President Buhari Should Immediately Step Down as Petroleum Minister

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

The huge responsibility of the office of the Nigerian President and that of a Commander in Chief of Armed Forces is enough to weigh down the attention and commitment of a person occupying these positions, and who yet couple as the Minister for Petroleum Resources. What every leader should try to avoid is “Burnout”, which is a situation where a person is overwhelmed by workload, stress, frustration, and the time demands of the positions he holds. Burnout affects a person’s focus on a vision, and this can be severe in old age.

Petroleum sector is sensitive and volatile; it requires absolute concentration and commitment, any gap in the management of the sector will show up in the face and the pocket of the poor. Therefore, it is highly responsive, and as such it requires energy, expertise, commitment, focus and a vision. The minister of state for Petroleum Resources will not be sufficient to oversee the affairs of the multi-segmented and complex sector like the petroleum sector, especially when you say he is just a state minister, he might think he is not enough to be creative and take bolder actions. The state minister will have limitation bureaucratically, and if there is no proactiveness from the substantive minister, the junior minister will be slowed down. Of course, we were told never to overshadow your boss, especially if that boss can fire you in a moment notice. If your boss is slow, you need to slow down too.

The ongoing petroleum crisis and hardship is unnecessary, and like I established in my other article on this issue, it relates to the management of the sector. The NNPC would have been more proactive having a committed supervisory minister. If there was a careful plan and vision, these hardships would have been avoided. Even if there are established bureaucratic departments, the leadership of the sector matters and can influence everything.

I have not heard of a country around the world where the President or Prime Minister is also the minister for natural resources. A leader should be able to trust the ability and sincerity of others, and a leader should delegate not abdicate responsibility. Abdicating responsibility is when you assign a task to someone who is not the best or not competent in terms of capacity, skills and knowledge to deliver the task. If there is corruption in petroleum sector, that does not mean the system should be broken. The best thing to do is to allow the system, but create check and balance to counter the corruption. The resultant repercussion of the broken system is more severe than the one that corrupted system will bring. A corrupted system is easier to mend than a broken one.

The current petroleum hardship is the worst ever, it happened in the wake of high inflation, poverty and unemployment. The hardships are untold, and this was exacerbated by the rushed removal of petroleum subsidy. In my previous article, I have introduced the best petroleum subsidy options that we can implement to make life easier for the poor, and I will do another set of article just to elaborate on them. Anyway, Petrol is the blood of the economy, once it is expensive; everything will become expensive. This crisis should have been envisaged long before it happen, and measures should have been taken to prevent it.

President Buhari was not educated in the field of Petroleum, though he was once the head of the sector more than four decades ago, but that was military appointment, under which anyone can be appointed to any ministry irrespective of the person’s prior relevant education or experience. Despite the remarkable development achieved during that time, such success was possible because the then President appointed a substantive minister. That Minister who is now the Nigerian President was able to be creative, because he was given the complete power to be creative. I remember President Buhari saying these words “the ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo appointed me as minister of Petroleum Resources and tolerated me for three years, and that is why I succeeded”. Therefore, Mr President, if you want this country to succeed, you will need to do the same thing, find someone and appoint him as minister of petroleum, tolerate him, I can assure you he will succeed too. The condition of success is when you assign people roles and then let them to be at their best.

There are many Nigerians who are expert and experienced in the sector, who could do better job and create focus and vision for the petroleum sector. We have to learn to give people benefits of doubt, and there are millions of honest and sincere Nigerians. We cannot achieve efficiency by limiting the cost of expertise.

A leader should not do what others can do, a leader should see himself as a supervisor, a leader should surround himself with competent people and delegate to competent hands. This is what will help reduce pressure, ensure focus, efficiency and productivity. A leader should be able to identify who are good in practical and those that are philosophical. There are people who are good in ideas and creating vision, but they don’t have practical skills to put them into action, these kind of people can be good advisers. There are others who are not theoretical, but they have high practical skills, these kind of people can be good administrators. Leadership is a big responsibility, it has to be exerted with carefulness, and you cannot get it right by chance.

Therefore, Nigerians deserve a new substantive minister of petroleum whose daily schedule and thinking is all about the petroleum sector. This new minister will then be assisted by the state minister and NNPC. This sector does not need divided attention. Nigerian citizen is more important than the office of the president, and what will serve the citizen well is what has to be done. Would this petroleum crisis go if Mr President steps down now as petroleum minister? The answer is not immediately, but this avoidable hardships may not likely to happen again. The new minister will have all his focus on how to avoid it in the future, because his attention is undivided. This minister can be man or a female, so don’t worry for using male gender pronoun.  

Finally, from legal point of view, the Nigerian constitution bearing in mind the overwhelming responsibility of the office of the president, it denied the occupant of the office taking additional responsibility. This is stated in section 138 of the 1999 constitution (as amended), and it says “The President shall not, during his tenure of office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever”. Going by this too, the President should step down and appoint a substantive minister of Petroleum Resources.

Dr. Ahmed Adamu

Petroleum Economist and Development Expert,

First-Ever Global President of Commonwealth Youth Council,

University Lecturer (Economics),

(08034458189, 08188949144 ahmadadamu1@gmail.com) 

Fuel Crisis or Leadership Crisis?

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

A leader is someone who looks into the future, and anticipates what challenges and promises the future holds, and prepares and leads people to it. A leader should not have to wait until problem arrives, he should prepare defensive mechanisms to avoid it in the beginning. It is easier to avoid problem than to fix it. Making reference to the ongoing fuel crisis in Nigeria, I would like to pay tribute to Late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua for being a role model leader. When he was on power, he anticipated fuel crisis ahead before anyone realises it, and he created defence mechanisms, he leased filling stations from private owners to ensure adequate outlets, he increased petroleum supply, and reduced the price of petroleum products. President Yar’adua reduced petrol price to N65 per litre, and at that time, international crude oil price was $65 per barrel, and as I write this article today, the international crude oil price is also $65 per barrel, but now petrol price is N145 and above per litre. There has to be a magic done by President Yar’adua to keep petrol price at N65 when crude oil price was equally $65 per barrel.

I felt disheartened with what is happening today. Seeing long queues on filling stations at this demand peak period is sympathetic and disappointing. What is more disappointing is the exploited price charged on poor consumers. At a time when real poverty is pervasive, and life is becoming more expensive, petrol price keep increasing as a result inflation and poor price control. Someone reported on Facebook buying petrol at a price more than N170 per litre, and this continues without adequate check. People now postpone economic activities and travels due to fuel crisis, which ruins the economy more. The torture and suffering people undergo is just beyond illustration, the depression lingers.

Nigerians deserve fuel subsidy; the way fuel subsidy was blackmailed and rashly executed gave no room to look at it from holistic point of view, rather than from narrowed and sentimental lens. A forensic petroleum consumption study was supposed to be conducted to identify actual consumption by Nigerians, and then identify the actual consumption by social classes, so that a targeted petroleum subsidy can be implemented. Targeted subsidy is the subsidy that targets the vulnerable, where a poor man can enjoy subsidy as a social investment. Instead of giving cash or food incentives to the poor, creating easy and cheap life for them is more important. Giving a poor person N5000 in an economy where inflation is 15.90% and fuel price is at least 49% higher is just like a single drop of water in a desert. Though social investment is good, but it can only be impactful given a conducive economic atmosphere.

Another option is subsidy quota, where every private petroleum consumer will be licensed and given a unique identification number (let us say like the BVN) with which every consumer can claim up to 70 litres (for car users)  per month as subsidy, but the subsidised consumption can only be claimed on the registered vehicle and after biometric identification. For motorcycle users, a maximum of 20 litres per motorcycle can be allocated per month.  Any consumption on those vehicles above these quotas will not be subsidised. Any other unnecessary demand will be at the consumer’s costs. What if someone used the other person’s allocation, for example, if I give someone my own subsidy allocation? Someone might ask. That is fine, as long as you agreed to a term to give someone your own subsidised product, and if that happened, two economic benefits have taken place. This subsidy quota will give authorities an idea how much to spend every month constantly for subsidy. The rate of subsidy can also fluctuate based on the government economic condition.

In leadership, a leader cannot use challenges as excuse not to fix issues. A leader is meant to face challenges and fix it. A leader is supposed to give hope to his followers by his actions, not by words. When disaster befalls, it is already too late to seek sympathy with words. Being proactive to avoid a disaster is what will earn a leader trust and confidence, but being proactive only after a disaster has already consumed people is little too late to get sympathy. Work speaks louder than words.

It is good for a leader to trust other’s abilities and seek constructive feedbacks no matter how much it pains. No one is perfect, but deliberately seeking constructive criticism is what will make one a better leader. A blind, confused and ignorant follower is the one that sees constructive criticism as hatred, constructive criticism is love. A360 degree feedback should give a leader all round and sincere feedback on his performance.

