Dr Alim Abubakre, Founder and Non Executive Chair of TEXEM, has called on leaders in business, government and civil society to treat learning, sound judgement and institution building as essential responsibilities of leadership.
Abubakre made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
The call followed his award of Academic Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, CIPD, after assessment against the Institute’s Academic membership criteria.
The recognition entitles him to use the designation Academic FCIPD.
Abubakre said the significance of the recognition went beyond personal advancement, arguing that leadership development must ultimately translate into stronger institutions, better governance, wider opportunity and measurable improvements in society.
He said that at a time when artificial intelligence is transforming work, geopolitical tensions are reshaping markets and public confidence in institutions is under pressure, nations require leaders who can combine competence with judgement, integrity, curiosity and a strong sense of responsibility.
He said leadership should be measured not simply by position or visibility, but by the quality of decisions leaders make, the institutions they strengthen and the opportunities they create for others.
TEXEM has inspired more than 4,000 leaders globally through its executive development programmes, with its work built around helping senior decision makers convert knowledge into action and responsibility into results.
Abubakre said the wider value of leadership development lies in its multiplier effect.
A better decision at board or executive level, he noted, can influence employees, customers, investors, communities and public institutions, while stronger institutions can create confidence, improve performance and expand opportunity far beyond their immediate environment.
He argued that executive learning should therefore be regarded as part of good governance and nation building.
According to him, institutions do not govern themselves.
“People interpret policy, allocate resources, establish standards, challenge poor decisions and determine whether accountability exists in practice.”
He said the quality of leadership within an institution ultimately shapes the quality, credibility and durability of that institution.
The recognition has also attracted commendation from Rt Hon Graham Stuart, Member of Parliament for Beverley and Holderness, who has co-delivered leadership sessions with Abubakre.
Stuart said: “Converting the insights of the latest academic research into inspiring, practical and effective courses for political and corporate leaders sets Dr Abubakre apart. It’s great to see him recognised as a Fellow of the CIPD.”
Abubakre’s work spans scholarship, executive development and institutional leadership.
His research has examined stakeholder collaboration during the pandemic across Sub-Saharan Africa and the interconnected barriers confronting small and medium-sized enterprises in public procurement.
At the centre of that work is a broader leadership question: how can leaders make complex systems work better for the people, organisations and societies that depend on them?
He said this question has become more urgent because contemporary leadership challenges are increasingly interconnected.
“Economic pressure can intersect with political uncertainty. Technological innovation can create enormous opportunity while introducing new governance risks. Artificial intelligence can improve speed and productivity while raising difficult questions about accountability, trust and human judgement,” he said.
Abubakre said no single discipline is sufficient for such an environment.
“Strategy without people can fail in execution. Technology without governance can create new risks. Capital without trust may struggle to create sustainable value, while public policy without strong institutional capability can remain an aspiration rather than produce meaningful difference.”
He, therefore, described good governance as more than compliance, rules or institutional structures.
“It requires leaders who ask better questions, exercise power responsibly, make difficult decisions with sound judgement and ensure that institutions remain focused on the purposes for which they were created.”
Victoria Winkler, Chartered FCIPD, Standards and Professional Development Director at the CIPD, described the Fellowship as a recognition of professional authority and contribution.
She said: “Academic Fellowship of the CIPD is a badge of expertise, credibility, and authority. It recognises the vital role that academics play in advancing the people profession through teaching, research, thought leadership and the development of future leaders.”
For Abubakre, however, the recognition carries an obligation to make knowledge more useful and its impact more widely felt.
“Recognition should increase responsibility, not simply status. For me, this Fellowship is a commitment to make knowledge travel further: from research into teaching, from teaching into organisations, and from organisations into decisions that improve performance and widen opportunity.
”International business ultimately succeeds through people, trust and relationships. My next step is to deepen the connection between scholarship and practice, helping leaders understand complex systems better, build stronger institutions and turn insight into action that people can actually experience.”
Abubakre also serves as a Board Director of the Business Council for Africa, providing another platform through which academic insight can interact with the realities confronting businesses, investors and institutions operating across African and international markets.
He urged accomplished leaders not to allow experience or seniority to become substitutes for learning.
He said the paradox of the AI era is that access to information has become easier at the same time that sound judgement has become more difficult and consequential.
Leaders may obtain answers more quickly, he said, but they must still determine which questions matter, which interests should be balanced, which risks are acceptable and what responsible action requires.
He described lifelong learning not as a remedy for weakness but as a discipline of serious leadership.
Experience, he said, can become assumption if it is not tested, while success without continued curiosity can produce complacency.
“The greater the responsibility, the greater the obligation to keep learning,” he said.
Abubakre said nations need leaders who continue to learn, govern responsibly, make sound decisions, develop others and build institutions capable of enduring beyond individual tenures.
“That is where learning becomes leadership, leadership strengthens governance, and good governance contributes to nation-building.”(NAN)
Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz
