An ABUAD law graduate on drafting national legislation, driving education reform in Northern Nigeria, and why integrity is the only currency that compounds in public service.
When Jewel T. Pam-Olokor arrived at Afe Babalola University in 2011, she was told the registration quota for Law had been filled. Rather than accept another course, she went to the Registrar and made her case on merit. Her entrance examination score was the third highest in the Law cohort. She was registered and the rest was history.
Today, Jewel is a Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Kaduna State, a former Legislative Aide in the Nigerian Senate where she worked on 31 bills, three of which received Presidential Assent and an alumna whose career traces a consistent arc through law, governance, policy, and institution building.
We sat down with Jewel for an in-depth interview on what ABUAD built in her, what public service actually demands, and the advice she would give every ABUAD student who wants to make government work for the people.
Q: What year did you graduate from ABUAD, and what did you study?
I graduated from Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, in 2015 with an LL.B. (Hons) degree in Law, Second Class Upper Division. I subsequently attended the Nigerian Law School in Bwari and was called to the Nigerian Bar.
Q: What drew you to ABUAD? What was your first impression on campus?
What attracted me to ABUAD was that it represented something relatively new and ambitious in Nigerian higher education. It was a young institution, but one founded with a very deliberate vision of academic excellence.
When I arrived, my first impression was how far away from home I was. However, my strongest impression was the University’s sense of structure. I arrived on campus about two days after most students had resumed. I was informed that the registration quota for Law had been filled and that I would have to take another course. Heartbroken, I went to present the matter to the Registrar, Lady Christie I. Oluborode. She immediately asked my score on the entrance examination and checked her records. Upon discovering I had scored the 3rd highest score for the Law entrance examination, she directed that I be registered for Law on academic merit grounds.
This formed a strong impression of the kind of institution I was about to become a part of. There were clear expectations regarding academics, conduct, merit, and personal responsibility.
“There were clear expectations regarding academics, conduct, merit, and personal responsibility. That impression stayed with me throughout my career.”
Q: Which skills or values from ABUAD do you rely on most in your current role?
I would say discipline, analytical thinking, resilience, and attention to detail. Law trains you to understand that words have consequences. A single provision in legislation — or even the wording of an official communication — can materially affect an outcome. That has made precision extremely important to me.
I also rely heavily on the discipline of research. In government, decisions often have legal, financial, and political implications simultaneously. You have to understand the issue beyond its surface presentation. Finally, resilience has been essential. Public service can be extremely demanding. You sometimes work long hours, under significant pressure, on matters where mistakes have consequences far beyond yourself. The ability to remain composed and focused is invaluable.
Q: Was there a mentor or moment at ABUAD that influenced your career path?
Rather than attributing my career to one individual, I would say my legal education as a whole gradually changed my understanding of what I could do with a law degree. Initially, like many law students, my conception of legal practice was largely centred around becoming a practising lawyer. My career eventually exposed me to something broader: the lawyer as a legislator, policy adviser, negotiator, administrator, and institution builder.
That transition became particularly clear when I moved from private practice into legislative work at the National Assembly. I realised that legal training could be used not simply to interpret laws, but to actually participate in creating the legal architecture. In my current role, I get to explore the implementation of such legal architectures governing millions of people.
Q: Did Aare Afe Babalola’s vision influence how you think about leadership?
Yes. One lesson I take from Aare Afe Babalola’s vision is that professional accomplishment can ultimately be converted into institution building. There is a significant difference between personal success and creating institutions capable of outliving you. ABUAD itself demonstrates that distinction. The strongest leaders are not simply remembered for what they personally accomplished; they leave behind institutions, opportunities, and systems that allow other people to succeed.
“The strongest leaders are not simply remembered for what they personally accomplished. They leave behind institutions, opportunities, and systems that allow other people to succeed.”
The Career Journey
Q: Can you walk us through your journey from ABUAD to becoming Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Kaduna State?
My career has developed across legal practice, legislative drafting, public policy, and government administration. I had early exposure to legal practice at J.B. Daudu & Co., initially through internships during my university years. After Law School, I returned there for my NYSC and subsequently worked as an Associate Counsel. That environment gave me rigorous professional training and exposed me to high-level legal research and practice.
In 2020, I moved into the National Assembly as a Legislative Aide in the Senate. That became one of the defining periods of my career because it allowed me to move from interpreting legislation to participating directly in its development. During that period, I worked on the drafting and legislative processing of 31 bills, including major financial-sector legislation. Three ultimately received Presidential Assent: the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (2020), the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (Amendment No. 3) Act (2021), and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation Act (2023).
That experience taught me how law, politics, policy, and stakeholder engagement intersect. In 2023, I transitioned into the Kaduna State Government as a Senior Special Assistant to the Governor — Office of the Chief of Staff. My responsibilities have extended beyond conventional administrative support into policy coordination, executive briefings, stakeholder engagement, monitoring government directives, development-partner engagements, and sensitive assignments requiring discretion and institutional coordination.
I have also worked with the Reaching Out-of-School Children Project in Kaduna State, first in project coordination and subsequently in Legal and Risk Compliance, working around agreements, regulatory compliance, data governance, and relationships with international development partners.
