Leaving the Tarmac digital roadshow, records huge success
“We have strengthened relationships, built understanding and shared our collective commitment to continued investment to change Nigeria for the better” - Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede
Leaving the Tarmac: Buying a Bank in Africa author Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede recently wrapped up the first leg of a series of global digital stakeholder events, during which he introduced his memoir to various stakeholders. Mr Aig-Imoukhuede used the roadshow to reveal why he wrote Leaving the Tarmac and to share some of his professional and philanthropic activities with delegates.
Explaining his rationale for undertaking the roadshow, Aigboje stated that he wanted to reach key stakeholder groups with news of the publication of Leaving the Tarmac and to inform them of themes in the book that were of particular relevance to their own interests. Additionally, he wanted to inform stakeholders of how his family philanthropic organisation, the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, intended to engage with them now and in the future.
The stakeholder groups Aigboje engaged with were the media, Nigerian youth, the broader African community, the global academic community, the Nigerian Civil service, and the financial services sector in Nigeria.
The roadshow kicked off on April 22 2021 a few weeks after the global launch party, when Mr Aig-Imoukhuede met with a group of young people at the Ovie Brume Youth Centre. During the session, he reiterated his enormous faith in the spirit, resilience and potential of young Nigerians and announced the launch of a mentored internship programme that would offer five 12-month internships across his businesses and philanthropic organisations. He encouraged eligible young Nigerians to apply for the opportunity, saying it was not only his responsibility but his privilege to mentor and encourage young people to reach their full potential. The application window for the internship programme has now closed, and selected interns will be announced soon.
Aig-Imoukhuede also met with delegates from the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government (BSG). Since 2015, the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation entities have provided scholarships and fellowships for civil servants and those interested in working in the sector, to gain world class public policy training at BSG. Aigboje had a fruitful conversation with BSG delegates about the publication of his memoir and the critical importance of ensuring that public sector workers are fully equipped through formal education, mentoring and in-service training to be effective in their roles.
Aig-Imoukhuede met with delegates from African Banker and the African Leadership Initiative West Africa in two separate digital events in mid-May to discuss his memoir and unpack challenges in financial services delivery and leadership (in both private and public sectors) in West Africa largely and Nigeria specifically. There was excellent engagement from delegates at both these events, giving every indication of growing support for Aig-Imoukhuede and his initiative to transform public service in Nigeria and work to make decent primary health care available across the land.
The final meeting of this leg of the stakeholder roadshow was with the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) in the latter part of May, 2021. Close to 200 civil servants attended this event where there was brisk conversation around service delivery, the need for ordinary citizens to support transformation in governance, and the compelling need to address and end corruption on all levels and in all spheres of Nigerian life.
Reflecting on the roadshow, Aigboje stated, “This has been an enormously fruitful investment of time and energy,” he says. “We have strengthened relationships, built understanding and shared our collective commitment to continued investment to change Nigeria for the better. I am confident that good things will come from our collective endeavours as we move forward.”