The Calvin University Board of Trustees has accepted the presidential search committee’s unanimous recommendation and appointed Dr. Wiebe Boer as the institution’s 11th president. He currently serves as CEO of Shell All On, a renewable energy investment company in Lagos, Nigeria. “Wiebe personally embodies Calvin’s mission with his unique life story,” said Mary Tuuk Kuras, vice-chair of the board of trustees and chair of the search committee. His academic grounding, a strong sense of social justice, and depth of experience in the private and social sectors position him well to lead Calvin’s next chapter with creativity, drive, and humility. His understanding of Calvin’s past propels his innovative optimism for Calvin’s bright future, and he is prepared to roll up his sleeves and work collaboratively with all stakeholders of our Calvin community on that journey.”
Notable Nigerian Calvin alumni include rapper and TASCK CEO Jude M.I Abaga, Danladi Verheijen, CEO of Verod Capital, J. R. Kanu, CEO of Reach Africa, Rire Nakpodia of Aeropostale, and Academy Award winner Rose Ibiama. Dr. Wiebe Boer sat down with editor Lehle Balde for an exclusive interview on this historical appointment, making him the third Nigerian-born president of an American university. He candidly talked about what he will miss most about Nigeria and the impact he hopes to achieve in his new role.
Lehle Balde:
Congratulations to you, Mr. President. From CEO of All On to the president of Calvin University, your undergraduate alma mater. This is very exciting. We’re happy for you. How do you feel about this move?
Dr. Wiebe Boer
I am very excited by this new opportunity to help shape young people. The most challenging part is that I have to leave Nigeria for now. It’s well known that I was born and raised here. I’ve spent over 30 years of my life in Nigeria and the last 12 years here in Lagos. Nigeria is home for my family and me. And so, even though I have a U.S. passport, going to the U.S. feels like going abroad as an expatriate. But at the same time, the opportunity is such an honour. I think I will be the third Nigerian-born president of an American university; one is already in place and another one was interestingly recently announced. Nigerians are taking over everything everywhere.
So people who only know me in All On think I’m an electrical engineer and that I’ve been doing power my whole life. They don’t know that the day I started at All On, I didn’t know what P.V. (photo voltaic) was. I didn’t know what a mini-grid was. I didn’t know what a Solar Home System was, but because of my consulting background, I’m able to learn new sectors very quickly. Higher education is another completely new sector for me. So obviously, there is going to be a steep learning curve for me both for the sector in general and Calvin University in particular.
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I did begin my career as an academic when I did my Ph.D. in history at Yale, but I did not stay in academia. So, I do know the kind of rigour that it takes to succeed in academia, but I haven’t been an academic administrator. The reason why the university chose someone like me from outside academic administration at this time is that American higher education is going through a challenging period caused by a variety of factors, including the following three:
One, the demographics are changing; there are fewer and fewer American university-aged children attending university, especially in the northern part of the United States. We will have to double down on enrollment in our traditional target markets while also looking for new markets to draw students from—both in the United States and internationally.
The second reason is that higher education is one of the only sectors of knowledge intermediation that hasn’t been significantly disrupted by technology. Yet, it’s pretty clear that that disruption will come in terms of how university education is delivered, and in what manner, and the pandemic showed everyone what could be done remotely. I think that sort of exacerbated that switch that’s going to happen. So, universities like the one I’m going to will have to prepare for and get ahead of that inevitability.
The third reason is that this generation of students in the United States and elsewhere have a very different view of their place in society. They are more interested in impact than income. They’re not here to wait for change to happen. They are here to make change happen now. Many from this generation question the value of sitting somewhere for four years and paying university fees. Rather, their view is: what can I get in six months to start my own business and make things start happening?
One of the considerations in Calvin University selecting someone with a non-traditional background for a university vice-chancellor is because there’s a need for a leader who has a global view, a sort of an outsider who can see things in a different way – to see how we can build on what we have, innovate, and move forward.
Lehle Balde
What are the things you’ll miss the most about living here in Nigeria?
Dr. Wiebe Boer
On the personal front, what I will miss most is being home, where I belong, where I fit. This is where I know; there’s no other country that I know this deeply. I was raised here, and now my wife Joanna and I have raised our four sons here. We will all miss it.
Second, the deep friendships I have. Many of the friends I have here date back to very early childhood and those are friendships that you can never replace. Thankfully, in today’s connected world, it’s obviously a lot easier to stay in touch. But at the end of the day, many of my closest friends from childhood live in Lagos, Jos, and Abuja, and I can see them often. But with the move, that will be different with the distance.
Third, I will miss the energy and the hustle, especially in Lagos, and I think that’s something I won’t forget any time soon. And then obviously, I’m going to miss the food, the music, the entrepreneurial energy.
On the professional front, while running All On for the past five years, I’ve been blessed with the most fantastic team and worked with the most amazing boss. My boss is Osegie Okunbor, the Country Chair of Shell in Nigeria, and he’s just a fantastic, wise, and inspirational boss. And then, the mission that we have at All On is about addressing the Energy Access gap, which, as you know, has become even more acute over the last few weeks. With grid failures and diesel prices going up, it’s getting worse. It’s an incredibly emotive issue and I would say, one of the fundamental development challenges in Nigeria that needs to be addressed. The work that we did and that All On will continue to do is something that I could feel the impact immediately on a daily basis: the impact on the end-users, but also the ability to invest in primarily young, primarily Nigerian entrepreneurs who have great ideas and who want to solve this problem from within. Witnessing that spirit is so incredibly fulfilling, and I will deeply miss that part. There’s a firm commitment from Shell and All On to continue to do what it’s been doing, and I still plan to stay in touch very closely and continue to provide whatever advice and guidance I can from a distance.
I have been with All On for the last five years, and it is always good for a person to periodically change and move to different kinds of leadership roles, and even every organization needs a shift from time to time. I think the same thing happened with the Tony Elumelu Foundation. I was there for about four years and then moved on. We built a solid foundation, and it is growing beautifully. It’s bigger and better than it was when I was there. So that’s my hope for All On.
Lehle Balde
Speaking of impact, I purchased an inverter from one of the All On investee companies, Salpha Energy. Sandra the CEO is fantastic!
Dr. Wiebe Boer
Sandra is an example of an entrepreneur that I’m so excited about supporting. She’s in her mid-20s. She’s building a great homegrown Solar Home System company that is beating all the international companies. My work here at All On is to equip Nigerian entrepreneurs to become the best in this space in the Nigerian market and then go after the market elsewhere. So that’s good. She’s built a great company. So, thanks for that very direct support.
Lehle Balde: What impact do you hope to have at Calvin?
Dr. Wiebe Boer
It’s about successfully addressing those critical issues that every university is facing mentioned above and setting the university on a path to growth and market leadership. The other big one is diversity and inclusion. It’s a 150-year-old school founded by Dutch immigrants to North America and is working towards embracing the diversity that makes the United States such a great country.
Lehle Balde: We at BusinessDay are surely all going to miss you.
Dr. Wiebe Boer
Thank you to you and to Frank Aigbogun, the BusinessDay publisher, as well as Isaac Anyaogu, and the energy team for all the support to All On and the entire renewable energy sector in Nigeria. I’m going to miss all of you, but thankfully the publisher has invited me to remain on the Editorial Advisory Board which will make it easy to stay in touch.
A note to all Nigerian parents looking for a great university to send their kids where they will be looked after: Calvin University is a great option. They’ll feel welcome. Come to Calvin, the university president will be waiting for the children at the airport. There’s a long tradition of Nigerian students going to Calvin University for the last 60 years, so there’s a strong connection there that I look forward to building on.
