Oyebanji wants leadership training entrenched in school curriculum.

Oyebanji wants leadership training entrenched in school curriculum.

....as Foursquare church’s annual lecture focuses on leadership question.

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji has made a case for the inclusion of leadership training and mentorship into the school curriculum at every cadre of education in the country.

Teaching of leadership and associated values, according to the Governor, would help inculcate the right leadership values and qualities in the younger generation, thereby addressing the leadership question more effectively.

Governor Oyebanji stated this in Lagos on Tuesday, in his remarks at the 11th Annual Public lecture of the Foursquare Gospel Church, titled: “Leadership in Nigeria and Its Impact on The Next Generation”.

Oyebanji, who chaired the occasion, said Nigeria ought to be futuristic enough to have embedded curriculum that teaches leadership skills and principles, both as practical skills and indoctrinated value in the young population. According to him, if we have identified bad leadership as the bane of the society, it is important to ensure a well structure leadership training for the younger generation.

He spoke just as the Guest Speaker at the lecture and founder The Chair Centre, Mrs Ibukun Awosika and Lagos State Governor, Mr Babjide Sanwo-Olu, also canvassed a deliberate effort at equipping future leaders with necessary values.

According to Oyebanji. “Leadership must be part of the basic everyday skills that every citizen should possess. Leadership training must be as important as basic education for literacy and numeracy. As a nation, we should have embedded curriculum that teaches leadership skills and principles, both as practical skills and indoctrinated values. For me, I believe if you want to change a people, teach them what you want them to change to.

“There is no doubt that a major problem with leadership recruitment in Nigeria is that, people, sometimes, just find themselves in leadership positions without the right aptitude and attitude. For long, Nigerians continue to gamble with leadership selection through try by error system.

“There are those who become leaders by default or by circumstances of privileged pedigree and not because of personal merits. Yet, the best of leaders are those who have been trained, tested and exposed to the nitty-gritty of leadership in addition to their innate ability.

“Leadership is such a serious thing that being certified should be one of the requirements to hold certain strategic positions in the society. Evidence abounds that technical skill on jobs are not enough for people to lead competently; there is the need for real and special training in the art and science of leadership for people to succeed today.

“I therefore subscribe to the argument that people should, of necessity, go through intentional leadership training before they can lead at some certain levels in the society. We all need to be well exposed to the call of leadership and how to manage a mass audience of people with differing characteristics, needs and tendencies.” He said.

Speaking further, Governor Oyebanji said the foregoing propelled his government to introduce Ekiti Values Education (EVE) into the curriculum as a way of identifying  those with high propensity to lead in future at their tender age, adding that the domestication of this concept as part of educational development, was to make Ekiti a model in leadership among  the next generations of Nigerians.

"In Ekiti, we are already doing this. As a State that is serious about preparing the next generation of leaders from today, we have evolved a ’catch-them-young’ curriculum that prepares our future leaders for leadership position right from the primary school.