Dr Osasuyi Dirisu succeeds Faisal as Executive Director

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has appointed Dr. Osasuyi Dirisu as the new Executive Director of its Policy Innovation Centre (PIC).

She succeeds Faisal Naru, the Centre’s inaugural Executive Director, who was appointed to the position in July 2021, and helped set up the PIC as the first national institutionalized behavioral science initiative in sub-Saharan Africa.

Commenting on Faisal’s transition, NESG CEO, ‘Laoye Jaiyeola, said: “Over the past year, he has worked tirelessly to build the profile of the PIC internationally and also led the development of the Behavioural Insights for Accountability and Transparency Course funded by MacArthur Foundation. We cannot thank him enough for the dedication and enthusiasm he has displayed, and wish him the very best in the next phase of his career.”

Osasuyi joined the PIC in August 2021 as the inaugural Deputy Director, bringing to the role decades of experience in Social Development, Public Health, Gender and Inclusion. In the past year, she spearheaded a number of projects at the PIC, including the first-ever national-level Gender and Inclusion Summit, convened on Day 3 of the 28th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#28), to explore transformative ways to achieve gender equality, gender-responsive governance, and accelerate the actualization of the SDGs.

“We are confident that Dr. Dirisu’s leadership, commitment and experience will help advance the mission of PIC in improving diagnostics, supporting evidence based policy and crafting behavioral solutions to address critical development issues in Nigeria” Jaiyeola added. 

Prior to this role, Osasuyi was Research Director at the Population Council, where she led several social and behavioural projects across sectors. She also led the development of the National Gender Based Violence (GBV) Dashboard, an innovative data management and visualization platform for validated, real-time GBV data in Nigeria on the EU-Spotlight initiative. She holds an MB:BS degree from the University of Ibadan; MPH from the University of Lagos, an MBA from the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University and PhD from the University of Leeds.