By Gabriel Ameh
Joy Ugonma Olayiwola, an Assistant Director at the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), has been named the recipient of the 2026 Aig-Imoukhuede Master in Public Policy (MPP) Scholarship to the University of Oxford.
The scholarship, awarded by the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, will support Olayiwola’s pursuit of a Master of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.
Olayiwola has more than 17 years of public service experience, with expertise in digital systems, data-driven solutions and institutional capacity development. At NASRDA, she leads the Smart Geospatial and ICT Unit at GeoApps Plus Limited.
She is also an alumna of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation Public Leaders Programme.
Established in 2017, the Aig-Imoukhuede MPP Scholarship provides exceptional Nigerian public servants with the opportunity to undertake the Master of Public Policy programme at Oxford.
According to the Foundation, the initiative is designed to equip public servants with advanced policy knowledge, international exposure and practical skills that can strengthen public sector reform and improve service delivery.
With Olayiwola’s selection, the number of Nigerian public servants who have received the Aig-Imoukhuede MPP Scholarship to Oxford has risen to 34.
The Foundation said previous scholars have applied their knowledge to areas including healthcare delivery, institutional reform and efforts to combat human trafficking.
Speaking on the latest scholarship award, Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, Executive Vice Chair of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, said the programme reflects the Foundation’s belief that public service reform requires investment in the people working within the system.
“The Aig-Imoukhuede Scholarship reflects our belief that strengthening public service requires investment in the people working within it,” she said.
She added that the Foundation provides public servants with opportunities to broaden their perspectives and develop the capacity to approach complex challenges with greater insight and judgement.
For Olayiwola, the Oxford experience will go beyond classroom learning. She said she is particularly looking forward to interacting with public servants from different countries and learning from their experiences.
She said she wants to understand what has worked in other countries, what has failed and what approaches are being tried differently, while bringing Nigeria into the conversation.
Rather than simply comparing which countries are ahead or behind, Olayiwola said she hopes to examine what can work within Nigeria’s own context and how public servants can contribute to making such solutions work.
The Aig-Imoukhuede MPP Scholarship is one of the Foundation’s leadership development initiatives delivered in partnership with the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.
Other programmes in the Foundation’s leadership development portfolio include the Aig-Imoukhuede Public Leaders Programme and the Aig-Imoukhuede Visiting Fellowship.
Through these initiatives, the Foundation supports public servants at different stages of their careers with opportunities to strengthen leadership, policy and institutional capabilities.
