Leading Without Limits
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The Spark | Ignite / Connect / Achieve<br />
wanted to leave the sector for academia<br />
because I was drawn towards making<br />
an impact. During my years in banking,<br />
I began to ask myself if I wanted to set<br />
up my own law firm or if was interested<br />
in becoming the Managing Director of<br />
a bank. At that time, the answer to both<br />
questions was no – but I was ambitious.<br />
So, the question became - how would<br />
I make impact? It took me about two<br />
years to figure this out.<br />
I didn’t just happen upon it. In the<br />
course of my soul searching, there was<br />
a matrix a colleague and I developed<br />
and we would interrogate different<br />
job and career scenarios for hours. We<br />
looked at skills set, work-life balance,<br />
remuneration, opportunity to develop<br />
skills, and several other factors. So, using<br />
those metrics, I selected academia.<br />
Truth be told, it was also probably influenced<br />
by some nostalgia from my<br />
background and the kind of work-life<br />
balance I yearned for being the mother<br />
of a toddler by this time, but I knew<br />
I could have a stellar career imparting<br />
knowledge to young people, shaping<br />
their minds and influencing society. So<br />
that’s how academia emerged on top.<br />
It is unbelievable how difficult it is to<br />
get an academic position anywhere<br />
in the world because there just aren’t<br />
very many openings. So, though I had<br />
already started teaching Business Law<br />
part time at Lagos Business School, I<br />
was really delighted when I finally got a<br />
full time offer from my alma mater after<br />
about nine months of waiting post<br />
applying - but I must confess, my heart<br />
did skip a beat when I saw my offer<br />
letter and realized I would literally be<br />
taking a 90% pay-cut from my banker<br />
salary. The reality of the pay-cut was<br />
quite daunting to be honest, so I think<br />
it was good that the position didn’t<br />
come easy. It made me appreciate it<br />
regardless of the pay and embrace<br />
the sacrifice. I remember confidently<br />
telling my husband that my income level<br />
wouldn’t go down because I was going<br />
to go after consultancy jobs on the side<br />
but I soon realized that good academics<br />
are very busy people – they have to<br />
read constantly to stay current in their<br />
fields, they write articles, conference,<br />
teach (which takes preparation) and<br />
also have administrative functions at<br />
their faculties. Perhaps most strikingly,<br />
as an academic, you have a deceptive<br />
amount of flexibility over your time and<br />
your schedule that can easily lead you<br />
astray. You have to self-modulate by<br />
setting your own goals and achieving<br />
them – or remain mediocre.<br />
There is a level of commitment that<br />
good teaching demands, when you<br />
know you are responsible for impacting<br />
and potentially moulding fresh minds.<br />
Coupled with the liberty of thought<br />
that academics enjoy, I fit right in. I do<br />
believe being part of the ivory tower<br />
and that academic lifestyle is truly one<br />
of the best jobs in the world; sacrifices<br />
and all, teaching is certainly one of the<br />
loves of my life.<br />
Literally, in academia one has to “publish<br />
(papers) or perish” so I found myself<br />
continuously writing for policy-makers,<br />
typically with a slant that bordered on<br />
issues of development because of my<br />
“aha!” moment on international trade<br />
at Cambridge. When this public service<br />
opportunity presented itself, my<br />
husband simply said since I was always<br />
writing for a policy-maker audience, I<br />
may as well go and actually shape the<br />
policies in practice – in short: go and<br />
practice what you preach!<br />
But again, I didn’t simply happen upon<br />
it. I had known my boss, the Vice President,<br />
for quite a few years and had had<br />
the privilege of working with him when<br />
he served as Chair of the Board of an<br />
NGO I ran for a year. I remember exactly<br />
where I was the day he was named<br />
the running mate to Mr. President in<br />
2014. I was so excited about the possibilities,<br />
because I know him, his work<br />
ethic and what he stands for. After having<br />
been an avid supporter for change<br />
through the campaign, shortly after the<br />
elections I took him a short brief detailing<br />
what I felt could be done in some<br />
areas of economic policy, particularly<br />
international trade.<br />
I was out of the country as a visiting<br />
professor in the Netherlands for the<br />
summer of 2015 when he emailed me<br />
soon after his inauguration and gave me<br />
an assignment. I was so excited I stayed<br />
