Our Alumni
AIG PUBLIC LEADERS PROGRAMME ALUMNI IMPACT STORY
Yewande Omotayo Adesua is an Administrative Officer in the Ekiti State Civil Service. She is the Project Coordinator of Ekiti State Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project. The AGILE Project is a World Bank-assisted project that aims to improve secondary education opportunities among girls in targeted participating states.
In her 18 years of public service, Yewande has maintained an exceptional track record of resourcefulness and excellence, earning her commendations from superiors. Having been selected as a peer group leader responsible for mentoring young administrative officers to meet the new challenges of the 21st century, she was motivated to seek opportunities to learn relevant public administration practices and build a wider network in the public sector. This was one of the major reasons she applied for the AIG Public Leaders Programme. Her expectations of the programme were met.
“I saw the programme as tailor-made for me to advance my capacity with additional skills and knowledge that could be cascaded to colleagues and subordinates for the overall benefit of the public service in my home state and the nation at large. Participating in AIGPLP afforded me the opportunity of peer review and networking. The programme was engaging and intense. Lessons learnt from the core themes are needed elements and tools for effective and efficient service delivery in public service.”
As part of the programme, PLP candidates carry out a capstone project in their organisations, using learnings gained during the programme. Yewande’s project was titled “Harnessing E-Office for Effective and Efficient Service Delivery in the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), Ekiti State.” The project aimed to improve work processes by replacing paper documentation and manual file storage procedures with the digitalisation of the administrative process of NEWMAP. The project has reduced paperwork, enhanced real-time collaboration between project staff and partners, improved the document retrieval system by introducing a digital filing system, and provided the necessary infrastructure for remote work arrangements for team members. Yewande reported that team members have now embraced the new work mode, and the project is a pointer to the fact that the digitalisation of the public service is a needed revolution to transform the public service.
The training broadened Yewande’s perspective and equipped her to be a better leader, building her skills and capacity for better service delivery. “When I started the programme, I was the head of administration of NEWMAP, reporting to the project coordinator. However, before the end of the AIG Public Leaders Programme I was promoted to the position of a Project Coordinator and asked to head another World Bank Project, Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for learning and Empowerment (AGILE).”
Yewande believes that the PLP is necessary for building the leadership capacity of the public service across Africa. The Alumni platform of the programme also gives participants the opportunity to network and learn from each other on an ongoing basis.