By Angela Atabo
Two CSOs, Bridge Leadership Foundation and Connected Development (CODE) have collaborated to mentor youths with credible leadership skills for national development.
The group disclosed this when members of the Emerging Political Leaders Fellowship (EPLF), an initiative of The Bridge Leadership Foundation, paid a courtesy call on Mr Hamzat Lawal of CODE to learn from his experiences.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that EPLF nurtures and prepares young Nigerians for political leadership at all levels with a view to improving the quality of Nigeria’s leadership pool.
Mr Hamzat Lawal, Chief Executive, CODE, encouraged youths to join politics and run for elective offices with diligence .
Lawal advised them to be firm and disciplined in their resolve to serve and be abreast with global best practices .
He said: “Today, I have the opportunity of engaging over EPLF fellows in my office sharing real life experience, but most importantly preparing them for leadership and service to the country as we go into the election season.
“EPLF has provided an opportunity where Nigeria can groom the next set of emerging leaders, providing them with skills, information, resources and mentorship.
“We know that there is a big mentorship gap and I am glad that my generation is now conscious of that fact.
“We are also creating an avenue where we become a support system and where we can collaborate with young people and ensure that we make our country and our community proud.”
Mrs Rosemond Archibong, Programme Manager at The Bridge Leadership Foundation, said the EPLF is an initiative the foundation started in 2022 .
Archibong said the aim of the fellowship was to prepare young Nigerians interested in running for political offices at all levels and expose them to context,to skills and to networks critical for their emergence .
She said: “It has been an interesting journey for them and we hope that as they conclude this session and this fellowship period for the first cohort,they will take the learnings that they have gotten and implement it in their own political journey/
“The courtesy visit to CODE was to enable them to learn about the work CODE does and to also expose the fellows to service orientation.
“Mr Hamzat Lawal is one of the technical advisory council members for the 2022 cohort of the EPLF and he has been of emerse support to the fellowship providing technical support with his wealth of knowledge. ”
Archibong said that the EPLF was non-partisan while it was not affiliated to any political party, adding, ” it is multi-faceted because all its fellows were in some way affiliated with office holders , political parties and have an interest in running for office.”
She said that the main goal for them was to see how to add value differently and change the narrative of politics in Nigeria.
Mr Kada Ngbale,a member of the 2022 EPLF said the fellowship was impactful, adding that he had learnt a lot in the process of the fellowship .
“I have learnt impactful lessons from practical leaders who have been in the political space and some who have also been technocrats in their own journey through life.
“A key learning for me is how to be able to employ lessons learned in my own leadership position.
“One good thing I like about the EPLF is that it is not just limited to those who are interested in running for political offices but even people who are engaged in public service like myself.
“Nigeria needs a new type of leadership and this is what the EPLF fellowship is seeking to do,”he said (NAN)
