From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
A foundation, providing executive education programme, Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, has graduated the first international scholar among 52 public servants carefully selected from government ministries, departments, and agencies in the AIG Public Leaders Programme graduates.
The AIG Public Leaders Programme (PLP), offered by the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation and the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of government, is an executive education programme that provides high-potential African public servants the opportunity to acquire the skills needed to create cultures of excellence, effectiveness, and integrity in their organisations.
Speaking during the graduation of the 2022 PLP class, which included its first international participant from South Africa, Chairman of the AIG-Imoukhuede Foundation, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, explained that the graduands, made up of 52 public servants, were carefully selected from government ministries, departments, and agencies.
Delivered through a blend of rigorous online and in-person classes, according to the foundation, the programme equipped the 52 programme graduates with the knowledge, tools and conceptual frameworks they need to meet the challenges of public sector leadership in a fast changing world.
In his welcome address, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, stated that as part of its multi-billion Naira committment to facilitate the transformation of the public sector, the Foundation was committed to building a new generation of public sector leaders to drive change across their varous organisations.
After months of intense and demanding sessions, engaging participants through classroom discussions, simulations, practical exercises and a capstone project, the closing ceremony of the programme was held in Abuja recently.
He further explained that the Foundation’s partnership with the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford was a means of ensuring that these future public sector leaders had access to world class training, which would give them the skills and knowledge they need to be effective leaders.
He congratulated the graduates and enjoined them to use the learnings they had gained from the programme in their various places of work.
He also urged the private sector to recognise the important role the public sector plays in national development and encouraged more support for the reforms of the public sector.
In his keynote address, Jega, who spoke on “Public Sector Leadership in Times of Crisis”, oted that; “generally, in the contemporary world, times of crisis are challenging for everyone, including citizens and especially those in leadership positions.
“Managing and/or resolving these crises requires certain leadership skill sets, character traits, and thinking abilities. Many governments, including Nigeria, have not given adequate attention to recruiting, training, and mentoring capable executive employees to become good leaders.”
He hoped that the activities of organisations, such as the AIG-Imoukhuede Foundation, may serve to sensitise our governments and begin to make them alive to their responsibilities.
Dignitaries present at the closing ceremony include High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeria; Thami Mseleku, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Access Corporation; Herbert Wigwe, Chairwoman, Access Bank Plc; Dere Awosika, Special Adviser to the President on economic matters in the office of the Vice President, Ambassador Adeyemi Dipeolu, and the keynote speaker and former chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Attahiru Jega.
Also notably present were serving permanent secretaries and directors across different ministries and parastatals.The AIG Public Leaders Programme is a seven-week executive education programme for African public servants, delivered via synchronous and asynchronous methods with two live teaching weeks in Abuja.
Participants, all of whom are offered fully funded scholarships to attend the programme, are taught a range of vital leadership skills, conceptual frameworks, and practical tools that will empower them to be more effective as they lead their departments and organisations through the challenges of an increasingly complex and dynamic world.