Dr. Joe Abah, DAI’s Country Director for Nigeria, is an internationally recognized expert in governance and institutional reforms, political economy analysis, and change management. Between 2013 and 2017, he was the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms in the Nigerian Presidency. Before becoming Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms in 2013, Dr. Abah led several international development programs for various donors. Prior to returning to Nigeria in 2003, he was at the forefront of governance reforms in the U.K., including driving public service reforms from the Prime Minister’s Office of Public Service Reforms in the U.K. Cabinet Office.
Even outside of government, Dr. Abah continues to contribute to governance improvements in Nigeria and worldwide. He was on the Presidential Steering Committee on Digital Identification and contributed to developing Nigeria’s National Development Plan 2021-2025.
Dr. Abah’s expertise remains in demand across the world. In November 2022, he joined the faculty of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University to train the new government of Brazil that took office in January 2023. He was also the 2023 Keynote Speaker at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) ‘Africa Innovate Conference’ in April 2023. In December 2023, he was appointed a Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.
In 2023 Dr. Abah was honored with the prestigious Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) award. This recognition, conferred by former President of Nigeria, Mohammadu Buhari, and gazetted in September 2023, underscores Dr. Abah’s substantial contributions to public service and national development.
Dr. Abah is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. He also holds certificates from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and from the London Business School.
- National Honor, Officer of the Order of the Niger
- Ph.D., Governance and Public Policy Analysis, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
- M.A., Business Law, London Guildhall University, United Kingdom
- Bachelor of Laws, University of Calabar, Nigeria
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