Lagos State Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola has charged Nigerian youths to imbibe the spirit of leadership as they prepare for the leadership roles ahead in life.
He said this recently while interacting with the 30 Fellows of the Lateef Jakande Academy at their camp in Lagos, adding that the fellowship, which is a 12-month long programme, is aimed at helping the youth fill the leadership deficit in Lagos and by extension Nigeria.
Muri-Okunola called on the youths to imbibe the spirit of public service and teamwork while remaining focused on their journey through life.
His words, “This academy is one of the initiatives of the Sanwo-Olu Administration to engage the youths. It is an intense 12-month programme structured to give Leaders in training at the Academy, the opportunity to go round the entire public service, shadowing cabinet members and the body of Permanent Secretaries to better understand the workings of government and the bureaucracy ”.
He added that the Fellows are also expected to go on international tours to have a feel of public service in other climes, disclosing that they will soon be visting Singapore to study their public service”.
The Executive Secretary of the Academy, Aisha Agbaje-Okunade, remarked that the target is to ensure that the Fellows become better versions of themselves and ultimately become change agents for the country.
She said, “One of our biggest challenges is that of leadership and we hope that we are building people to fill that gap of leadership through tutoring them in the process of leadership and how they can take up those roles to be effective Nigerians and be change agents in everything they do.
“We want the next generation of young people to be serious agents. It is important for the youths to put their energy into good use”, Agbaje-Okunade added.
