Nigerian Governors Travel To Rwanda For Leadership Retreat

The 36 state governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), are jetting out to Kigali, Rwanda, an East African country, for a three-day leadership retreat.

The retreat being organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will take place from August 24 to 27, in Kigali, the Rwandan capital.

The UNDP said the retreat is part of its commitment towards raising the level of governance in Africa and other parts of the world.

The UN agency added that the retreat will provide a transformative platform for the governors to collectively reflect, learn and exchange insights on effective leadership and complex challenges.

“By focusing on experiential learning, exploration and reflection, the distinguished participants will be equipped with the necessary skills and competencies to lead in highly complex and uncertain environments,” Lealem Berhand Dinku, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Nigeria Country Office, said in the invitation letter addressed to the governors.

Further explaining the need for the retreat, the UNDP official noted that it would equip the governors with leadership skills to tackle challenges posed by issues in today’s dynamic world such as invisible threats to democratic governance, the impact of an increasingly digital and innovation-driven society, a looming job crisis, a growing youth population with an elusive youth dividend, the rapid pace of urbanisation, a highly globalised world, and rising climate change.

“A new leadership approach is required to transform these challenges into opportunities,” Dinku added.

The organisers said the sessions will be held on topics such as ‘Re-imagining and Exploring the Future of Nigeria’, ‘Opportunities and Challenges of Contemporary Leadership in a ‘New’ World’, ‘The Future of Development as Influenced by Digital Transformation, Big Data, Disruptive Innovation and Emerging Technologies’, and ‘Ensuring Socio-economic Transformations: Industrialisation, Agriculture, Climate and Green Transition’

Other areas would be, ‘Revenue Generation and Resource Mobilisation’, ‘Effective Leadership Communication in a Fast-Changing World’, ‘The Future of Pan-Africanism and Integration in a Changing World, ‘Managing Diversity and Enhancing Social Cohesion for Socio-economic Transformation’, and ‘Personal Mastery: Nurturing Leadership from Within’.

Chairman of the NGF, Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, and governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos and Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra are among those billed to speak at the retreat.

President of Rwanda Paul Kagame and Donald Kaberuka, former President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), are also among the speakers.

As of the time of filing this report on Wednesday, it is not known if all the 36 state governors will make the trip to Rwanda for the leadership retreat.

However, it was reported on Tuesday that Ekiti State governor Biodun Oyebanji had travelled for the program.

Oyebanji’s trip was disclosed by his Special Adviser on Media, Yinka Oyebode.

There were also reports that Zamfara State governor Dauda Lawal is already in Abuja to leave for Kigali, to participate in the retreat.