50 public servants to get Oxford scholarships by AIG

The need to improve capacity of public civil servants in Nigeria is getting a boost as the Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) and the Aig- Imoukhuede Institute launches a unique AIG Public Leaders Programme. This is in partnership with the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government.

Worth £11,000 per beneficiary, the AIG Public Leaders Programme will be an opportunity for 50 men and women working in the Nigerian public service to benefit from what organisers call “a once in a lifetime opportunity to participate in a seven-week worldclass leadership programme, run by an accomplished faculty of expert facilitators and teachers from the University of Oxford.”

The programme will be delivered through blended classes hosted online and in Abuja, programme participants will acquire 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 organisation through the challenges of an increasingly complex and dynamic world.

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“As part of our objectives to drive public sector transformation, we have been working with the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) to build capacity in the Nigerian public sector,” said Aigboje Aig-imoukhuede, founder and chairman of the Aig-imoukhuede Institute. “Accordingly, we have leveraged our long-standing relationship with one of the world’s leading schools of government, the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government and are bringing their expertise to Nigeria so they can impart vital skills and knowledge to our next generation of public sector leaders.”

Ngaire Woods, dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, expressed delight at the opportunity to extend the institution’s long-standing partnership with the Africa Initiative for Governance by bringing its Public Leaders Programme to Nigeria.

“We design our executive programmes for public leaders so that participants learn from world-renowned scholars, outstanding practitioners, and one another; we also take into account the current context for public sector leadership – in 2021, this means supporting heads of public organisations in renewing their leadership for the post-pandemic world,” said Woods.