Nigeria’s Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has praised the objectives of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, a public sector-focused philanthropic organisation for the quality of people it had called to serve in its council.
Obasanjo made this statement known while delivering his opening remarks at the Foundation’s inaugural meeting of the leadership council last week.
“This group is made up entirely of high achievers and I can say, without reservation, that I have never before been called to chair a group of this calibre,” He said.
The former president who is also the council’s chairman added that such a gathering of people who have a track record of getting things done is a challenge because expectations will be high about the results that they produce. “It presents an opportunity for us to work collectively to effect real change that will benefit our nation.”
The meeting marked the dissolution of the former Advisory Panel of the Africa Initiative of Governance, which had been in place since 2017 and the inauguration of the new Leadership Council, to provide strategic direction and leadership to the board of trustees of the Foundation in an advisory capacity.
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Members of the leadership council are Olusegun Adeniyi, Chair editorial board of ThisDay Newspapers, Akudo Anyanwu, Vice President Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Dere Awosika, former Permanent Secretary and Chairperson Access Bank Plc, Yemisi Ayeni, former Managing Director Shell Nigeria Closed Pension Fund Administrator, Ernest Ebi, Former Deputy Governor Central Bank of Nigeria, Uzodinma Iweala, award winning author and CEO Africa Centre New York and Attahiru Jega, Emeritus Professor and former Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission
Others are Omobola Johnson, former Minister of Communication Technology and Senior Partner TLcom Capital, Tunde Kehinde, Founder/ CEO Lidya, Fola Laoye, Founder/CEO Iwosan Investments Ltd, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN Chairman NGX Exchange and Partner Dikko and Mahmoud, Andrew Nevin, Chief Economist & Partner PWC, Ken Offori-Atta, Ghanaian Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Enase Okonedo, Vice-Chancellor Pan Atlantic University, Zainab Usman, Director, Carnegie Endownment for International Peace Washington and Jeya Wilson, former Chair, Independent Oversight Committee World Health Organisation.
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Chairman of the Foundation, expressed deep appreciation to members of the council for their presence at the meeting and their support of the work of the Foundation.
“Our theory of change is that an efficient and effective public sector will lead to a better Nigeria, with better socio-economic outcomes for all citizens,” He said.
“We are therefore committed to working with the civil service, supporting its reform efforts with funding and technical assistance and building the capacity of the public sector workforce,” Aig-Imoukhuede further said.
Also present at the meeting were Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, Executive Vice- Chair of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation and Herbert Wigwe, Trustee of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation.
The Foundation was incorporated in 2020 to consolidate the philanthropic activities of Aigboje and Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, including the activities of entities such as the Africa Initiative for Governance and the Aig-Imoukhuede Institute.
