Get Guardian on GoogleThe African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, has launched a pan-African research initiative to address policy discontinuity and strengthen institutional accountability, focusing on measuring leadership impact beyond individual tenures.
The initiative, known as the African Leadership Legacy Project (AFRILEAP), will develop research frameworks and assessment tools to help public and private-sector organisations evaluate leadership effectiveness, institutional continuity and long-term development outcomes.
As part of the initiative, the university has appointed Dr Dakuku Peterside, a leadership and public policy expert and former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), as project director.
Dr Bosco Chukwudumebi Okolo-Obi, Centre Leader of the university’s Centre for Pan-African and Peace Studies (CePAPS), will serve as programme manager.
AFRILEAP is designed to address a persistent governance challenge across Africa, where policies, reforms and development programmes are often disrupted when political leaders or organisational executives leave office.
The project will begin fieldwork in Nigeria, with comparative studies planned in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and Rwanda.
Speaking on the initiative, Peterside said the project would encourage leaders to consider the long-term consequences of their decisions and the institutions they leave behind.
“AFRILEAP asks every leader one fundamental question: What do you want to be remembered for long after you are gone?” he said.
The President of AUST, Prof. Azikiwe Onwualu, who commissioned the project, pledged the university’s support, saying it would provide an enabling environment for researchers and senior fellows to advance the initiative’s objectives.
He said the project aligned with the university’s founding ideals of promoting African development through research, innovation and human capacity development.
Similarly, the Director of CePAPS, Prof. Chudi Uwazurike, pledged the centre’s commitment to ensuring the project’s success and extending its impact across the continent.
The project’s research framework will assess leadership legacy across five dimensions: values transmission, institutionalisation of systems, human capacity development, socioeconomic impact, and public and organisational memory.
Over the next 18 months, the research team will prioritise developing mathematical, psychometric and qualitative indicators for an African Leadership Legacy Index.
The index is expected to provide a structured basis for assessing leadership beyond immediate accomplishments and short-term performance.
Other planned outputs include an African Leadership Legacy Framework, an open-access knowledge hub, policy briefs, Executive Legacy Masterclasses and a 12-month Future Legacy Leaders Fellowship.
AFRILEAP’s multidisciplinary research team includes scholars and practitioners from Africa and the United Kingdom with expertise in governance, technology, sustainability, peacebuilding, communications and leadership development.