A leader must surround himself with competence not acquaintance, and the easiest way to lose control and influence is loose competency for loyalty. Leadership is a serious business, more important than any other, and it is the business that requires competence more than anywhere. A leader must then draw himself closer to different opinions and experience.  A leader must come down and see by himself what is going on at grassroots level, he should not rely on reports or friends’ reports. A leader must be energetic and active to follow things as they evolve especially critical issues that affect welfare and wellbeing of the people.

Finally, a political victory for followers is not just to have their candidates emerged, and wait for another election. Political victory is when you feel the impact and see a better change in your lives, if you can have a better life, it doesn’t matter whose candidate emerged. You may have a winning candidate, but if you are not making any progress, you have lost a political victory.  It is a mere mislead to believe every rich person is corrupt and to think a political victory is when a well-to-do is made poor, a political victory is when poor is made to do well too.

Dr. Ahmed Adamu

Petroleum Economist and Development Expert,

First-Ever Global President of Commonwealth Youth Council,

University Lecturer (Economics),

(08034458189, 08188949144 ahmadadamu1@gmail.com)

Picture sourced from CNN

Unemployment in Nigeria: The Missing Road

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

When we had Youth Round Table Discussion with the Nigerian Senate President in October 2017, I made some comments regarding unemployment, which I would like to expatiate below.

As at last quarter of 2016, the Nigerian unemployment rate was 14.2%, which means in every 100 Nigerians at least 14 of them are unemployed, which means they are capable and willing to get a job, but they cannot get one. Policy makers and commentators usually rely on this misleading indicator, which is why most of unemployment policies do not work. The reported unemployment rate is discriminating, misleading, and conservative, because, it left out large number of other people who do not have job.

There are people who are willing to get job, but they are not capable to get one, there are others who are not capable and not willing to get job due to some conditions, and there are others who have a job that is equivalent to none. These set of people could be a liability to the economy and detrimental to the overall welfare of the economy, but many times they are excluded in designing and implementing policies or programmes in addressing unemployment. They need intervention too, and if they are not considered, the resultant negativity from their conditions will outweigh the resultant benefits of the interventions on the narrowed targeted unemployed. And that is why unemployment has continued to be an issue for every administration. Accounting for these three missing set of people, real unemployment rate in Nigeria can reach up to 60%.

Let us start with the first excluded set of people- Those that are willing to get job, but are not capable or qualified to get job. Due to change in structure of the economy and fast paced civilisation and technology, many Jobs became outdated and no longer required, while new jobs suitable for new opportunities have emerged, but due to unreflective school curriculums and lack of willingness to learn, many job opportunities cannot be explored or acquired. The skills mismatch created unnecessary unemployment. So, failure to track structural change or labour market demand has made many employment creation policies unproductive. Therefore, policies must be framed to activate those latent job opportunities.

The second set of people are those that due to their background or societal expectations, they are not willing, neither capable to get a job. These exclude children, but include people like street beggars, widows, elderly people, sick people, physically challenged people, hopeless people etc. These set of people require strategic and special intervention, and they should not be excluded in designing policies or programmes. And this is why many employment policies have not been very effective, because it was not inclusive.

The last discriminated group are those people that have a job that is equivalent to nothing, because, they earn so little that they cannot sustain themselves for a week with their income. When you see these people, they would not look much different from the previous two groups. As inflation increases, these people become poorer due to their static income, as such policies should be in place to accommodate these set of semi-unemployed people. Wages should be proportionate to inflation, and by years spent on a job. Alternatively, these set of people can fall under interventions that prepare them for much more competitive jobs.

In addressing unemployment, we have to look into the root cause of it. Increasing unproductive and inefficient population can make all employment policies ineffective. What economy wants is additional capable and quality population. Adding low quality population will add more burden to the economy. It is important to revisit how we manage our abundant and ever increasing population strategically; otherwise Law of diminishing return will apply or is applicable in Nigeria. To put it into perspective, it is like a manufacturing company employing and paying for labourers that can barely produce one product in a month. The company will soon become bankrupt.

In addition to the growing unproductive population, most people wait and expect from government to fix their problems or provide solutions to their unemployment. Failure of people to take responsibility of their situations made it impossible for government to fix everybody. Therefore, policies must be in place to enforce learning and self responsibility. People must create vision and commit to becoming self reliant, and this can only be possible if people are willing to learn and acquire knowledge and skills. This does not mean acquiring certificates, but relevant information and capacity to make them productive or employable.

Emphasis on certificates when it comes to recruitment in public and private sectors is what led to the chronic and rising unemployment in Nigeria. The competition should be on skills and ability, not just on a paper. People do not carry papers along; they carry their brains and hands. So, invest and appreciate brains and hands, not papers. Leaders and employers should be rewarding skills not just qualification, we shall be asking what can we do, not what qualification we have. How much we receive as income should be based on what we can do, not the degrees we have.

This brings the need for changing values especially among young Nigerians. The young generation should focus on value addition and improving their personal capacity and skills, not chasing for wealth at all cost. If we do that, we will improve the quality of our lives, create jobs and the wealth will come naturally. We will have to go out of our comfort zone, get rid of egoism, take menial jobs, learn little skills, and be willing to acquire relevant education and skills.

Education budgets are also discriminating, because it targets only those that go to school, while education funds are supposed to be for all including non-schooling population. This is the genesis of rising unemployment, knowledge acquisition is for all, and once some groups are excluded from education, they are then prepared for unemployment. Similarly, educational curriculums have been outdated, and schools now produce graduates for the jobs that no longer exist. So, there is need for review of curriculums and a shift from theory based teaching to skills and practical based teaching approaches.

Finally, empowerment programmes should not be discriminated too, they should not be limited to only those with certificates or ability to write convincing language, but to those that have genuine ideas and skills even if they cannot access internet or write an application. Poor infrastructure, especially lack of stable electricity supply will continue to hinder any employment policy. Small skilled labour should be professionalized, so that when people engage in such small skill labour work, it will be counted as part of their professional work experience, and the wages for small skill labour should be standardised and regulated. Most importantly, every individual must commit to work on his/her personal development and improving his/her capacities and capabilities, without this, no policy or intervention will make difference in the lives of the people.

Dr. Ahmed Adamu

University Lecturer (Economics), Umaru Musa Yar’adua University Katsina,

Development Expert, Leadership and Personal Development Coach,

First Elected Global President of Commonwealth Youth Council,

08034458189, 08188949144. 

Should Buhari Contest in 2019 and How Has He Fared in the Second Year in Office?

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

There is a need to poll people’s opinions on what they think about the governance and leadership of their countries. Based on this, I decided to conduct an annual opinion poll to collate people’s opinions on the quality of leadership and future expectations on the current Nigerian leadership. This gives an indication of the people’s perception or thoughts on the leadership of the country, which can serve as feedback on how to further improve governance and track shifts in the government’s approval ratings. At this year’s poll, the respondents agreed that two years are enough for assessments, and they were ready to give their assessment and they did as follows:

In the first year (2015-2016) of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, 50% of the respondents were extremely satisfied with his administration, but in the second year, this proportion reduced to 23%, where the most of the respondents (42%) in the second year said there were moderately satisfied. This can indicate a possible decline in people’s satisfaction with the administration within a year. One can look back within this one year to see what might trigger decline in people’s satisfaction. One of the possibilities is the increase in the rate of inflation, which peaked at 18.72% in January 2017, the highest inflation in a decade. Between 2016 and 2017, the inflation averaged around 17.59%, with some slow-paced increase up to January 2017, when it started to decline for three straight months because of the fall in prices in housing and utilities and transport. This decline was not significantly contributed by a fall in food items. Another likely reason for a fall in satisfaction can be related to an increasing unemployment rate, which increased to 13.9% in October 2016, from 12.1% in April 2016. There could be many other reasons for the decline of people’s satisfaction of the Buhari’s administration.

Similarly, the respondents were less confident on the choice of political appointees by President Buhari compared to the previous year, where the most of them (39%) said they were moderately confident of the political appointees, which is a fall in confidence, since in 2016 most respondents (52%) were very confident of the political appointees. This could be attributed to the slow pace of government projects in some sectors, even though there is visible progress in some sectors. However, the majority of the respondents are still confident for the future under President Buhari.

State governments were also assessed, where respondents assessed states’ governments poorly on average in the second year. This may indicate low performance of some of the states’ governments. Though some states were assessed good like Borno, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, and Zamfara, others were assessed poor. However, none of the states were assessed excellent in the second year.

When asked if President Buhari should contest in 2019 elections, 50% of the respondents said no, he should not contest, while 49% said he should contest, the remaining 1% were neutral about this question. This indicates that some Nigerians would prefer President Buhari not to contest in 2019 elections. This may be related to their realisation of the president personal health concern, and the fact that many expect him to fix corruption in the short run.

In exploring alternative candidates, most (45%) of the respondents prefer a fresh and young candidate for Presidency in 2019; this indicates the possible desire for fresh sets of leaders in the country. In the event of no fresh and young candidates, and people should choose among the existing leaders, most (25%) of the respondents would prefer Senator Kwankwaso, 19% of them prefer Governor El-Rufai, 3% of them prefer Hamza Almustapaha, 2% of them prefer Senator Saraki and Bola Tinubu, and 1% of them prefer Atiku ABubakar and Goodluck Jonathan. This means that Senator Kwankwaso and Gov. El-Rufai may have large following and could likely be preferred alternative candidates for Nigerian presidency in the future.

The question of a fresh and young candidate is still being asked, because Nigerians ask for what kind of credibility, integrity, qualification, or experience may be required of young and fresh candidates. Some believe that it should be someone who never asks or intend to go into the politics, and some think it should be carefully and strategically prepared for. However, another big question is how united and patriotic are the younger citizens? At a time, when people compete for material wealth, and are willing to do anything to acquire it, because it is the source of respect and recognition, and politics is the easy step to acquire the wealth, then we are not ready for better alternative candidates.

Unfortunately, the young generation are groomed to desire for wealth and power, against real leadership of character and responsibility. It is disheartening to see how the young generation are polarised, and they envy and attack each other maliciously. Some of our generation think of themselves and always try to blackmail others to hide their immoralities, and this does not indicate that the younger generation are ready to take over. So, there is little hope for that fresh and young candidate unless the young people of today are prepared to do something different and new, like identifying the credible ones among them and sponsor them into the politics. The less so credible ones must be disowned and rejected. Finally, the easiest way for young people to take over is for them to take real leadership responsibility of making an impact and difference wherever they are. If they can influence a positive development, then they are already leaders, and soon power will come to them. They don’t have to ask for it necessarily, and they should not worry about taking a title, because even without them, the young people can make difference and influence the necessary positive development in our society by working together and supporting each other.

This questionnaire will resume next year on democracy day. However, it is good to note some of the weaknesses of this research, which are: limited sample size, regionally unbalanced sample, being online and restricted to the elites etc. However, it is recommended that the government take up this kind of initiative and expand it to receive feedback from the populace at certain intervals, as it will be useful for improvement.

Dr. Ahmed Adamu,

Petroleum Economist and Development Expert,

First-Ever Global President of Commonwealth Youth Council,

University Lecturer (Economics), Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina.

08034458189, 08188949144, ahmadadamu1@gmail.com

Two Year Assessment Form of President Buhari

The simplest way to manage projects out there

THE FLAWS OF OUR DEMOCRACY

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

This month, Nigeria will celebrate Democracy Day on the 29^th of May, but I have concerns about whether the democracy we practice is the best option for us. First, democracy allows everybody above the age of 18 to vote, irrespective of their education, knowledge or political awareness. This is one of the flaws of our democracy, not everyone is informed of the requirement or competence for leadership, not everyone has the skills to interpret information presented by candidates, not everyone has the correct mindset or upright ideology in making the right decision, and if everyone including the uninformed are handed over the ballot, we risk the chances of ignorant choices.

Therefore, casting a vote is a skill that everyone must acquire, and if you do not have the skills, you will not be qualified to have a ballot. It is just like handing over guns to everyone, you will risk giving the gun to an uninformed person, and he may end up shooting himself or shooting the good guys. Just like not everyone should lead, not everyone should vote too. If a child is denied the ballot because it was believed that a child may not be well informed or acquire the necessary knowledge to participate in the voting, likewise even among adults, there are those who are not informed or have the knowledge to guide their decisions.  Some children may have the knowledge, but they will also be denied the chance to vote. So, there has to be clear requirements to qualify to vote in a democracy, especially in developing countries where there is mass illiteracy or unawareness, which reflects in the ballot and can cause the poor selection of leaders, resulting in bad governance.

Uninformed citizens can easily be manipulated and used through bribery, bogus promises, or intimidation to make the wrong choices. The votes of uninformed citizens may not necessary reflect their own opinions, which is against the principles of democracy. So, some sections of society need to be stripped of the voting chance. However, highly informed and educated citizens will have fewer tendencies of being used or manipulated. In some elections, a leader can emerge even with a 1% margin, and it does not matter if that margin was as a result of a vote from an uninformed voter. That one percent will also make the other major 49% voiceless.  Uninformed voters can decide the course of the ship of our democracy. Giving uninformed citizens the ballot is like giving unprofessional the wheel of a ship at the middle of a sea during a storm, how would they steer the ship? But, if you hand over the ship to a qualified person, they will handle the situation and direct the ship to a safer route. Even in courts, we don’t allow every citizen to give verdicts, a select few competent judges are the ones we trust to give verdicts, because we believe they have the skills in making a sound and fair decision, and we accept their judgments.

This also applies to candidates contesting in our elections, once you have a lower educational qualification, irrespective of the quality of that education or the depth of your knowledge (especially political and economic affairs), you are free to contest. It is just like an aeroplane, not everyone deserves to fly the plane, if someone who is not an expert stepped up to fly the plane, no one will agree to that. So, why should we allow those who are not expert to steer a country's direction, candidates must have certain strict criteria to contest. We cannot risk allowing people with shallow knowledge of politics and economics or education to stand for elections, if we do that we put ourselves at risk of voting in incompetent leaders. If a private company wants to appoint a new MD/CEO, they will shortlist those with the best qualification in terms of knowledge and ability to meet the company’s targets. So, why can't we shortlist the best candidates for leading our respective countries, why do we accommodate incompetence in our shortlists? That is why we have to raise the requirements for who we allow to contest in our elections.

To achieve this, we have to change the system of nominations for elective positions; first, candidates must be allowed to stand for election independently without standing under a political party. Political parties must allow every member of their party to cast their votes in the selection of their party’s candidates, instead of few people, i.e. delegates. These delegates are targets of manipulation, bribery, and deception because there is no strict requirement for their selection, and once they are manipulated, the entire country is manipulated too. So, for immediate remedy, parties must open the selection of their candidates to every member of the party. Any party that does that will for sure have more appeal to the people.  Political parties must be forced to reduce the cost of nominations for political positions, to give room for competent candidates who may not afford high nomination fees.

Restricting candidacy to parties is what produces leaders without ideas. Shehu Musa Ya’adua once said, “Our major problem as a country is that we elect people that we know are not competent, and leave out those that we know are competent”. One of our African orators, Harmon Okinyo once said, “the problem with Africa is that those that have ideas, have no power, and those with power, have no ideas. Once Africans are presented with the option to vote between those with ideas and those without, they will vote for those without the ideas”. So those who are the 'good ones' don’t get the chance. The good ones do not have the money to outcompete the bad ones, and the bad ones use illiteracy and an uninformed electorate to find their way, and that is why it is dangerous to give the ballot to the uninformed citizens.

So, let us have an intellectual democracy and not democracy by birth right. Another issue with democracy is the frequent change of leaders, and giving them absolute powers to change the course of governance. This creates inconsistency and the desire to accumulate wealth within the limited span of their tenure, unlike a constitutional monarch, which prevents continued rent seeking from rotating powerful leaders. Frequent change of governments and elections attracts huge costs, which short-change the citizens. Monarchs tend to take responsibility for success or failure of their countries, because their faces or images are at stakes, and they want to command loyalty and love from their people.

To ensure informed choices and better selection of leaders, Islamic, traditional or new systems of democracy can be looked into. We can consider electing voting representatives in each district or ward, who are knowledgeable, respected, experienced and reputable. These voting representatives will cast their votes on behalf of their people, and will undertake by oath to be fair and just in their selections. They will be like judges, who will use facts and evidence to give a verdict without sentiment, fear or favour. All candidates must then present themselves and their visions to earn the votes of the voting representatives. This will give a chance to credible candidates from unpopular parties, marginalised ethnicities or sections of society, because it is about who is more competent. The voting representatives will vote according to their conscience and conviction, and they have to report back to their respective communities and explain the justification for their choices. So, they will be the judges, who make verdicts on our behalf. This kind of system is found in Islamic election processes, where few selected respected members of society are chosen to select a leader. It is also found in the traditional system of democracy, where few selected king makers choose the king on behalf of the people.

Finally, the above system can be merged with direct democracy, where a proportion of the votes can be allocated to the citizens and the bigger proportion to the voting representatives. We can say, voting representatives have a 60% weighted proportion of the votes, and 40% goes to the citizens. If a candidate wins, the entire votes of the voting representatives can emerge. A candidate can still win if he has the majority of the overall votes, combining proportions from both voting representatives and the citizens.

Dr. Ahmed Adamu

Petroleum Economist and Development Expert,

First-Ever Global President of Commonwealth Youth Council,

University Lecturer (Economics), Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina.

(08034458189, ahmadadamu1@gmail.com) 

How the North Fare in Nigeria?

