DG of ASCON, Dr Adepoju,  reveal why government training institutions fail to transit from capacity building to reform delivery

The Director-General of the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria, ASCON, Dr. Funke Femi Adepoju, has revealed that government training institutions are not failing because of lack of effort, funding, or intent, but because they are designed to measure attendance and certification, rather than reform outcomes.

She made the assertion Tuesday April 28, while delivering a public lecture, titled: “From Capacity Building to Reform Delivery: Reimagining Public-Sector Training Institutions”.

The lecture, which was at the instance of AIG-Imoukhuede Foundation, dug-deep on the future of public sector training and its role in driving effective governance, held at Blavatnik School of Government and online.

Drawing on research across six institutions in Brazil, Nepal, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, and Singapore, Dr. Adepoju, identified three structural failures: the transfer illusion, where classroom learning does not translate into workplace change; the competency trap, where borrowed frameworks fail to match real institutional problems; and the delivery illusion, where institutions count graduates instead of reforms delivered.

BSG FELLOWSHIP GRADUATION PRESENTATION

As a response, she introduced the R.I.S.E. Framework — Reform, Inspired, Systems, Execution — a model designed to reposition training institutions as reform accelerators. The framework calls for programmes anchored to measurable reform priorities, public-service ethos embedded into training, digital tracking of reform progress, and post-training commitments that link learning to service delivery and citizen impact.

BSG FELLOWSHIP GRADUATION PRESENTATION

Dr. Adepoju’s central message was clear: training must become the entry point of reform, not its endpoint. She called on governments, development partners, training institutions, and public-sector leaders to move beyond attendance-based capacity building and begin holding training institutions accountable for the reforms they help deliver.

BSG FELLOWSHIP GRADUATION PRESENTATION

Suggested call to action

Public-sector training institutions, governments, and development partners must now shift from counting certificates to measuring reform. The R.I.S.E. Framework offers a practical pathway to convert learning into institutional change, service improvement, and measurable public value.

She called on others to join the movement to reimagine public-sector training as the architecture of reform — where every programme is tied to a reform priority, every graduate becomes a delivery agent, and every investment in capacity building produces visible governance outcomes.

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