The Reformer's Skills Audit

Policy failure is often attributed to weak implementation capacity, but the reality is more nuanced. The same reform can succeed in one institution and stall in another, raising an important question: why is execution capacity so uneven? In our latest podcast episode, “The Reformer’s Skills Audit,” our Executive Vice Chair, Mrs Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, sits down with Mrs Funke Adepoju, Director-General of ASCON, to explore this challenge and what it means for the future of public sector reform. Drawing on her experiences repositioning ASCON as Nigeria’s National School of Government, Mrs Adepoju shares practical insights on what it takes to build a capable and responsive public service. The conversation highlights the need to move beyond traditional, classroom-based approaches to capacity building towards a more execution-focused model: one that starts with identifying reform priorities, diagnosing specific capability gaps, building skills in context, and ensuring that learning translates into real-world results. It also highlights the importance of shifting from activity-based reporting to measurable performance and results-driven management.