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

Recently, the emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi proclaimed that if northern Nigeria was to become an independent country, it would be one of the poorest countries in the world, everything being equal. This inspired argument on the economic sensitivity of the north in a United Nigeria, I was interviewed on one of northern Nigeria’s most watched international Hausa TV channel- Wisal TV- to assess how Northern Nigeria fares in Nigeria socially and economically, and I wish to share with you some of my points during the live TV interview as follows:

First, one needs to first look at facts and realities before building opinion or sentiment. Let us look at the economic perspective of the argument using the indicator of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the most recent available disaggregate statistics of 2010 showed that among the top 10 most contributing states, only two were from the north, which were Kano and Kaduna placed at 6^th and 10^th Positions respectively, the remaining top eight states were all from the south. Looking at the bottom of the table (the relegation zone), eight out of the ten least contributing states were from the north. Based on these statistics, the north contributed only 26% of the total GDP of the country. This means that out of the total GDP of $369 billion in that year, the north contributed only $95 billion.

Therefore, if things are to stay as they are, the north will compare with countries like Sudan and will be placed at 63^rd position in the world GDP ranking, instead of the current Nigerian position of 26^th, the south would then (without the north) be placed at 54^th position.

Looking at poverty indicator, on average, 66% of northerners are poor taking the average poverty prevalence rate of the 20 northern states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as reported by the United Nations using the international poverty threshold. Specifically, the north west is the poorest region in the country, with an average poverty rate of 81%. The average poverty rate of the south is just 24%. So, this indicates relative higher income level and perhaps more expenditure and economic activity in the south than in the north.

Even though poverty is multidimensional, some poverties cannot be measured, but the real experience and observations have shown higher level of mal-nutrition, higher illiteracy, poor health care system and poor drinking water in many of the rural and some urban populations in the north. This weakens productivity and efficiency of many of the northerners.

Despite the agricultural potentials of the north, this has not helped improve the productivity of the region significantly. Firstly, from a macroeconomic perspective, agriculture contributed 21.26% to the Nigerian GDP in the last quarter of last year. This share did not only come from the north, because the south also engages in agricultural activity. So how much the north really contributes to the agricultural productivity of the country? It is obvious, it contributes higher than the south, but the sensitivity of the northern agricultural production to the GDP will not be more than 15%. This is what the Nigerian GDP will lose if the north stops agricultural production in my own estimate.

Some argue that significant portion of agricultural outputs from the north profit the southerners more than the northerners, because the southerners invest and add value in most of agricultural produce in the north. For example, in meat production, a northerner may suffer to rear a cow and sell it at N60k (hypothetically) to a southerner, who will then slaughter the cow, process the meat and package it and sell it either within the country or abroad, and will eventually sell that cow at anything above N100k, making more profit than the northerner that reared the animal. This also applies to vegetables and other crops productions.

There is nowhere in the north where crude oil is being produced, which means 100% of the Nigerian crude oil production comes from the south. Even though oil contributes only 7.15% to the Nigerian GDP in the last quarter of last year, it is still the significant source of foreign earnings for the country. So, without the north, Nigeria can generate significant foreign income from production of crude oil. However, the north may soon find and produce oil, then the equation may change, we will wait and see.

Following all this, one will start to build opinion that north is not a significant contributor to the economy of the country. This may not be mistaken despite the huge population of the region. This is because, the northern population lack the required competitiveness and efficiency to translate into more productivity. With almost half of the region’s population being women, who are largely socially restrained from becoming economically active, as a result they become absolutely dependent on the remaining half of the population, that is men. Though men are the providers, but that does not give excuse for women to live below their potential and rely heavily on the men. Doing this causes high level of divorce and disrespect on women for their dependency. It also makes the economy of the northern women vulnerable to the shock of men’s economy.

Another reason why the northern population seems immaterial is children street begging, where over 20 million children from the region roam the streets begging for food without shelter, appropriate discipline and care. This causes huge waste of human capital, and all the potential productivity of these segments of the northern population are lost. So, despite the growing northern population, that has not translated into increasing economic activity.

One major cause of the poverty trap in the north is the quest for easy and quick money. Relying and preferring government jobs or white collar jobs has crippled the economy of the region. While in the south, hard work, perseverance and creativity has been the major drive of growth and development, especially in the state of Lagos. Some northerners hold the belief that God is the provider (which is true), but tend not to make efforts and endure, they would rather spend all what they have for today, leaving tomorrow uncertain. Of course, God is the provider, but one has to do his/her best, and leave the rest to God. This behaviour discourages efforts and make them engage in spending for a moment of enjoyment without reinvestment, thereby making their future uncertain.

The States’ Reliance on federal government allocation adds salt to the wound, where any shock in the federal government revenue will directly affects the purchasing powers of the northerners and shake their economy. Due to limited number of competitive professionals, viable opportunities are easily accessed once one is qualified in the north. However, in the southern part of the country, professionals will have to create and endure new businesses and opportunities to survive, because there are many competitive professionals competing for limited opportunities, so the safest option for southerners is always to create the job, which helps in growing their economy. So, there is no resistance to new opportunities in the south as opposed to north where traditional jobs and employment are the preferred option.

When talking about development, we have to look at the educational level of the regions, and it is obvious that the south is ahead of the north in terms of educational enrolment, where south has an average enrolment ratio of 88% and the north has 57%. This alone can justify the feeble development of the north, as education drives development. Finally, for every region to develop, it has to have leaders who are visionary, who look at today’s challenges and build a future free of those challenges. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum once said “The word impossible is not in the leaders’ dictionaries. No matter how big the challenges, strong faith, determination and resolve will overcome them.”  The north will need to be more receptive and revisit certain cultural ethics and value that are confused with religion, and reorient its social settings. The 21^st century civilization and development require a cultural shift from rigid to elastic one, so as to fit and catch up with the tide of globalisation.

 

Dr. Ahmed Adamu,

Petroleum Economist and Development Expert,

First-Ever Global President of Commonwealth Youth Council,

University Lecturer (Economics), Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina.

08034458189. 

REGISTER FOR LEADERSHIP AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

LEADERSHIP AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

For Professionals and emerging leaders

“How educated you are, is determined by how much you learn outside the classroom”

“A child educated only at school is an uneducated child” George Santayana

Life expectations and requirements evolves; you have to keep improving to catch up with life.

 Delivered by Millenium Prime Solution (MPS)

copyright reserved©2017

  
INTRODUCTION:

Recent Leadership literatures argue strongly that leaders are made not born, and if they are made, there has to be strategic effort to create them. Leaders are not necessarily the ones on top, but those who participate, make and shape organisations, institutions or societies. In modern world, those that influence a group of people to achieve certain objectives are the leaders. This underpins the relevance of every person in a group or community. Leadership is not peculiar or subjected to positions in organisations, institutions or society. Everybody can be a leader, but that depends on whether the person has what it takes to be that leader.

Professionals and Young people have mental and physical stamina and innovations to drive the required change in society, and that has to be complemented with strategic leadership and personal development training to make them better leaders. Acquiring education in school is not sufficient to make better leaders, they have to be trained and tracked beyond the classrooms. Life pose many evolving challenges that static school curriculum may not address or prepare the emerging leaders to face it.

The Leadership and Personal Development Programme is an initiative that fills development gaps and prepares professionals to be more effective, efficient and professionals in their places of work and social environment.  The programme is designed to help participants realise their strengths and weaknesses and enhance their leadership, professional and development skills.

The participants of the programme are mainly professionals that work in corporate organizations, businesses, institutions, academia, military, security, sports, social and public institutions, as well as entrepreneurs, graduates, students etc. We also encourage young people and emerging professionals to participate in the programme, as that will enhance their productivity, employability, responsibility, efficiency and patriotism.

