Recently, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu personally sent a letter congratulating Dr. Abiodun Essiet, Special Assistant to the President, on his 40th birthday, highly praising his outstanding contributions in the field of public affairs and grassroots community governance. Dr. Abiodun Essiet is a 2021 doctoral student at the School of International Development Cooperation at the University of International Business and Economics, and successfully graduated in 2024.
According to the official congratulatory letter released by the Nigerian Presidential Palace, President Tinubu fully affirmed Dr. Essiet’s outstanding performance in community building, social mobilization and public service communication in the northern and central regions of Nigeria. The President specifically pointed out that the age of 40 is an important node in accumulating experience in life and shouldering a new mission, which is not only an affirmation of past contributions, but also carries a higher level of social responsibility, and sincerely wishes him to achieve better results and make new contributions in his future work.
As the Senior Special Assistant to the President for Community Engagement, Dr. Essiet has always practiced the Nigerian government’s “Renewed Hope” philosophy, listened to public opinion and conveyed the voice of the people at the grassroots level, and played a key role in building bridges between the government and the people. She has long been committed to core areas such as gender equality, community development and public participation, and has taken solid actions to promote the implementation of policies, and her work has been widely recognized by the Nigerian government and all sectors of society.
During his studies, Dr. Essiet focused on gender development, community governance, and public policy practice, adhering to the deep integration of academic research and policy practice, and vividly interpreted our college’s international talent training concept of “unity of knowledge and action, serving global development”.
The School of International Development Cooperation of the University of International Business and Economics has always been deeply involved in the cultivation of high-level international talents, based on the development practice of the Global South, adhered to the principle of empowering public governance with academics, helping sustainable development with professionalism, and continued to send high-quality talents to the field of global development and governance. Dr. Essiet’s growth and social contributions are not only a benchmark for outstanding alumni of our school, but also demonstrate our university’s profound accumulation and extensive influence in the field of international development and global governance talent training.
In the future, the college will continue to pay attention to the development trends of global alumni, build a platform for alumni exchange and cooperation, and look forward to more international development students of ITU on the global stage, conveying the voice of ITU, contributing Chinese wisdom, and contributing to the promotion of global development.