Winner of 2026 AigImoukhuede Master in Public Policy (MPP) Scholarship at Oxford Announced
- The Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation named Joy Ugonma Olayiwola as the recipient of its 2026 MPP Scholarship to the University of Oxford
- Olayiwola, an Assistant Director at NASRDA with over 17 years in public service, will study at the Blavatnik School of Government
- Her selection brought the total number of Nigerian public servants supported by the scholarship since 2017 to 34
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The Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation has named Joy Ugonma Olayiwola as the recipient of its 2026 Aig-Imoukhuede Master in Public Policy (MPP) Scholarship, which will fund her studies at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.
Olayiwola is an Assistant Director at the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), where she heads the Smart Geospatial and ICT Unit at GeoApps Plus Limited.
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She brings more than 17 years of public service experience, with a focus on digital systems, data-driven solutions and institutional capacity development. She is also an alumna of the Foundation's Public Leaders Programme.
With her selection, 34 Nigerian public servants have now received the scholarship since it was established in 2017.
Alumni of the programme have gone on to work on healthcare delivery reform, institutional change and anti-human trafflcking efforts within the public sector.
About the Aig-Imoukhuede MPP scholarship
The scholarship was created to give high-performing Nigerian civil servants access to graduate-level policy training at Oxford, equipping them with the analytical tools and global perspectives needed to improve service delivery back home.
Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, Executive Vice Chair of the Foundation, said the award reflects a core belief that public service reform starts with investing in the people who carry it out.
"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 said she is most excited about learning alongside fellow public servants from other countries rather than just the classroom content itself.
"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... I do not want to approach the experience simply by comparing who is ahead or behind, but by asking what can work in our own context and how we can contribute to making it work," she said.
Foundation's wider leadership programmes
Beyond the Oxford scholarship, the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation runs the Public Leaders Programme and the Aig-Imoukhuede Visiting Fellowship, supporting civil servants at different career stages.
Together, these initiatives form a network of public sector professionals working to apply policy knowledge across government institutions in Nigeria and across Africa.
Nigerian teen wins ₦120m prize at Int'l Qur'an competition
A teenage girl from Gombe State, Maryam Ibrahim Dan'azumi, has won first place in two categories at the 46th King Abdulaziz International Competition for Memorising.
Reciting and Interpreting the Glorious Qur'an, held in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, taking home a prize worth 300,000 Saudi Riyals, about ₦120 million.
Source: Legit.ng