At the end of the programme, participants will be much better and effective leaders and professionals in their environments. Some of the benefits they will get from the programme include but not limited to the followings:

1. The participants will get to know themselves more, their own source and many other sources of inspirations, and to help them build life vision and focus. This entails strategic discovery of their personality, aptitude, and leadership class. They will also be familiar with inspiration boosters and killers.
2. The participants will also be inspired to do and achieve more in their lives.
3. They will realise strategies to apply in approaching everyday situations and in achieving their goals.
4. They will build self-confidence and improve their expression and communication skills. They will improve their Attention To Detail skills too.
5. They will improve their reading skills in terms of speed, spelling and comprehension.
6. They will be able to get rid of fear in public speech and in leading or managing a large or diverse group. They will learn basics of public speech and identify speech mentors.
7. They will be able to put into practice the learnt skills in public speech through practical speech for improvement.
8. They will improve their professional writing skills especially in writing professional letters, emails, and SMS.
9. They will build team work skills, and master how to become effective team leaders and in managing and adapting among diverse groups. They will be presented with the opportunity to practice the skills of effective team management.
10. They will build the skills of peer sharing and confession to drive lessons and motivation for improvement.
11. They will learn the skills of influencing and wining over people.
12. They will enhance their civic education, and know more about their and other people’s constitutional rights and responsibilities.
13. They will build the skills of strategic thinking and planning.
14. They will build their professional conducts and manners especially in interpersonal approaches, appearance, tones, and other professional etiquettes.
15. They will learn how to control emotions and temperaments.
16. They will be presented with the opportunity to meet successful leaders from different sectors and backgrounds to hear, reflect and learn directly from their successes and failures.
17. They will be taught how to develop their integrity, volunteerism and selflessness.
18. They will advance their MS office skills especially advance skills in Word, Excel, and PowerPoints.
19. They will learn the real causes of leadership failures and successes from real life examples, and they will practice the leadership roles in different circumstances to help them improve leadership skills.
20. They will improve their entrepreneurship skills, and they will be exposed to many entrepreneurship opportunities. They will learn the business skills of planning and management.
21. They will improve their employability skills. They will learn how to write a competitive CV and build job interview skills.
22. They will meet with prospective employers to learn from and engage with them. The participants will then have a glimpse of what is required and expected for development in their chosen careers.
23. They will build skills of financial discipline and time management.
24. They will be assigned with highly influential and successful people for mentorship and guidance after the programme for a period of one month.
25. They will be assessed through a quiz examination to help them evaluate the impact and their understandings of the modules they attended.

THE GAPS:

It was discovered that emerging leaders especially in Africa may lack certain global competitive skills required in the 21^st century economic, social, and political spectrums. Young people are not necessary leaders of tomorrow but leaders of today, and they shape society and its future. Few of the gaps that are largely identified among professionals and emerging leaders in Africa include but not limited to the followings:

a.       Lack of expression and communication skills

b.      Low self-esteem, fear and lack of self confidence

c.       Lack of professionalism

d.      Lack of IT application and skills

e.       Poor team management

f.       Lack of resilience and maturity

g.       Lack of career and academic guidance and focus

h.      Egoism and inexperience

i.        Lack of adaptability

j.        Lack of big dreams and ambitions

k.      Poor preparation for job markets and uninformed perceptions

l.        Unemployment and dependency

Jeff Boss once said “The challenge of staying relevant in today’s fast-paced and hyper–connected world can be daunting if you don’t know when to move forward, when to stay put or when to adapt.” Young people in African must be willing to adopt and move forward to outcompete their counterparts in other continents. They must realise their weakness and be ready to improve.

OBJECTIVES:

Leaders shape the world in different spectrums, and there has to be strategic training programme to prepare them to be better and suitable for modern challenges. Emerging leaders are required to acquire necessary skills that help make them better leaders. These emerging leaders include young people whether currently in school or in professional careers. The leadership and personal development programme is a 7-days intensive or weekend intensive sessional programme that builds the capacity and capability of professionals and emerging leaders in various leadership skills and opportunities, which include but not limited to the followings:

1.      Public confidence and Communication (language, writing and speaking) skills

2.      Professionalism, team work and time management

3.      Inter personal relationships

4.      Self-esteem, Visions and self confidence

5.      Resilience and maturity

6.      Self-realisation and development

7.      Mentorship and guidance

8.      Appearance, manners, discipline and presentations

9.      Modern IT and software solutions applicable in various sectors

10.  Adequate preparation for job market, employability and self-employment opportunities

11.  Business/entrepreneurship skills

12.  Inspiration and network with real life leaders

13.  Analytical thinking, Professional ethics, and integrity

The programme also helps participants to understand:

i.                    The kind of leaders they are

ii.                  The scopes of their leadership skills (coverage, when, how and why they lead, types and level of their subjects)

iii.                Their adaptability to changing circumstances and environment

iv.                How to build up and bridge their leadership skills gap

It exposes the emerging leaders to real-life challenges faced by leaders from various sectors, to enhance their skills in solving complex life challenges and working under diverse groups.

It provides opportunities for the participants to meet leaders from different sectors to share personal and professional experiences.

SIGNIFICANCE:

In the 21^st century’s civilisation, academic qualification is not sufficient to prepare and inspire emerging leaders; it must be complemented with strategic leadership development programmes. At the end of the programme, the participants will come out looking at the world from different and diverse perspectives, and they will be better leaders and be able to make differences in other people’s lives too. They will be more matured and resilient to face real life challenges, and their appetite to explore and learn beyond classrooms will be enhanced.

STEPS AND MODULES:

Diagnosis: to identify the disparity in personality, exposure and experience of the participants to help cluster them for strategic development in line with their strengths and weaknesses. This involves identifying the level of communication skills, IQ, team work skills, professionalism, personality, aptitude, resilience, past experiences, etc.

Leadership indicators will be set, and each participant will have to be assessed based on these indicators to enable the programme track the level improvement of the participants over time. These indicators are set around the identified objectives. This will help in identifying individual weakness and clustering them into proper groups and teams.

The Diagnosis stage will take a day to assess the participants for proper placement, and the result will identify the area of concentration for each participant. Each participant will be categorised according to the class of leaders he/she belongs at the end of the programme.

Preliminary sessions: this stage gives emphasis to participants that either do not have past leadership experience in business, organisations, institutions or society or were discovered to have more deficiencies in the diagnosis stage. The modules during the preliminary sessions are indicated in the programme schedule and must be attended by participants who scored below the required point in the diagnostic test.

Regular Courses: these are mandatory for all participants to attend. To be eligible for certificate, participants must have at least 70% attendance of the regular courses.

Induction and Graduation: Specific event will be organized for introduction and familiarization among participants, and they will be inducted to understand the purpose and expectations from them during and after the programme. Certificates will be presented during the Graduation ceremony, which will be on the last day of the programme.

Final Examination: Final examination will be conducted on the final day.

Mentorship and Tracking: Alumni of the programme will be attached with particular mentors for further mentorship or counseling for a period. The alumni will be updating the programme with progresses and successes they achieve after the course. This will help track the impact of the course.

Feedback: at the end of each session, feedback form will be filled by interested participants to received responses and suggestions for improvements.

MODULES:

The following will be some of the courses to be offered to the participants. These modules will continue to be updated to accommodate more innovations and strategic courses based on the specific demand or emerging gaps.

1.      Introduction 1: Introduction and Induction

This entails registrations, tag distribution, personal introduction of participants and ceremonial declaration of the programme.  The introduction of the programme will be presented by the Programme leader. The participants will become familiar with the courses to be administered and the expectations from them. They will get to know the programme team members. They will ask questions during the interactive session. This will last for maximum of two hours, depending on the designed programme for the day. A group picture will be arranged after the induction.

2.      Diagnosis 1: Diagnosis (Psychometrics): Personality and Aptitude Tests:

The Module aims:

i.                    To identify the strength and weaknesses of the participants and give them area of concentration for improvement

ii.                  To identify their level of experience particularly in leadership and personal development

iii.                To identify participants’ commitment to learning

iv.                To identify skills each participants needs to develop

v.                  To realise the kind of personality and leadership style they have.

vi.                To benchmark their leadership abilities

vii.              To test the level of English language proficiency in oral and writing.

viii.            Identify their IQ level

At the end of this module, participants are expected to leverage on their strength in character, vision, strategy, tactic, focus, persuasiveness, likeability, decision ability and team building.

3.      Realisation and Categorization 1: Self-Discovery and Grouping of Participants

At the end of the module, participants will reflect back on their new discovered strengths and weaknesses. They can be asked to mention it. They can then be asked to identify what sort of leaders they think they are. They will be able to also develop clear understanding of what they will work on to personally develop, and identify important next steps to personally develop. They will also be given recommendations on the areas they need to concentrate for further self-development. The participants will then be grouped according to the similarity of their leadership and personal development stages.

The module also helps participants to have an idea on:

i.    The kind of leaders they are.

ii.   The scopes of their leadership skills (coverage, when, how and why they lead, types and level of their subjects).

iii.  Their adaptability to changing circumstances and environment.

iv.  How to build up and bridge their leadership skills gap.

4.      Inspiration 1: Inspiration Boosters and Killers

The module aims to:

i.                    Equip participants with the understanding of inspiration and its various sources

ii.                  Educate participants on the major inspiration boosters and killers

iii.                Inform participants on how to maintain continuous life inspiration

At the end of the module, participants will be able to

-          Know the sources of inspirations

-          Identify the major killers and boosters of inspiration

-          Realise their strong source of motivations

5.      Inspiration 2: Inspirational and Motivational Talks

The module aims:

        i.            To inspire participants to believe in themselves and dream higher.

      ii.            To build urge in participants to achieve more in life.

    iii.            To build higher benchmark for life achievements.

    iv.            To help participants learn from other people’s lives.

      v.            To help participant identify their sources of inspiration and what motivates them.

    vi.            To motivate participants to give full attention to the program.

