.
Among those listed are Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization; Philip Emeagwali, the Computer Scientist credited with pioneering massively parallel computing; Dr Akinwumi Adesina, former President of the African Development Bank; Ebenezer Onyeagwu, former Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank; and Francis Cardinal Arinze, the Nigerian-born Cardinal whose decades of service in the Catholic Church have earned global admiration.
Also featured are revered traditional rulers including Sultan Muhammadu Sa’adu Abubakar III of Sokoto; HRM Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha; Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (Ojaja II), the Ooni of Ife; HRH Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Emir of Kano; and His Majesty Ògíamẹ̀ Atuwatsé III CFR, the Olú of Warri Kingdom.
From the business community, the compendium acknowledges Mike Adenuga, Chairman of Globacom and Conoil Producing; Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings and UBA; Prof Benedict Oramah, former President of Afreximbank; Femi Otedola, energy and investment magnate; and Dame Adaora Umeoji, Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank.
They are joined by financiers and industrialists such as Andy Ojei, Bella Disu, Dr Stanley Uzochukwu of Stanel Group, Dr Isaac Akpoveta, and Dr Stella Okoli, founder of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries.
Cultural and intellectual contributions are represented by novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; veteran actors Pete Edochie and Olu Jacobs; and political statesman Peter Gregory Obi, former Governor of Anambra State. Global public service figures, including Dr Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General; Dr Amy Jadesimi, CEO of LADOL; and Justice Margaret Obi of the High Court of England and Wales, among others that made the list.
