Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde has said that governors are now more prepared to perform as they are better equipped with leadership strategies to deliver effective governance. nationwide.
This is as the Oyo State governor described the leadership retreat organised by the Nigeria Governors Forum in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme as a means of deepening governance across the sub-national level.
Makinde who doubles as the Vice Chairman of the NGF stated this in Kigali, the Rwandan capital on Sunday following the conclusion of a three-day training on executive leadership.
Attended by 19 Nigerian state governors at the invitation of the Rwandan President, Mr Paul Kagame; the retreat was dedicated to fostering dialogue on reimagining leadership and leveraging innovative technology, drawing inspiration from Rwanda’s transformative journey.
Themed ‘Reimagining leadership in a fast-changing world’, the participants engaged in sessions that explored Rwanda’s successful investment destination transformation in digital technology, urban planning and socio-economic transformation, and concluded with a private dialogue with President Kagame.
A statement jointly signed by Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, Director of Media at the NGF and Christabel Chanda-Ginsberg, Head, Public Engagement, Outreach and Partnership Lead, UNDP Nigeria, quoted Makinde as saying, “It has been an engaging retreat. I am glad a significant number of governors are here to be part of it so that, together, we can use the knowledge acquired.
“Our discussions have equipped us with adaptive leadership strategies and identifying pathways to effective governance and nationwide sustainable development.”
Speaking on the aim of the retreat, NGF Director General, Asishana Okauru, said, “As a non-partisan organisation and policy arm, the NGF organised this gathering to foster transformative leadership and facilitate honest, frank, and open dialogue to shape the discourse on these cross-cutting themes.”
Aware of the challenges of governance and aligned to UNDP’s mandate as the lead UN agency on development, Mohamed Yahya, UNDP’s Resident Representative in Nigeria, said the gathering “Offers an opportunity to reimagine Nigeria’s leadership to achieve transformation and nationwide sustainable development.”
The retreat also focused on learning through dialogue – with sessions on rethinking leadership, leading systems, leading self and leading to delivering, as well as learning through observation – with an interactive programme exploring Rwanda’s emergence as an investment destination through visits and exchanges with innovation hub Norrsken House, the Rwanda Development Board and the Mayor of the City of Kigali.
