Executive Education and Leadership Agility in Nigeria's Public Sector: Implications for Adaptive Governance and State Capacity

Despite high levels of investment in attempts to strengthen the institution, the performance of the public sector continues to be weak in Nigeria. The aim of this study is to explore the level of contribution of executive education to add value to governance in Nigeria's public administration in terms of leadership agility. Based on the above theories, the study is grounded on the Human Capital Theory and the Adaptive Governance Theory, which is used to reflect on the role of leadership training in achieving the effectiveness of an organisation and institutional adaptation. The study adopted a qualitative documentary research design, which involved a reflexive thematic analysis of 42 policy documents, government documents and reports, institutional publications and development partner reports that were purposely selected. The results demonstrate that Executive education enhances leadership agility in three dimensions: strategic decision making, digital readiness, and crisis-response. The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) evidence reveals improved leadership development which facilitated increased coordination between State Primary Health Care Boards and increased use of responsive feedback mechanisms. But the findings of the ministries in the Anambra State government and leadership trainings conducted through the Lagos State Public Service Staff Development Centre (PSSDC) suggest that in practice, new leadership skills are sometimes stifled by poor accountability mechanisms and lack of supportive framework within the organisation. On this basis, the improvement of individual leadership ability does not necessarily lead to a better performance of the institutions. The study contributes to the Capacity–Structure Paradox, which posits that an increase of leadership capability may not lead to better governance outcomes where institution structures are weak. Overall, the study shows that executive education is not enough to transform governance and should be supported by organizational process and accountability system reform and improvements in digital governance systems. The results provide important lessons to the public sector reform and leadership development in Nigeria and other developing countries with governance challenges.