Addressing Leadership Deficiencies in Public Service 

For ages, lack of quality leadership has remained a clog in the wheel of Nigeria’s development – but the conscious and persistent efforts by the AIG-Imoukhuede Foundation in mentoring competent leaders even beyond the shores of the country could make a lot of difference in governance, James Emejo writes

As aptly captured recently by former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, quality leadership remains a critical ingredient of success or failure for Nigeria’s development objectives.

According to him, there are quality deficiencies in public sector leadership compared to what obtains in other sectors in the private sector even though the latter had also shown cracks in terms of integrity, professionalism and efficiency in the delivery of services in recent times.

Yet, the former INEC boss believes that in spite of several attempts aimed at reforming the public sector since the mid-1980s, it has experienced a “decomposition, reflected in the nature and character of the state structures, institutions, and processes as well as the orientation, character, and disposition of those leading it”.

The eminent African novelist and critic, here addresses Nigeria’s problems, aiming to challenge the resignation of Nigerians and inspire them to reject old habits which inhibit Nigeria from becoming a modern and attractive country.

The late Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic, Chinua Achebe in his book, “The Trouble with Nigeria” which was written over two decades ago, rightly demonstrated that rather than being a blessing, the country’s set of leaders – political and otherwise have largely contributed to the current challenges that have bedevilled the entity.

Achebe wrote that “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership” – a position which had been supported by many and remains evident in virtually all spheres of the economy.

However, speaking on “Public Sector Leadership in Times of Crises” during the closing ceremony of AIG – Imoukhuede Public Leaders Programme in Abuja, Jega pointed out that, the “Nigerian public sector has, for long, been in dire need of re-composition” in order to efficiently and effectively deliver public goods and services and to re-establish capacity of the Nigerian state to play one of its key roles, which is the deployment of state resources for the satisfaction of citizens’ needs and aspirations, through the delivery of public goods and services that promote, protect and defend human security.

He expressed regrets that the Nigerian government had paid inadequate attention to addressing the poor leadership challenge but expressed confidence that the timely interventions by the AIG-Imoukhuede Foundation, would serve to sensitise governments at various levels and begin to make them alive to their responsibilities.

Jega said African countries need to pay considerable attention to increasing the capacity, competence, and effectiveness of leadership in the public sector, so as to reposition it for greater roles and impact beneficial for economic growth and socioeconomic development.

According to him, nurturing and sustaining high-quality  public sector leadership remained both a panacea for stable societal development, as well as a proactive strategic preparation for the successful resolution of crises that may arise.

   Building New Generation Public Sector Leaders

Today, it is believed that those who are at the helm of affairs do not even understand the purpose of public service or being in a position to lead.

This was why the AIG-Imoukhuede Foundation had taken the lead to reorientate current and intending public officers their primary responsibility to the people and the country in general.

The AIG Public Leaders Programme (PLP), offered by the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation and the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, is an executive education programme that provides high-potential African public servants the opportunity to acquire the skills needed to create cultures of excellence, effectiveness, and integrity in their organisations.

The 2022 PLP class, which included its first international participant from South Africa, was made up of 52 public servants, carefully selected from government ministries, departments, and agencies.

Delivered through a blend of rigorous online and in-person classes, the programme equipped the 52 programme graduates with the knowledge, tools and conceptual frameworks they need to meet the challenges of public sector leadership in a fast-changing world.

The programme consisted of months of intense and demanding sessions, engaging participants through classroom discussions, simulations, practical exercises and a capstone project, leading to the closing ceremony.

In his remarks, Chairman of the foundation, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, pointed out that as part of its multi-billion Naira commitment to facilitate the transformation of the public sector, the foundation was committed to building a new generation of public sector leaders to drive change across their various organisations.

According to him, the foundation’s partnership with the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford was a means of ensuring that these future public sector leaders had access to world class training, which would give them the skills and knowledge they need to be effective leaders. 

While congratulating the graduates, he urged them to use the learnings they had gained from the programme in their various places of work, adding that the private sector must recognise the important role the public sector plays in national development and encouraged more support for the reforms of the public sector.

The AIG Public Leaders Programme is a seven-week executive education programme for African public servants, delivered via synchronous and asynchronous methods with two live teaching weeks in Abuja.

 Participants, all of whom are offered fully funded scholarships to attend the programme are taught 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 organisations through the challenges of an increasingly complex and dynamic world.

On the expected outcomes from participants, Aig-Imoukhuede in an interview with THISDAY, said, “52 Africans have been through a four-month programme that involves residential teaching, virtual teaching; they’ve been through case studies and they’ve worked on capstone projects which are meant to solve problems either in their place of work or any sphere of public activity and taught by a world class faculty from the university of Oxford and Blavatnik School of Government.

“We interacted with leaders in the public and private sectors in class and I don’t think it gets any better than that. My own vision for this class and the class before it is that it was at a programme just like this at Harvard that the whole idea of Access Bank was hatched.

“When you get together with peers with like minds, driven to excel and succeed, very interesting things happen in such groups and in such classrooms.”

He said, “So, I hope that just as I attended a programme like this well over 20 years ago in Harvard – Nigerians and other public servants who are attending this programme will make Access Bank happen in the public sector.”

Asked whether there were efforts to ensure that Nigerian politicians and other public officials benefit from the programme as they take up higher responsibilities, Aig-Imoukhuede said, “I wish we had infinite capacity but we don’t and we have to start somewhere but it is something that we are thinking about and eventually we would get there.”

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African countries need to pay considerable attention to increasing the capacity, competence, and effectiveness of leadership in the public sector, so as to reposition it for greater roles and impact beneficial for economic growth and socioeconomic development

L-R: Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, Execuitive Vice-Chair, Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation; Segun Adeniyi, former Editor, Thisday; Professor Darlington Ewaen Obaseki, winner, AIG Public Leaders Programme Capstone Project; Professor Chris Stone Co-chair Blavatnik School of Government at the closing ceremony of the AIG Public Leaders Programme class of 2022.