Expected outcome:

At the end of the class, participants will be:

-          Motivated and inspired

-          Inspired to open their minds and explore new ideas

-          Prepared and excited to chances and risks to succeed

-          Encouraged to work harder

-          Able to reaffirm faith in hard work and optimism

6.      Vision 1: Developing Ambitions and Targets

The aim of this module is to:

1. Understand what is vision and what is not a vision
2. Inspire participants to create visions and set targets for their lives
3. To educate participants on how to build visions and the steps to achieving it

At the end of this module, participants will be able to:

-          Develop visions for the lives they want.

-          Be acquainted with the steps to building a vision.

-          Develop plans and goals to achieving their visions.

-          Get rid of unconscious fear in building a better future.

-          Detach themselves from their present conditions to set new visions for the future.

-          List down their visions and apply all the lessons they learn in this programme toward achieving it.

7.      Vision 2: Developing Ambitions and Targets

The same objectives and expected outcome as in “Vision 1” above.

8.      Reading 1: Improving Reading Skills (Speed, Spelling and Comprehension)

The Module aims:

        i.            To help participants improve their reading skills.

      ii.            To inspire the reading culture among the participants.

    iii.            To prepare participants to become effective and fast readers.

    iv.            To help participants improve their spelling and comprehension skills.

Expected outcome:
At the end of the module, participants will be able:

-          To build passion for reading.

-          To learn best practices to improve the speed of their reading skills.

-          To develop effective comprehension and spelling skills.

9.      Reading 2: Improving Attention to Detail Skills

The module aims:

        i.            To improve participants’ attention skills in reading and listening.

      ii.            To acquaint participants with certain exercise to improve attention.

    iii.            To identify the level of attention of each participant for the purpose of improvement.

At the end of the module, participants will be able:

-          To become meticulous and pay attention to detail.

-          To realise and learn effectively any learning opportunity through attention.

-          To improve their learning skills.

-          To identify their attention gaps and recognise the necessary steps to improve attention skills.

-          To enable participants to think outside the box to help in addressing problems.

10.  Expression 1: Pronunciations, Vocabulary and Grammar Development

The Module aims:

1. To identify and address weaknesses or common mistakes in expression especially in English language.
2. To improve efficiency and fluency in communication.
3. To improve attentiveness in listening and writing in English language.
4. To improve pronunciation of English words and grammar in English language.
5. To identify easy techniques of improving communication in English language beyond text book.

At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

-          Significantly improve his/her English Language communication skills.

-          Avoid common mistakes in English language communication.

-          Take up challenge to undergo independent tasks and studies to improve his/her English Language.

-          Build confidence in public communication as a result fluency in the language.

-          Improve his/her vocabulary.

-          Be trusted, efficient and earn respect in leaderships and representation roles.

11.  Expression 2: Getting rid of fear and building confidence in public speech

The Module aims to help Participants:

1. Overcome fear in self-expression.
2. To be effective and build confidence in public speeches.
3. To help discover latent skills in public communication.
4. To teach techniques and approaches for effective public communication to the participants.
5. To inform participants of risks of fear.
6. To unveil various fear syndrome and how to overcome it.
7. To improve general self-confidence.

At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

-          Be confident in public communication.

-          Understand fear and master how to get rid of it.

-          Live to their full potentials because fear is capable of holding people back.

-          Dream big and build hope to achieve success and greatness.

-          To be actors not only dreamers, and accept any opportunity presented them.

-          To face life challenges confidently and try any possible dream.

12.  Expression 3: The Basics of Public Speaking

The Module aims:

1. To develop ethics and best practices in delivering public speeches.
2. To discover basics of implementing effective public speeches.
3. To identify steps in preparing for effective public speeches.

At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

-          Learn how to be excellent speakers.

-          Adopt perfect tunes and engagement relevant to the audience, purpose, expectations and topic.

-          Structure speeches in an easily logical and clear pattern.

-          Make impressive and indelible memory of their speeches.

-          Be experts in retaining attentions of the audience and engage with them in public speeches.

-          Be able practice public speeches and discover weaknesses and strengths.

-          Make concise presentations within limited time

13.  Expression 4: Video presentation of good public speakers and selection of speech mentors

The Module aims:

1. To showcase selected best public speeches to give participants feel and understanding of effective public speeches.
2. To inspire participants from best public speeches.
3. To enable participants to select their own speech mentors, from whom they will build their skills.

At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

-          Understand what to expect in good public speeches, and how it looks like.

-          To practically identify the key components of good speeches.

-          To compare and contrast between various speeches to identify common features of good speeches.

-          To select their favourite public speaker and identify reasons why they chose them.

-          To ponder on a selected speech and revert to the team to share the qualities they found in the speech.

-          Learn the basic secrets of great speakers.

-          Watch great speeches.

14.  Expression 5: Reflection and lessons from selected speakers

The Module aims:

1. To enable participants to outline basic qualities of speeches from their chosen speeches.
2. To build image of a good speech.
3. Improve listening attention to speeches to learn and discover qualities from them.
4. To give the participants opportunity to learn and share among themselves basic skills they independently discovered from their speech mentors.

At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

-          Discover diverse qualities that make great speeches.

-          Put those qualities into practice.

-          Analyse and evaluate any public speech.

-          Prepare themselves to be efficient communicators and great speakers.

15.  Expression 6: Practice through public presentations (topic to be chosen by participants)

The Module aims:

1. To give the participants the experience of real life speech.
2. To enable participants practice the good qualities they learned from their speech mentors.
3. To encourage peer learning and inspiration in public speeches.
4. To enable participants review each other’s speeches.
5. To help participants improve on their specific weakness practically.

At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

-          Will be able to deliver a public speech within the stipulated time and qualities.

-          Demonstrate their strengths and qualities in public speech.

-          Deliberately work on their weakness and receive feedback on their progress from their colleagues.

-          Experience how to identify filler words used in speeches and general evaluation of a speeches.

-          Identify the best speakers in the group.

-          To disclose their specific weaknesses so as to deliberately observe how they overcome it.

16.  Writing 1: Writing professional letters, emails, texts etc

The module aims to:

i.                    Enhance the participants’ professionalism in official and semi-official paper and online communications.

ii.                  Expose them to a more professional way of writing emails and letters.

iii.                Understand the ethics and manners in writing emails and letters.

iv.                Understand the different formats and approaches in official communications.

      At the end of the module, participants will be able to:

-          Write professional letters and emails in concise and correct format.

-          Reduce the grammatical errors and imprecision of official letters and emails.

-          Give good impression to readers of their emails and letters through politeness and adequate presentation and structure.

-          Adopt professional ethics in regular text messaging.

17.  Movies 1: Inspirational movies

The Module aims:

1. To Inspire participants from world most inspirational short videos.
2. To enable participants to draw lessons from each inspirational short videos.
3. To inspire participants to take action and increase their morals.

At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

-          Realise themselves and what they are meant to be and can achieve.

-          Take up life opportunities and become highly optimistic.

-          Boost their self-confidence and increase their hope for the future.

-          Expand their visions and goals in life.

-          Be ready to take action and overcome challenges.

-          Rate and note lessons from inspirational videos.

-          Narrate their experience and lessons learnt from the videos.

18.  Team 1: Team work development

The Module aims:

1. To highlight the importance of teamwork.
2. To develop a team spirit of participants.
3. To prepare participants to understand the process of building teamwork.

At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

-          Develop necessary skills in team building.

-          Work effectively in a team and achieve more success.

-          Inspire and help in the success of others.

-          To work effectively without caring about who takes the credit.

19.  Team 2: How to be a good team leader

The Module aims to:

i.                    Develop the participants’ leadership talents in a team

ii.                  Prepare Participants to become effective team leaders

iii.                Identify what make up a good team leader

At the end of the module, the participants will be able to:

-          Become effective team leaders

-          Lead by example

-          Master the art of delegation

-          To relate to their team members

-          To earn respect from their team members without demanding it

20.  Team 3: Peer sharing, motivation and confession

The module aims to:

i.                    Provide opportunity for participants to share their story.

ii.                  Inspire participants from the lessons of their colleagues’ stories.

iii.                Eliminate shyness and hiding of weaknesses.

iv.                Encourage confessing past and present mistakes or challenges and how they were (or to be) overcame.

v.                  Enhance peer inspiration.

At the end of the module, participants will be able to:

-          Freely express themselves and highlight their own identified challenges.

-          Listen to others’ stories and make them feel they are not alone.

-          Inspire them to be ready to take measures to overcome their challenges.

-          To learn from others’ struggles in overcoming challenges.