up two nights researching and distilling<br />
a 3-page brief for him, and that was<br />
basically the beginning. When I came<br />
back to Nigeria, I went to see him again<br />
and talked some more and he put me<br />
on his economic team. It has truly been<br />
such a privilege and honour to serve<br />
Nigeria under him, and I don’t say that<br />
lightly. It is most humbling when you<br />
can do something you love and you can<br />
see the impact your country. It hasn’t<br />
been (and still is not) easy - change<br />
is not always fast and governance<br />
can sometimes be frustrating, but it<br />
is extremely gratifying! And when you<br />
have a boss that supports you, shields<br />
you and believes in you, you give it all<br />
you’ve got and you definitely do not<br />
want to fail.<br />
I think in all of this, I grew to realise that<br />
it is important to have a burden for the<br />
society, for making an impact on the<br />
country, and on people’s lives. The way<br />
I see it, I didn’t really change careers<br />
as teaching and working in the government<br />
are both public service. You<br />
have to be ready to pour yourself out<br />
and be fully committed, and to endure<br />
personal sacrifice in order to live your<br />
passions. There is no time for apathy<br />
because life is very short and I have every<br />
intention of dying empty. I’d rather<br />
do everything that I can to serve and<br />
make an impact, than to wallow in selfpity<br />
about things and complain about<br />
the state of the nation. I know there<br />
is something we all can do to create<br />
change, so I’m a firm believer in what<br />
Mahatma Gandhi said “be the change<br />
that you wish to see in the world.”<br />
www.thesparkng.com<br />
Being a Woman in the Public Sector<br />
Working in the Office of the Vice<br />
President, where I currently serve is<br />
merit-based. I have colleagues with<br />
different backgrounds, of different ages<br />
and skills sets; at least half of his team<br />
were under 40 in 2015, with several<br />
women on board in highly technical<br />
roles. Although my boss had known<br />
my human rights and development<br />
inclination as a socio-legal scholar, I was<br />
able to persuade him that I had value<br />
to add in the economic policy space.<br />
Because he believed in my capabilities<br />
from our previous interaction, he did<br />
not hesitate to bring me onboard,<br />
and I ended up writing my own job<br />
description and KPIs because my<br />
official role - Senior Special Assistant<br />
to the President on Industry, Trade and<br />
Investment at the OVP - did not exist<br />
prior to this time.<br />
In addition, I am currently also Secretary<br />
to the council because of my position<br />
on the Vice President’s economic<br />
team and I was asked to lead the delivery<br />
of Business Climate Reforms for the<br />
country and coordinate the activities<br />
of the PEBEC’s secretariat by the Honourable<br />
Minister of Industry, Trade and<br />
Investment, the line minister in charge<br />
of the intervention. The Deputy Chief<br />
of Staff agreed to release me from majority<br />
of my other duties to focus more<br />
on the intervention and it was really<br />
uncharted territory for me. I saw that I<br />
would have to collaborate with civil and<br />
public servants, heads of government<br />
agencies, Permanent Secretaries, Honourable<br />
Ministers (there are about ten<br />
of them on the PEBEC alone). Later on,<br />
we expanded the project to cover interaction<br />
with Governors, Honourables at<br />
the National Assembly, Justices, magistrates<br />
and private sector players at all<br />
levels.<br />
I took on the responsibility with<br />
humility, passion and enthusiasm, along<br />
with my team, which grew organically.<br />
I am privileged to work with about 20<br />
bright, young and passionate Nigerians<br />
from diverse backgrounds and<br />
together with our colleagues across<br />
the board we have been able to make<br />
some traction in this area for Nigeria.<br />
I have learnt ssssooooo much on this<br />
job! Mistakes and all, it has definitely<br />
stretched me to my limits and brought<br />
out a resourcefulness that I did not<br />
know I possessed.<br />
On Being Female<br />
Yes, I have experienced gender and<br />
youth bias out of my office, however,<br />
I am a strong believer that my gender<br />
has only ever been an advantage to<br />
me in life and I don’t say this lightly. I<br />
have gotten a visiting professorship<br />
and global recognition in my academic<br />
field, because I was a black Nigerian<br />
female working in Nigeria, and the<br />
world wants those kinds of good<br />
examples. I had a full scholarship to<br />
Cambridge for my first Masters degree<br />
20 @the<br />
sp<br />
ark<br />
ng
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