By Dr Omobola Johnson
When the Ministry of Communication Technology was established in 2011, it was not created from scratch. It was carved out of the former Ministry of Information and Communication and inherited agencies from other parts of the Federal Government. These agencies, with long histories, overlapping mandates and established ways of working, were brought together under one roof. The case for a dedicated ministry had been made through years of advocacy by stakeholders across the industry. What remained was the more difficult task of transforming that decision into an institution capable of delivering results.
Since leaving government, I have reflected on that period, particularly from my current position as an investor, where I see daily how good ideas succeed or fail based on the quality of their execution.
Africa rarely lacks well-designed reforms, and many of our policy documents are excellent. Our greatest challenge lies in the long and often unglamorous journey between policy approval and tangible impact. That journey is shaped less by the elegance of a policy than by the people, relationships and institutions through which it must pass.
These experiences came into focus at Unlocking Reform: From Design to Delivery, a convening organised by the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation to examine how public-sector reforms can move from policy documents to practical implementation.
During a session titled Behind the Reform: Lessons from the Frontlines of Change, Funke Awasika, MFR, mni, and I reflected on our experiences leading and navigating public-sector reforms in Nigeria. The conversation was moderated by the Foundation’s Executive Vice-Chair, Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede. Some of the key lessons from that discussion are worth revisiting.
A good reform idea is only the starting point
I spent 25 years at Accenture helping organisations manage change. I entered the government understanding that transformation is not simply about designing effective programmes and supporting policies. It is equally about understanding how the people affected by change will receive, accept and implement it.
Designing public-sector reforms requires analysis and technical judgement. Delivering them, however, requires an understanding of everyone the change affects, what it demands of them and whose cooperation is necessary, including those whose influence may not always be visible.
Before a reform leaves the drafting table, policymakers should ask some fundamental questions: How will it work within a ministry, department or agency? Who might perceive it as a loss of budget, authority or established routines? Whose support, beyond that of the reform’s proponents, will be necessary to ensure its success?
Build buy-in before you need it
A ministerial signature carries considerable authority, but formal authority secures compliance more easily than commitment. People can follow instructions to the letter while ensuring that very little actually changes.
When we developed the National Broadband Plan, which was presented to President Goodluck Jonathan in May 2013, we deliberately involved expertise beyond the ministry, including industry practitioners, regulators and academics.
The plan benefited from their contributions, but the greater advantage emerged during implementation. Those who helped shape it developed a sense of ownership and became advocates for its success, including in spaces where I was not present.
The lesson is clear: identify early the individuals and institutions whose support will be necessary, and engage them before their cooperation becomes critical.
Explain the purpose of the reform, listen carefully to objections because some may be legitimate, and give stakeholders a genuine opportunity to shape both the reform and its implementation. Do not simply ask them to endorse decisions that have already been made.
Reform is a collective effort
Very few meaningful reforms fall neatly within the mandate of a single institution.
Technology adoption in government, for instance, affected every ministry, department and agency, each with its own budget, priorities and approach to procuring and managing technology. Achieving coherence across that landscape required sustained institutional cooperation.
We therefore established platforms that made coordination a regular practice. A Council of Heads of ICT across federal ministries, departments and agencies provided technology officials with a common platform and shared purpose. A National Council on Communication Technology brought state governments into the conversation because national digital ambitions would mean little if they stopped at Abuja.
Our whole-of-government approach to connectivity was subsequently recognised with a United Nations Public Service Award. However, its greatest value was in making collaboration a regular practice rather than an occasional exercise.
Effective reform also requires the government to work with stakeholders outside the public sector. Private-sector operators, civil society organisations and development partners often possess capabilities, data and reach that government institutions lack.
Treating these stakeholders as partners in implementation, rather than merely audiences for government announcements, expands what reforms can achieve.
Communication is part of implementation
During my first engagement with the media as minister, I emphasised that building awareness, sharing information and shaping public opinion were critical to the success of the new ministry. I believe that even more strongly today.
