Get Guardian on GoogleFounder of Isi Benedicta Institute (IBI), Isi Igenegba, has called for a radical retraining of the mind as a prerequisite for effective leadership in Nigeria and across the globe.
Igenegba made the call at the “Go School 2026” graduation ceremony held in Lagos by the institute for participants drawn from around the world.
She said the current leadership challenges facing nations stem from a gap in values, governance training, and the ability to sustain peace and unity beyond individual interests.
Igenegba emphasised that leadership without proper training in governance, unity, and peace is unsustainable.
“Governance is a responsibility whose effects last for generations,” she stated, adding that specialised training is the catalyst required to transform nations.
She argued that leaders who assume office without understanding the long-term consequences of their decisions often leave systems weaker than they found them.
The 2026 cohort included participants from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Germany, and several African nations. The gathering reflected the institute’s growing international reach and its intention to build a network of leaders operating across different political and cultural contexts.
To accommodate this global reach, Igenegba disclosed that the IBI curriculum is designed to be inclusive, utilising translations and focusing on righteous leadership rather than mere knowledge superiority.
She said: “At the Institute, we hope to foster unity by ensuring that our curriculum is inclusive and that we have all the necessary translations in place. Besides, we break down our learning in a way that fosters unity.”
“Also, we incorporate into our training all the things that would enable people in nations to live peacefully among themselves. Most importantly, we tend to teach people that it’s not about the superiority of knowledge, because any knowledge you have that does not foster unity and peace is not the type needed for leadership,” Igenegba added.
He pointed out that the programme deliberately moved away from academic elitism, focusing on character formation, ethical responsibility, and the practical application of leadership principles in communities.
She said participants are trained to see leadership as service, and to measure success by the degree to which people under their influence experience stability, opportunity, and mutual respect.
Keynote speaker, Nigel Cookey-Gam, challenged graduates to master leadership in their immediate spheres before aspiring to national office.
“We all complain about governments all over the world, but it starts with you. If you cannot change your area, you can’t change your country. People are aspiring to the office when they can’t even change their family. So it’s to teach people to handle things, and then you can scale up. Training like this will always be necessary.” Cookey-Gam advised.