So although the titles have changed, there has actually been a consistent thread throughout my career: law, governance, policy, and institution building.
Q: What was the biggest adjustment moving from private practice into government?
The biggest adjustment for me was understanding the scale and complexity of decision-making in government. In private practice, I was dealing with defined clients and a relatively defined legal problem. Governance is different. A decision may involve law, public policy, finance, politics, public perception, institutional capacity, and the interests of millions of citizens.
I had to understand that technically correct advice is not always sufficient. One must understand implementation. A policy can look excellent on paper but fail if the institution responsible for implementing it lacks the necessary capacity or coordination. Public service therefore taught me to think beyond the question, “Is this legally correct?” and also ask: “Is it implementable? Is it sustainable? Who is affected? What are the risks, and what outcome are we actually trying to achieve?”
“A policy can look excellent on paper but fail if the institution responsible for implementing it lacks the necessary capacity. Public service taught me to think beyond “Is this legally correct?””
Q: What has been the most fulfilling moment in your work with the Kaduna State Government?
It is difficult to reduce it to a single moment because some of the most meaningful work happens quietly, without public recognition. However, my work around education and the Reaching Out-of-School Children Project Kaduna has been particularly fulfilling because the impact is tangible.
The scale of the out-of-school children challenge in Northern Nigeria means that every child brought into a learning environment represents something much larger than a statistic. In the first phase of the programme, more than 15,000 children were enrolled, hundreds of teachers were trained, learning materials were distributed, and extensive household mapping was undertaken to identify children who had been excluded from formal education. Working with government institutions and development partners on programmes of that nature reminds you what public service is ultimately supposed to accomplish.
Philanthropy, Systems & the Long Game
Q: How has your legal background shaped your approach to philanthropy?
My legal background has made me approach philanthropy from the perspective of systems rather than interventions alone. It is relatively easy to organise an outreach and distribute materials. What is most important is whether that intervention can create sustainable change.
Through my involvement with the Southern Kaduna Aid Foundation (SKAid), and through education-focused programmes such as ROOSC, I have become particularly interested in how philanthropy can complement public institutions rather than simply provide temporary relief. For education, for example, enrolment is important, but it is only the beginning. I would want to know: Did the child remain in school? Did attendance improve? Did learning outcomes improve? Were girls and children with disabilities adequately represented? Did the intervention strengthen the school or community structures around that child?
The same principle applies to healthcare. The number of people reached is useful, but continuity of care, measurable health outcomes, accessibility, and whether communities continue benefiting after an intervention ends are stronger indicators of impact. I therefore believe philanthropy must move beyond counting activities towards measuring outcomes and institutional change.
Q: What structural challenges do local foundations face in Nigeria, and how do you plan to address them?
There are many excellent organisations doing important work, but too many programmes remain dependent on a single donor or funding cycle. Once that funding disappears, the programme often disappears with it.
My experience working with government and international development partners has convinced me that the future lies in partnership rather than institutional isolation. Government has scale and infrastructure. Development partners bring technical expertise and financing. Local organisations understand communities and possess relationships that cannot simply be imported. The private sector brings innovation, technology, and commercial discipline. Sustainable development happens when those strengths are connected to accomplish a set goal.
“Sustainable development happens when government scale, development partner expertise, community knowledge, and private sector discipline are connected to accomplish a set goal.”
Connections & Advice
Q: Are there ABUAD friendships from your student days that you still maintain?
Absolutely. One of the underrated benefits of university is the network of people you encounter at a formative stage of your life. I am particularly grateful for my friendship with Eric Awomolo, Kemi Aloko, Zita Ohikere, Adesua Giwa, and many others. As careers and lives evolve, you may not communicate with everyone as frequently as you once did, but there are relationships and shared experiences that remain meaningful years later.
There is also something special about meeting another ABUAD alumnus professionally. Irrespective of where your individual careers have taken you, there is an immediate shared point of reference.
Q: What advice would you give current ABUAD students who aspire to work in public service or government?
First, become competent before becoming ambitious. There is nothing wrong with ambition, but government needs people who can actually solve problems. Learn to write well. Learn to research. Understand policy. Learn how institutions work, and perhaps most importantly, learn how to communicate with people who do not think like you.
Second, protect your integrity. Public service will sometimes confront you with situations where what is convenient and what is right are not the same thing.
Third, do not become obsessed with titles. Some of the assignments that contributed most to my development were not necessarily the most glamorous ones. I accepted responsibility, learnt the system, and became someone who could be trusted with increasingly complex assignments.
Finally, remain intellectually curious. A degree gets you through the door; your willingness to continue learning determines how far you can go.
A degree gets you through the door. Your willingness to continue learning determines how far you can go.”
A Builder’s Blueprint
Jewel Pam-Olokor’s story is one the entire ABUAD alumni community can draw from. It is a story about what happens when a strong academic foundation meets discipline, strategic patience, and an unflinching commitment to doing work that matters — not just work that is visible.
From a law student who refused to accept a closed door, to a legislative aide who helped shape banking law for an entire nation, to a government official working to put 15,000 Northern Nigerian children back in classrooms — the thread is consistent. And it runs straight through ABUAD.
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