Communication is too often treated as the final stage of reform, something to be undertaken once a policy is ready for announcement. By then, however, the narrative may already have been shaped by others, particularly those who feel threatened by the proposed changes.
Communication must therefore be integrated into implementation from the beginning.
People need to understand what is changing, why it matters and, most importantly, what it means for them. The last question is often neglected.
A civil servant whose daily responsibilities are about to change, or a business whose operating costs may rise or fall, is less concerned about a broad national vision than about the practical implications for their immediate circumstances.
Reform leaders must
be honest about trade-offs and communicate sensitively with critics as well as supporters. A reform that can survive only in friendly audiences is a fragile one.
Navigating institutional change requires adaptability
Public institutions are not simply obstacles to reform. They are the channels through which reforms must be implemented.
They operate within procurement regulations, budget cycles, civil service structures and long-established relationships. These systems do not automatically change because a new minister arrives with a fresh agenda.
Coming from the private sector, I had to learn to distinguish between processes that unnecessarily delayed progress and those designed to protect the public interest.
Some rules needed to be challenged, and we challenged them. Others deserved respect. Working patiently within established systems helped us earn the confidence of career civil servants whose knowledge of government processes often exceeded mine.
Many of these officials eventually became some of the ministry’s strongest allies.
Adaptability does not mean abandoning the objective. It means being willing to change the route while keeping the destination in sight. Reform leaders who fail to understand this either give up too early or disrupt systems that did not need to be dismantled.
Make reform strong enough to outlast the individual
The greatest test of any reform is what happens after its champion leaves office.
I make this observation with some humility because not everything we initiated between 2011 and 2015 was sustained at the pace we had hoped. The reasons offer important lessons.
Reforms that endure generally share certain characteristics. They are anchored in legislation, regulations or formal institutional structures rather than the personal commitment of a minister. Ownership is distributed across institutions so that the departure of one individual does not leave the reform without direction.
They are also supported by regular budgetary allocations rather than one-off funding and produce visible results that citizens and businesses can appreciate, thereby creating a constituency for continuity.
This was why we placed the Broadband Plan under a dedicated council with a mandate to oversee its implementation, ensuring that its future would not depend on any single officeholder.
The objective should not simply be to launch a reform but to establish the conditions that allow it to continue long after its initiators have left.
What reform leaders can do differently
If I were advising a public servant embarking on a reform today, I would offer five considerations:
1. Plan for implementation from the outset: Give delivery the same attention as policy design. Identify early the people and institutions that must change their actions for the reform to succeed.
2. Earn commitment, not just compliance: Identify the stakeholders whose support is essential and engage them before their cooperation becomes critical.
3. Build coalitions across institutional boundaries: Establish regular platforms for cooperation among government agencies, different tiers of government and private-sector stakeholders.
4. Communicate early and specifically: Explain what is changing, why it matters and how it affects different groups. Sustain that communication as the reform evolves.
5. Design for your own absence: Embed reforms in institutional structures, budgets and shared ownership so that they can survive beyond individual tenures.
Africa does not lack good ideas for transforming its public institutions. What will distinguish the next generation of reform leaders is their ability to translate those ideas into sustained practice by working with the people whose decisions, cooperation and commitment determine implementation.
That work may be less glamorous than policy design, but it ultimately determines whether reforms deliver lasting results.
Dr Awasika and I approached some of these questions from different perspectives, and that was precisely the value of our conversation. Reform is rarely learned from documents alone. It is learned from people who have navigated institutions and from honest conversations about what worked, what failed and why.
Dr Omobola Johnson is Senior Partner at TLCom Capital LLP. She served as Nigeria’s first Minister of Communication Technology from 2011 to 2015 and previously spent more than 25 years at Accenture, including five years as Country Managing Director. She is a member of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation’s Leadership Council.
