Building Better Governance: How Abdulfatai Buharia Leads Change in Nigeria

Abdulfatai Buharia, a leader in the Nigerian public sector, currently serves as a Senator in the Nigerian National Assembly and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation. He has been a civil servant for his community for years, first as a Member of the House of Representatives and then as a Commissioner for Local Government Affairs in his state. He attended three Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Executive Education programs Creating Collaborative Solutions, Leadership for the 21^st Century, and Leadership in Crises, earning his Executive Certificate in Public Leadership to further advance his own skill set to better serve the people of his country. 

Local politics, both domestically and abroad, often navigate many collaborators with competing goals, a key challenge Abdulfatai sought to tackle during his time at HKS. “One of the major challenges I faced as a legislator was how to implement innovative policies, especially when dealing with various stakeholders with different perspectives and interests,” he said. “In addition, the problem of being able to institutionalize the imperatives of good governance in order to make government work for the people was something I needed to overcome.”

Through his three HKS programs, Abdulfatai was able to gain insights and expertise that empowered him to drive meaningful change when he returned home to his role. “Having attended a few programs, I was able to implement the lessons learned by leveraging the tools at my disposal to affect positive change and strengthen institutions that I oversee. This was largely drawn from both the shared experiences of fellow alumni and the valuable insights shared by the faculty,” he said.

When it comes to describing the benefit of attending an HKS executive education program, Abdulfatai highly recommends that prospective participants take the leap to experience it firsthand. “The value cannot be easily expressed because I feel that Executive Education at HKS is best experienced rather than explained. To anyone considering it, I would say that it is a worthy investment,” he said. “My professional life has changed for the better since attending these HKS programs. I have been able to create a system and structure in my office and constituency for more efficient engagement, and productivity has also improved greatly.”

Abdulfatai’s drive to improve the lives of his fellow Nigerian citizens continues to be at the forefront of his professional goals, and his Executive Certificate in Public Leadership allows him to take on greater challenges to achieve even more meaningful results. As he told us, “The next challenge I am hoping to address is fostering high-level stakeholder engagement in policy and governance processes that will ultimately result in deepening democracy in Nigeria and Africa.”