The Executive Vice-Chair of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, says the foundation is working to strengthen Nigeria’s public institutions through leadership development, public-sector reforms and other initiatives.
Aig-Imoukhuede said this in an interview with reporters in Abuja on Wednesday.
She said the foundation believed that capable public institutions were essential for sustainable development and improved living conditions for citizens.
She explained that the foundation focused on developing public-sector leaders, supporting institutional reforms and working with governments and communities to address challenges affecting service delivery.
She noted that although funding and technical expertise were important for development, lasting change depended on whether institutions had the people, capacity and accountability systems needed to sustain reforms.
According to her, the foundation recognised that public institutions were built and sustained by people, making leadership development central to its efforts to improve governance.
“You cannot transform a public service without investing in the leaders within it, the people with the skills, the networks and the commitment to drive reform from within,” she said.
Aig-Imoukhuede explained that the foundation’s public-sector leadership programmes were designed to equip civil servants with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate bureaucratic challenges, build support for reforms and translate policies into practical results.
She said civil servants were particularly important because they provided institutional continuity despite changes in political administrations.
She cited the experience of one of the foundation’s alumni, Rose Onyero, who developed a confidential reporting platform to enable school counsellors to report sensitive child abuse cases safely and escalate them through appropriate channels.
The executive vice-chair of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation said the intervention demonstrated how public servants could use their positions to address institutional weaknesses and improve the protection of vulnerable children.
According to her, the foundation’s approach also considered government capacity and community participation in identifying service delivery gaps and sustaining improvements.
“Communities are not simply beneficiaries of reform. They are an important source of knowledge about what is working, what is failing and what people actually need,” she said.
Aig-Imoukhuede added that the foundation’s broader objective was to support public institutions capable of delivering essential services consistently and sustaining improvements beyond individual programmes or political administrations.
She emphasised that Nigeria’s development depended not only on policies, funding and technology but also on the quality of people recruited into the public service and the opportunities provided for their professional growth.
