54 highly qualified African public servants have been chosen by the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation to take part in the second cohort of the AIG Public Leaders Programme, which is run in collaboration with Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government.
Emerging African public sector executives have a rare opportunity to strengthen their leadership abilities and gain the knowledge and skills required to bring about change in their organizations through the AIG Public Leaders Programme (AIG PLP).
The program offers a top-notch executive education experience taught by some of the foremost public policy experts and professors in the world through the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.
The 49 participants, who represented all facets of the Nigerian public sector, unanimously acknowledged that the learnings they took away had a beneficial impact on their managerial skills. AIG PLP 2021 was a tremendous success.
Ngozi Jessinta Akinbodewa, a program alumna who works as an Assistant Director in the Operations division of the SERVICOM Office in the Presidency, said of her time in the program: “The experience was enlightening and interesting. The program taught me how to deliberately improve my workplace by identifying areas of process weakness, turning those areas into strengths, and looking for ways to apply PLP teachings.”
Olufesobi Bright, a different program alumnus, claimed that the training considerably exceeded his expectations and improved his performance.
“I began the program as a Change Advisor at National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), but I have now been promoted to Head, Process Efficiency and Change Management,” the man claimed. I think the program gave me a chance for a reorientation and the chance to develop my leadership confidence.
A capstone project, which asks participants to use a major concept from their lessons to establish or advance an initiative, an innovation, or an intervention in their organizations, is an essential component of the curriculum.
Alumni of the program have created a number of initiatives that are improving the performance of their organizations. The Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development’s planning permits records have been digitalized, among other projects. Other projects include a mobile app for NTA Abeokuta, an online patient booking system for Folarin Coker Hospital in Lagos, reporting guidelines and a service charter for SERVICOM, and a digital repository platform for the Financial Reporting Council.
Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, executive vice-chair of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, stated: “We are thrilled to see the impact the AIG PLP Alumni are having on their organizations. One of our strategic objectives at the Foundation is to grow a new generation of public sector leaders who can drive and sustain reforms. Therefore, we are happy to welcome our first international participant from South Africa and to have been able to choose fifty-four excellent public employees to join AIG PLP 2022.
According to Professor Ngaire Woods, dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, “We are thrilled to see the program operate again as part of our long-standing cooperation with the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation.
The Blavatnik School specifically creates executive programs for public leaders to ensure that participants learn from internationally renowned scholars, outstanding practitioners, and from one another, while also taking into account the challenges of an increasingly complex and dynamic world and the current context for public sector leadership in Africa.
The foundation will award academic scholarships of £11,500 to the chosen students, who were chosen via a competitive process, to enable them to take part in the program.
In October, the AIG PLP 2022 will start. The AIG PLP 2023 application period will start in January 2023.