21.  Team 4: Adaptability and working among diverse groups

The module aims to:

i.                    Improve the expression abilities and confidence of participants among diverse groups, and help them adapt and become successful

ii.                  Help participants develop and build adaptation skills

iii.                Introduce the basic benefits of diversity

iv.                Help participants learn how to get along with individual or group from different background

At the end of the module, participants will be able to:

-          Freely converse and have confidence where ever they find themselves

-          Respect, learn and adapt to other people’s cultures and opinions

-          To overcome the challenges and fear of diversity

-          Be effective leaders even among diverse group

22.  Team 5: Practical Team Work

The module aims to:

i.                    Expose participants to real life experience of team work.

ii.                  Enhance the basic practical skills required in a team work.

iii.                Realize their strengths and weaknesses in team work.

iv.                Set targets for each participants and evaluate his/her performance in a team.

At the end of the module, participants will be able to:

-          Experience real team work and apply certain skills in the team.

-          Perform a specific role in a team and realize their abilities and specialties in team work.

-          Collectively deliver a mission within a specified timeframe to assess their effectiveness of their teamwork

-          Showcase various skills in achieving a mission and establish trust among team members for more efficiency.

-          Receive feedback on their performance within the group by their team members.

23.   Civic 1: Civic and Citizenship Education: Nigerian Constitution and Electoral Acts

The Module aims:

1. To promote good and informed citizenry for unyielding patriotism
2.  To promote civic consciousness and nationalism against extremism
3. To explore the founding values of Nigeria
4. To promote character and social cohesion
5. To promote law and order
6. To enlighten participants of their major constitutional rights and responsibilities in democracy
7. To fill the gap of social and citizenship education in tertiary institutions

At the end of the course, the participants will:

-          Become aware of their rights and responsibilities as citizens

-          Be patriotic and law abiding citizens

-          Be willing to sacrifice and engage in civic participation

-          Be involved in public life and affairs

-          Be open to volunteer and become selfless in their socio-economic endeavours

-          Become responsible and become concern about other people’s welfare

24.  Thinking 1: Strategic Thinking Development and Planning

The module aims to:

i.                    Develop the skills of strategic thinking.

ii.                  Build the skills of strategic planning.

iii.                Build vision and the skills of thinking outside the box.

iv.                Build logical and creative minds.

v.                  Build the skills of strategic planning.

At the end of the module, the participants will be able to:

-          View issues from different perspectives.

-          Possess the skills of strategic planning.

-          Understand the steps of developing strategic thinking.

-          Adapt the habits of strategic thinkers.

-          Understand the key component of strategic plan.

25.  Manners 1: Professional approaches, appearance, manners, wining people, inspiring others

The Module aims:

1.  To develop professional manners, approaches, and appearances.
2. To improve the skills of socialization in a formal setting.
3. To educate participants on the professional etiquettes and ethics.

At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

-          Look and act professionally in a formal or professional environment.

-          Improve on formal communication skills and behaviours.

-          Earn respect, love and integrity among their colleagues.

-          Inspire others.

26.  Manners 2: Control of Emotion and Temperament

The Module aims to:

1. Build skills for emotional and temperamental control.
2. Equip participants with tactics to avoid negative thoughts and overreaction to circumstances.
3. Build emotional intelligence of the participants.

At the end of the module, the participants will be able to

-          Control their anger and act nicely even at disappointing outcomes.

-          To understand the strategy to quench anger and build positive temperament.

-          To identify why and what make them angry.

-          To know their temperament and how to control it.

-          To improve their good health, emotional maturity and happiness.

27.  Face to Face 1: Meeting and Hearing (success and failures stories) from different Leaders of different styles and organizations

28.  Face to Face 2: Meeting and hearing (approaches to problems) from different Leaders of different styles and organizations.

29.  Face to Face 3:  Reflection on the lessons and discovery after meeting leaders

The modules (Face to Face 1 to 3) aim to:

1. Connect participants to real life leaders
2. To hear and lean from real life experiences
3. Have primary contact with different types of leaders
4. Hear and learn from success and failure stories of real life leaders
5. Inspire participants and guide them in career choice
6. Understand the different approaches to addressing problems

At the end of the module, the participants will be able to:

-          Understand the real life challenges and how to overcome it

-          Learn the qualities required for success from practical perspective

-          Identify the causes of failures in many sectors of life

-          Link up and create contacts with real life leaders for guidance

-          Hear directly from practical experience of successes and failures

-          Solve problems on their own

-          Understand the behind the scene of every success

-          Understand different leadership styles and approaches

-          Reflect on the lessons and discoveries learned from the leaders

30.  Manners 3: Integrity Development, Volunteerism and Selflessness

The module aims to:

1. Maintain high ethical values in participants.
2. Improve reliability and confidence on the participants.
3. Improve the culture of selflessness and volunteerism.

At the end of the Module, participants will be able to:

-          Be honest and sincere in every circumstances.

-          To stand for the truth even if it displeases others.

-          Improve self-awareness and live to specific values.

-          Be selfless, volunteers and patriotic.

-          Widen their horizons.

31.  Advanced/Intermediate MS office skills 1: Advanced skills/application of MS office (Word, Excel, and PP)

The module aims to:

i.                    Assess and advance the skills of participants in MS office for word, excel, and PowerPoint.

ii.                  Identify the gaps in the MS office application skills and help fill them.

iii.                Improve the general proficiency in MS office

At the end of the module, participants will be able to:

-          Fill the MS office skills checklist to identify their strengths and weaknesses

-          Be able to confidently itemise and communicate their MS office skills

-          Know how to improve their proficiency and speed in MS office.

32.  Leaders 1: Causes of Leadership Failures and Successes with Examples

The aim of this module is to

1. Broaden the participants’ leadership inspiration beyond local leaders to global leaders
2. Explore other common traits of successful leaders
3. Study theories and examples of successes and failures in various leadership spheres

At the end of the module, participants will be able:

-          To be inspired by global success and failure stories

-          To learn and adopt leadership traits from

-          Understand what differentiate successful and unsuccessful people in different sectors

33.  Practice 1: Learning from Real Leadership Challenges

The module aims to

1. Give opportunity to participants to practice real leadership
2. Allow participants implement the leadership skills they learnt
3. Reveal the actual leadership approaches and creativity of the participants
4. Be familiar with variety of real life leadership challenges and approaches to address them.

At the end of the Module, participants will be able to:

-          Have a real impression of facing and overcoming challenges

-          Practice leadership

-          Cope with both external and internal challenges

-          Employ strategies to cope with the challenges that leadership brings

-          Build sense of imagination of possible challenges in leadership

34.  Entrepreneurship 1: Training on Business Skills: Unveiling Business Ideas and Opportunities

35.  Entrepreneurship 2: Training on business skills: Business Plan and Management

The modules (Entrepreneurship 1 & 2) aim to:

1. Equip participants with the required skills to be successful entrepreneurs.
2. Unveil various business opportunities to participants.
3. Train participants on business plan and management.

At the end of the Module, participants will be able to:

-          To become aware of new ideas and opportunities to be an entrepreneur.

-          To appreciate business ideas and how to implement it despite inadequate capital.

-          To plan and manage business.

-          To learn new business skills of sourcing capital, financial management and marketing.

36.  Job 1: Employability Skills, Preparing a Good CV and Interview Skills

The module aims to:

i.                    Enhance the participants’ employability skills.

ii.                  Help in discovering the participants’ interest and the kind of job that will be good for them.

iii.                Help in identifying the specific goals of the participants in their life.

iv.                Prepare participants to write a very good Curriculum Vitae.

v.                  Prepare the participants for successful job interview.

At the end of the module, participants will be able to:

-          Identify the missing skills they need to have for their dream job.

-          To discover their interest and concentrate in preparing for specific jobs.

-          Identify their life goals, and avoid distractions.

-          Write an impressive Curriculum Vitae.

-          Confidently prepare and pass any job interview.

37.  Job 2: Meet Prospective Employers. Meet, learn from and engage with employers to know what they really look for. Interview strategies.

The module aims to

                    i.            Expose participants to the real experience of work environment

                  ii.            Acquaint participants with the required skills in work place

                iii.            Connect participants with the employers of their dream careers

                iv.            Enhance the employability of the participants

                  v.            Help participants prepare for their careers adequately

At the end of the Module, participants will be able to:

-          Connect and engage with employers

-          Understand specific requirements for their chosen careers

-          Prepare for the labour market

-          Understand different career options in their field

-          Boost their confidence in their ability to interact with employers

-          Build their network

-          Develop their professional communication skills

-          Meet people with career paths that will inspire them

-          Get insider information on internship, mentorship & job opportunities

38.  Accountability and Time Management 1: Accountability, Financial Discipline, and Time Management

The module aims to:

i.                    Improve the financial discipline and management

ii.                  Prepare participants to effective and rationally manage their resources

iii.                Improve the participants’ integrity, accountability and financial prudence

iv.                Improve the participants’ skills in time management and task prioritization

At the end of the module, participants will be able to:

-          Apply different time management strategies

-          Be more productive and efficient

-          Be accountable and develop financial prudence and accountability

-          Know how to prioritize tasks, delegate tasks, and discard unimportant tasks

-          Monitor time spent for every activity

39.  Mentorship 1: Assign Mentors to Each Participant

The module aims to:

1. Connect successful practitioners and professionals with emerging ones for guidance and support
2. Build confidence of the participants and help them choose a specific and informed career path
3. Build skills of consultations, Interpersonal relationships and learning from experts
4. Identify specific development gaps and help fill them
5.  Help participants set relevant goals for their vision
6. Give opportunity for mentors to share knowledge and invest on the emerging professionals
7. Pair and match mentors with the participants for two months after the programme.

