FG Appoints Shofoyeke Substantive DG of NIEPA as Alausa Inaugurates Education Heads

ONDO CITY — In a strategic move to consolidate ongoing reforms in the education sector, the Federal Government has approved the appointment of Dr. Adebiyi David Shofoyeke as the substantive Director-General and Chief Executive of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), Ondo.

The appointment was formalized on Wednesday during a mass inauguration of governing boards and principal officers of key education agencies by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa.

Speaking at the inauguration, ⁷Alausa emphasized that the appointments reflect the government’s commitment to strengthening governance and accountability under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. Identifying learning poverty and infrastructure deficits as major challenges, the Minister warned the newly inaugurated agency heads against complacency, urging them to use continuity to consolidate reforms and improve service delivery.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Ondo, NIEPA’s New Media Officer, Bodunde Tenabe, confirmed the development, noting that the appointment marks the climax of a remarkable two-decade career of dedicated public service to the Institute.

Dr. Shofoyeke’s emergence as the substantive Director-General is widely viewed by sector stakeholders as a reward for institutional loyalty, academic excellence, and administrative capacity. His meteoric rise within the agency began in August 2003 when he joined NIEPA as a Training and Research Fellow II, steadily rising to the rank of Chief Training and Research Fellow.

Over the years, he has held several strategic leadership positions, including Head of the Training and Research Department, Head of the Research Department, and Head of the North-Central Liaison Office in Abuja. Prior to this latest elevation, he had steered the affairs of the Institute as Acting Director-General for over two years.

The new substantive DG is credited with aggressively reclaiming NIEPA’s regional mandate as a premier capacity-building institution. Under his acting tenure, he successfully restored and expanded the Institute’s working relationships with critical international development partners, including UNICEF, UNESCO, USAID, and the Malala Fund.

A renowned consultant to the World Bank and UNICEF, Shofoyeke has driven massive educational initiatives across the country. Notably, he spearheaded the digitalization of the Basic Education Sector in partnership with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), leading to the training of over 2,000 education officers, quality assurance officers, and teachers. He has also facilitated the capacity building of hundreds of school-level managers and union leaders in the basic education sector.

Internally, his administration has been marked by sweeping infrastructural upgrades, the restoration of institutional hierarchy, and the clearing of prolonged backlogs of staff promotions. He also successfully mended previously fractured relationships between the Institute and the traditional leadership of the host community.

In recognition of his administrative reforms, NIEPA was recently awarded the “Most Improved SERVICOM Unit” by the SERVICOM Department of the Federal Ministry of Education.

With his substantive appointment now confirmed, Dr. Shofoyeke is expected to further deepen his strategic goals of empowering education sector planners and managers with the appropriate skills required for the effective management of the Nigerian educational system.