AUST names Dakuku Peterside to lead new African leadership legacy project

The African University of Science and Technology (AUST) in Abuja has set up a new research and training programme that will study what African leaders leave behind after they leave office. The project is called the African Leadership Legacy Project, or AFRILEAP, and it will be run through the university's Centre for Pan-African and Peace Studies (CePAPS).

Dakuku Peterside, a public policy expert and former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has been appointed Director of the project. Dr Bosco Chukwudumebi Okolo-Obi, who leads CePAPS, will serve as Programme Manager.

Peterside framed the work as a question for every leader. "AFRILEAP asks every leader one fundamental question: What do you want to be remembered for long after you are gone?" he said.

Why it matters

The project targets a problem many Nigerians know well: policies and reforms that stall or get abandoned when a new government or chief executive takes over. According to the university, AFRILEAP will look at how to build institutions and systems that keep delivering results after the person who started them has moved on.

At the launch, AUST President Professor Azikiwe Peter Onwualu promised the university's backing, saying it would give senior fellows and researchers the support they need. He said the project fits the pan-African university's founding goal of driving development through research, innovation and training people.

Professor Chudi Uwazurike, Director of CePAPS, also spoke, pledging the centre's commitment to making the initiative succeed and to spreading it across the continent.

The research will score leadership legacies on five fronts: how values are passed on, whether systems are built to last, how people are trained, the social and economic impact, and what the public and institutions remember. It will cover past figures, current public-sector leaders and private-sector executives.

What happens next

Fieldwork begins in Nigeria, with comparison studies planned in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and Rwanda. The research team draws scholars and practitioners from Africa and the United Kingdom, working across governance, technology, sustainability, peacebuilding, communications and leadership development.

Members include Dr Aminu Bello Usman (cybersecurity), Dr Mohammed Dahiru Aminu (sustainability and public policy), Richard Ali (peacebuilding), Dr Jeff Ukachukwu (communications), Dr Sam Danso (artificial intelligence), Professor Olalekan Adekola (climate adaptation), Dr David Molapo (leadership strategy, South Africa) and ZohAkiy Mbi-njifor Mbapeh (governance and organisational development).

Over 18 months, the team will build the measures behind an African Leadership Legacy Index, alongside a leadership framework, an open-access knowledge hub, policy briefs, masterclasses and a 12-month fellowship for emerging leaders. The university has invited development institutions, foundations, companies and other partners to support the work.