Nigeria’s Thought Leaders Hold High-Level Executive Leadership Retreat
Some of Nigeria’s most respected thinkers, governance experts, and policy shapers are set to headline the 2025 Executive Leadership Retreat, a high-level programme aimed at strengthening strategic leadership across the country’s public and private sectors.
The retreat, scheduled for Sunday, 30 November to Thursday, 4 December 2025 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, will feature a distinguished lineup of speakers including Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, diplomat and international affairs expert; Mohammed Babandede, former Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service; Prof. Ayo Omotayo, Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS); Prof. Anthony Kila, jurist and political economist and prof of strategy and development; strategy consultant Leke Alder; international peace and security expert Kayode Bolaji; and Funmi Babington-Ashaye, President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria.
Jointly anchored by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), the Executive Leadership Retreat is designed as an immersive, secure space for advanced experiential learning.
Organisers describe the retreat as a “critical strategic learning platform” for senior decision-makers, executives, and security officials—one that allows participants to step away from daily pressures to collaboratively rethink solutions to the nation’s complex, systemic challenges.
According to the planning committee, the programme employs a highly collaborative, reflective, and knowledge-sharing methodology intended to generate deep insights and actionable leadership strategies.
The retreat aims to build and sharpen core executive attributes such as strategic foresight, adaptability, visionary thinking, advanced self-awareness, and critical reasoning. It is positioned as both a reawakening platform for current leaders and a grooming ground for future leaders poised to operate in an increasingly unpredictable environment.
A core focus of the programme is equipping leaders from all sectors with the mindset and tools required not only to lead effectively but to cultivate leadership capacity in others—ensuring a sustainable pipeline of competent leaders across Nigeria’s governance and economic systems.
With Nigeria navigating one of the most complex governance and socio-economic landscapes in its history, organisers say the retreat’s goal is clear: to prepare leaders to respond to uncertainty with clarity, confidence, and strategic depth.
