Governors Are Better Equipped Now To Deliver — Seyi Mankinde

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State affirms that governors are now more equipped with leadership skills and strategies to perform, deliver effective governance across the country.

This is as Mankinde described the leadership retreat organized by the Nigeria Governors Forum in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme as a means of deepening governance across the sub-national level.

Gov. Makinde who doubles as the Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), made this known on Sunday after 19 governors of the federation attended a three-day training on executive leadership in Kigali, the Rwandan capital.

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.”

NGF Director General, Asishana Okauru, while commenting on the aim of the retreat said, “As a non-partisan organization and policy arm, the NGF organized 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.”