Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) on Wednesday announced the appointment of Ifueko Omoigui Okauru, former executive chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria, as the 2019/2020 AIG Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.
Awarded to individuals from West Africa who demonstrated evidence of outstanding contribution to the public good, through exemplary leadership in public service, the AIG Fellowship was established between the Blavatnik School and AIG in 2016.
“We look forward to welcoming Okauru as the new AIG Fellow, and to learning from her invaluable experience of reforming and increasing the capacity of Nigeria’s tax authority,” Ngaire Wood, Professor and Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, said.
Okauru was the executive chairman of the FIRS and chairman of the Joint Tax Board from 2004 to 2012.
During this period, she was a member of the President’s Economic Management Team, which had responsibility for driving Tax Reform as part of the Nigerian Government’s Economic Reform Agenda.
During her tenure, she spearheaded comprehensive tax reforms culminating in the development of Nigeria’s first national tax policy, the modification of tax legislation and marked improvement in the effectiveness of Tax Administration.
“Our partnership with Africa Initiative for Governance continues to bring inspiring individuals to the Blavatnik School and to the wider Oxford community,” Wood said.
The AIG Fellowships were established under a five-year partnership between the Blavatnik School and AIG based on the shared purpose of building good governance and public leadership. The Fellowships were instituted to enable Fellows expand their knowledge and leadership in the field of public policy and to, after their stay at the Blavatnik School, help drive AIG’s vision for transformational public sector leadership across the African continent.
Past recipients of the AIG Fellowships are Attahiru Jega, former Executive Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Georgina Wood (Retired), immediate past and first female Chief Justice of Ghana.
“AIG Fellows are selected on the basis that they have a record of professional excellence in public service,” Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Founder and Chairman of AIG said, adding that “the appointment of Okauru continues AIG’s tradition of identifying West Africans who have exhibited outstanding performance in public service.
In her remark, she said the fellowships are not just reward for good service but they provide opportunity for Fellows to think through the work they have done and to use the knowledge they gain at the Blavatnik School to explore other ways of adding value to public service in West Africa.
In addition to the AIG Fellowship, five scholarships are made available every year to talented and young West Africans from all backgrounds, who are passionate about the public sector, to pursue a Master’s of Public Policy degree at the Blavatnik School of Government.
“The AIG Fellowship is, first of all, recognition of one’s work and the need for that work to be replicated,” Okauru said, adding that “It is also a challenge to continue building on what one has done in the past, examine what others elsewhere have done and, ultimately, to be part of a coalition of people who develop solutions which will change the African continent in a meaningful, practical way”.
Okauru has held several executive positions within the public and private sectors and currently serves on the boards of several public and private organisations. During her time at the Blavatnik School, she is expected to serve as a mentor to the AIG Scholars at Oxford and to deliver a public lecture at the University.
Endurance Okafor
