Lagos State Government, through the Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy (LJLA), intends to instil in youths, the spirit of service, especially in the public sector.
Head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, said this at the official induction/resumption of associates of the academy. He said the academy was established to bridge the gap in leadership skills, by preparing and equipping youths for the challenging roles ahead.
Said: “The Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy is one of the babies of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to engage youths and imbibe in them the spirit of public sector service. It will be an intense and rigorous programme because the associates will go round the public service, shadowing cabinet members and permanent secretaries, to understand the workings of the public service. They will be made to understand how service is rendered to Lagosians.
“This training is important because the youth are the leaders from today, so they need to be entrenched with leadership traits and capacity, which will help them deliver when called upon. This is a backstage pass for them to understand how things operate in the civil service. They will sometimes shadow the governor himself, so they can understand the workings of government, the hierarchical system of government and the democratic nature of government.
“During this tutelage, they will be taken on international tours to see how it is done in other climes. Particularly, this year, they will be taken to Singapore to study the public service of Singapore. These efforts are to give them a robust platform and entrench them in public service so they can decide what course they want to take in life – whether public service or the private sector. But whatever sector they choose, they will be equipped with leadership skills that can take them anywhere in the world.”
Executive Secretary of the LJLA, Mrs. Ayisat Agbaje-Okunade, said the academy hopes to build leaders who will ultimately become change agents for the country.
She added: “We all agree that our biggest challenge is that of leadership. This is why our goal is to fill that gap by tutoring these associates through the process of leadership, and how they can take up these roles effectively, and be change agents in everything they do.
“We are helping them to be serious change agents, and so it is very important that they put their energy into this.”
The pioneer set of the academy boasts of 30 associates, being the finalists from the over 200 applications received.
One of the associates, Benjamin Adekoya, said he looks forward to learning how things are done and to improve the processes.
He said: “The government is doing a lot and people don’t really know the process. So, this is an opportunity for youths to understand how things are done, to get tutorship, mentorship on how to do it right and suggest better ways to do it. As a software developer, I want to find ways to make redundant processes work faster and better through software applications.”
Another fellow, Christabel Uchechukwu, described the fellowship as ‘an amazing opportunity’. “It was a rigorous selection process, and I’m honoured to be part of this fellowship. I’m looking forward to serious networking, especially as I look forward to a career switch to the public sector. I want to know what the public sector is like, and especially what’s working to making Lagos the icon in terms of public sector,” she added.
-Thenation
