In this interview, the Chairman of the Sage Centre for Leadership Excellence and former Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Dr. Mutiu Sunmonu, reflects on the origin of the centre, its evolving mission, and how its structured programmes are shaping decision-making, strengthening governance, and redefining what effective leadership looks like across Africa’s most critical sectors. Raheem Akingbolu brings the excerpts.
How has the Sage mission evolved as it engages with organisations across Africa and responds to the continent’s evolving leadership landscape?
Our mission has evolved along three clear directions. First, we have moved from a personality-led identity to an institutional one, with a defined community of Icons, Vanguards, and Fellows that carries the work forward. In its earliest form, Sage was understood largely through the lens of my personal journey—very much “Dr. Mutiu’s Centre.” That was a natural starting point, but it was never the destination.
Second, we have sharpened our focus on the systems behind leadership—governance structures, board effectiveness, and continuity—so that individual insight translates into institutional strength.
