Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) has appointed former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the head of a seven-member selection panel for master’s degree scholarship awarded by the organisation.
The announcement was made by the founder of the group, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, and directors, Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, Herbert Wigwe and Jeya Wilson, ahead of the inaugural meeting of the Initiative’s Panel of Advisors in Lagos, Nigeria.
Africa Initiative for Governance issued calls for applications on Monday, and said successful candidates will attend the renowned Blavatnik School of Government, the UK’s first school of Government, at the University of Oxford.
The group said from 2017 it will fund five scholarships each year as part of a new five-year partnership which is based on the shared purpose of building good governance and public leadership.
The scholarships will have an initial focus on candidates from Nigeria and Ghana, allowing the students to study for a Master of Public Policy (MPP) alongside classmates from across the globe, the organisation said in statement.
Along with the scholarship scheme will be an academic fellowship scheme. The AIG Visiting Fellowship will also be available from 2017, and will be open to candidates who can demonstrate an outstanding contribution to public policy that has yielded meaningful impact on the public good, and commitment to public service in their country, region and globally.
“The AIG Scholarship and Fellowship initiatives are scalable interventions aimed at tackling Africa’s intractable challenge of poor public sector leadership,” said Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede. “I am confident that our partnership with Oxford University’s prestigious Blavatnik School will become fertile ground for growing future statesmen and women who will change the African continent for good.”
Professor Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, said: “We are deeply grateful to the Africa Initiative for Governance for partnering with us. The Blavatnik School of Government shares with the AIG a clear purpose – to transform government through effective leadership and better governance.”
The AIG Panel of Advisors is made up of eminent personalities selected from across West Africa and will act as the selection panel for the award of scholarships and fellowships, as well as mentors to successful applicants.
The panel will also meet regularly to debate the challenges that Africa’s public sector faces and to conceive and propose solutions with long term impact.
Other members of the panel are Enase Okonedo, Dean of the Lagos Business School; Abubakar Mahmoud, Managing Partner, Dikko and Mahmoud; Ernest Chukwudi Ebi, Segun Adeniyi, Yemisi Ayeni, Ken Ofori-Atta, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Databank, Ghana.