TheCable

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, former group managing director of Access Bank and founder of Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG), says the hope and future of Nigeria lie in the contribution of the youth.

Speaking during the recent AIG annual public lecture, Aig-Imoukhuede said AIG will expand its scholarships and fellowships and intensify investments to build a critical mass of capable
leaders who can move the country forward.

“Less than a week after our annual lecture, Nigeria was confronted with the consequences of several years of underinvestment in leadership and capacity building,” he said.

“The Africa Initiative for Governance grieves with the nation at the loss of life and property following recent days of social unrest.

“We must use this momentary period of darkness as an impetus to usher in a new dawn of enlightenment and progress. This is the time to envision what we want our nation to be and to move forward by building and empowering Nigeria’s next generation of leaders.

“This September, undeterred by COVID-19 challenges, we embarked on the national selection processes to identify the 2021/22 AIG scholars for Nigeria and Ghana.

“Recent events in Nigeria have threatened the completion of the scholar selection exercise. We, however, regard these scholarships as being more important now than ever and will marshal whatever resources are required to complete the exercise in time to meet the closure date for BSG’s MPP application window. Shortlisted candidates will be required to follow stringent health and safety protocols.

“Nigeria’s transformation lies in the hands of its youth, who will go on to lead the public and private sectors, and no stone must be left unturned as we invest in them and build their capacity to rebuild and lead a great nation.”

The 2019/2020 AIG Fellowship was awarded to Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, a former executive chairman of Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), in recognition of her outstanding contributions to public service.

Omoigui-Okauru delivered the AIG annual public lecture titled “Transforming the Public Sector in Nigeria: Reflections from My Leadership of the Federal Inland Revenue Service”.

During the lecture, she said: “Leading reform or, indeed, any other organisational activity is a team sport. The strength of the institution is in the strength of the team – past, present and future”.

The AIG scholarship programme awards five scholarships annually to future leaders to undertake a master’s degree in Public Policy (MPP) at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik
School of Government.