At the end of the module, participants will be able to:

-          Have confidence and fill their development gaps

-          Receive feedback on their personality, strengths and weaknesses

-          Build a clear path to achieving their visions

-          Expand their networks for collaborations and supports

-          Break down barriers and creates opportunities for success

-          Develop cognitive skills in order to strengthen the mental process of discovering, analysing and solving problems to overcome obstacles.

-          Have mentors that will mentor them for two months after the programme

40.  Categorization 2: Final Discovery of Self-Strengths and Kind of Leadership Class Each Participant Belongs and Examination

The module aims to:

i.                    Enable participants to reflect back on their new discovered strengths and weaknesses.

ii.                  Identify the kind of leaders they are.

iii.                Enable participants to develop clear understanding of what they will work on to personally develop.

iv.                Receive recommendations on leadership and personal development beyond the programme.

v.                  Identify among the participants who they share common strengths and weaknesses for future collaboration or mutual support.

vi.                Give space for participants to share their experiences during the programme.

At the end of the module, participants will be able to:

-          Realise who they are and opportunities they have.

-          Develop clear vision on what their life goal is and areas they need to work on more.

-          Create network of friendship and partnership for future collaboration and development.

-          Receive strategic and relevant recommendations on how to personally develop.

-          Tell how much difference the leadership programme has made to them.

				Calendar for the programme
Time	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5		Day 6	Day 7
9:00-10:00	Introduction 1: Induction and Introduction	Reading 1: Improving Reading Skills (Speed, Spelling and Comprehension)	Expression 5: Reflection and lessons from selected speakers	Team 1: Team work development Team 2: How to be a good team leader	Manners 1: Professional approaches, appearance, manners, wining people, inspiring others Manners 2: Control of Emotion and Temperament		Advanced/Intermediate MS office skills 1: Advanced skills/application of MS office (Word, Excel, and PP)	Job 1: Employability Skills, Preparing a Good CV and Interview Skills
10:00-11:00	Diagnosis 1: Diagnosis (Psychometrics): Personality and Aptitude Tests: Realisation and Categorization 1: Self-Discovery and Grouping of Participants	Reading 2: Improving Attention to Detail Skills Expression 1: Pronunciations, Vocabulary and Grammar Development	Expression 6: Practice through public presentations (topic to be chosen by participants)	Team 3: Peer sharing, motivation and confession Team 4: Adaptability and working among diverse groups	Face to Face 1: Meeting and Hearing (success and failures stories) from different Leaders of different styles and organizations Face to Face 2: Meeting and hearing (approaches to problems) from different Leaders of different styles and organizations.		Leaders 1: Causes of Leadership Failures and Successes with Examples Practice 1: Learning from Real Leadership Challenges	Job 2: Meet Prospectus Employers. Meet, learn from and engage with employers to know what they really look for. Interview strategies.
Break 11:00-11:15	Break	Break	Break	Break	Break		Break	Break
11.15-12:15	Inspirational 1: Inspiration Boosters and Killers Inspirational 2: Inspirational and Motivational Talks	Expression 2: Getting rid of fear and building confidence in public speech Expression 3: The Basics of Public Speaking	Writing 1: Writing professional letters, emails, text	Team 5: Practical Team Work Civic 1: Civic and Citizenship Education: Nigerian Constitution and Electoral Acts	Face to Face 3:  Reflection on the lessons and discovery after meeting leaders		Entrepreneurship 1: Training on Business Skills: Unveiling Business Ideas and Opportunities	Accountability, and Time Management 1: Accountability, Financial Discipline, and Time Management Mentorship 1: Assign Mentors to Each Participant
12:15-13:15	Vision 1: Developing Ambitions and Targets Vision 2: Developing Ambitions and Targets	Expression 4: Video presentation of good public speakers and selection of speech mentors	Movies 1: Inspirational movies	Thinking 1: Strategic Thinking Development and Planning	Manners 3: Integrity Development, Volunteerism and Selflessness		Entrepreneurship 2: Training on Business Skills: Business Plan and Management	Categorization 2: Final discovery of self-strengths and kind of leadership class each participant belongs and Examination

OPTIONAL PERIODS FOR THE PROROGRAMME:

1.      7-days Intensive: This runs from 9:00 to 13:15 daily for the continues period of 7 days. The programme sessions can take place anytime if at least 30 participants registered for the programme in a location.

2.      Weekend Session: This runs from 9:00 to 14:15 for only weekends for three weeks. The programme sessions can take place anytime if at least 30 participants registered for the programme in a location.

FEES AND ENROLMENT:

Cost estimation for each programme can be provided upon request, and will be based on the available opportunities, location and specific requirements. The costs will cover cost for course materials and instruments, facilitators, resource persons, certificates, venue, running cost, logistics and transport, etc. The minimum number of participants per session is 30, and maximum of 50. Participants are to sponsor themselves for the programme by paying a stipend that will cater for the running cost of the programme. However, philanthropists, organisations, government officials, academic institutions or individuals may wish to sponsor interested participants for the programme.

The fees is decided per state, and admitted participants will be advised on the fees in their admission letters.

To sign up for the programme, please fill the online registration form from the following link for free. Upon successful registration, participants will be informed of the period in which they are expected to make payment and provide evidence of that for them to enrol into the programme.

You can register online from this link: https://goo.gl/ichyGY

CONTACTS:

For more information about the programme, enrolments or timetable, you can contact:

Dr. Ahmed Adamu,

Programme Leader,

08188949144, 08034458189,

ahmadadamu1@gmail.com

About the Programme Leader: 

Dr. Ahmed Adamu: First Ever Global Chairperson, Commonwealth Youth Council. He was elected on November 12, 2013 as the first Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC), which is the largest youth-led organisation in the world, representing over 1.2 Billion young people from across the 53 Commonwealth nations worldwide. He represented his country in many international and commonwealth youth programmes, and was the pioneer Chief Whip of the Nigerian Youth Parliament. Dr. Ahmed was an International expert at United Nation’s Global Forum on Youth Policies; Member, Policy Strategy Group, United Nations’ World We Want; Member, International Panel of Judges for Youth Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition; Observer member, International Youth Task force for 2014 World Conference on Youth; Member, Advisory group panel on 50th Anniversary of the Commonwealth Secretariat. He was the Nigerian youth observer at the ECOWAS parliament, and the founder and pioneer president of the League for Democratic Youth. Dr. Ahmed was a member of the Katsina state executive council committee on youth development, he also served as the secretary of the Nigerian constitutional review consultation committee, and was the founder and president of Oil and Gas scholars club. He is the founder and president of Katsina Debate Club, publicity secretary of Civil Liberties organization, Katsina branch, secretary of integrity club. He was elected as the National Chairman (CTC) of the National Association of Katsina State Students (NAKATSS) National Body, he was also elected as the Financial Secretary of Students Union Government of Bayero University Kano, among so many other past leadership responsibilities and experiences.

He holds PhD in Oil and Gas Economics from Newcastle University, United Kingdom; He is a University Lecturer, also a member of many international and national professional organizations. He published and presented many international and national academic papers, and participated in several international and national academic conferences. He published a book titled “Comparative Assessment of Petroleum Sharing Contracts in Nigeria”.

He was honoured with many International prestigious awards which include; the Global Achievers Award by the Global Achievers Awards; Outstanding Service Award by the Commonwealth; Award of Excellence by the Commonwealth Youth Council; African Young Personality of the year (2015) award by African Youth Awards; and African Achiever of the year for 2014 by the African Achievers Awards. He is the winner of GPLUS Award, UK and he was named among the 100 most Influential Young Africans (2016). He was also ranked among the top 20 most Influential Young Nigerians in the list of 2016 100 most Influential Young Nigerians by Advance Media Africa. He is a recipient of Nationalist Beacon Award and Nigerian Dream Personality Honors. He was also honoured as an inspirational Nigerian by Those Who Inspire Ltd. He also received award of excellence from the League for Democratic Youth, and was awarded as the most influential student union leader by the National Economics Students Associations (NESA). Dr. Adamu is one of the most influential youth leaders in the world. Being the Pioneer Global Chairperson of the CYC, he met with many global leaders and travel wide; he has recorded numerous achievements under his leadership as the CYC Chairperson. He is a youth worker, mentor, motivator and inspirational speaker. He is blessed with a son and a wife.