Bukola Afeni
The Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation has restated its commitment to strengthening public service through investment in the people working in the sector.
The Foundation made the disclosure while announcing Joy Ugonma Olayiwola as recipient of the 2026 Aig-Imoukhuede Master in Public Policy (MPP) Scholarship to the University of Oxford.
The Executive Vice Chair of the Foundation, Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, said the Scholarship reflects the Foundation’s belief that reforming public service must start with empowering public servants themselves.
“The Aig-Imoukhuede Scholarship reflects our belief that strengthening public service requires investment in the people working within it. We provide public servants with opportunities to learn, broaden their perspectives and develop the capacity to approach complex challenges with greater insight and judgement.
” We are pleased to support Mrs Joy Olayiwola as she takes this next step and look forward to how she will apply her experience to her continued work in public service,” she said.
Olayiwola, an alumna of the Foundation’s Public Leaders Programme and Assistant Director at the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), where she leads the Smart Geospatial and ICT Unit at GeoApps Plus Limited, brings over 17 years of public service experience spanning digital systems, data-driven solutions and institutional capacity development.
With the 2026 award, 34 public servants have now benefited from the Scholarship established in 2017, to pursue a Master of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.
The programme is designed to equip Scholars with advanced policy knowledge, global exposure and practical skills to drive public service reform and improved service delivery.
According to the Foundation, beyond Oxford, Scholars return to the public sector to contribute to initiatives that include strengthening healthcare delivery, advancing institutional reform and combating human trafficking.
Reacting to her selection, Olayiwola said she looks forward to learning alongside public servants from different countries and bringing Nigeria into the global policy conversation.
“What excites me most about Oxford is not just what I will learn in the classroom, but the opportunity to interact with the public servants from different countries that I will learn alongside. I want to hear stories of what is working, what has not worked, what they are trying differently, and what they believe they could do better; and bring Nigeria into that conversation with an open mind,” she said.
The Aig-Imoukhuede Scholarship, delivered in partnership with Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, is one of the Foundation’s leadership development initiatives, which also includes the Public Leaders Programme and the Visiting Fellowship, supporting public servants at different stages of their careers.
