Nigeria, July 2 -- I did not grow up planning to care about public service. My parents were public servants, and while I watched them show up for their careers with dedication, that path simply did not feel like mine. When I was thinking about my future, other options felt more exciting, more dynamic, more aligned with the kind of impact I wanted to make. I made my choice and moved on.

It was only much later in my career, working closely with public institutions through my role at the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, that I began to understand what I had not seen before. Public service is not a background feature of national development; it is the foundation of it. That realisation changed how I think, and it also made me wonder how many young...