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Supreme Court Justice, Adekoya, others, teach soft skills at LASU lecture

By By Maria Diamond
24 October 2019   |   3:45 am
Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Amina Adamu Augie has enjoined students to build a solid foundation based on integrity, honesty, contentment and apt knowledge of future destinations in order to surmount success.

LASU

Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Amina Adamu Augie has enjoined students to build a solid foundation based on integrity, honesty, contentment and apt knowledge of future destinations in order to surmount success.

Justice Augie who was the chairperson at Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo 3rd distinguished lecture which was had other eminent personalities in attendance said the journey to life success starts from how students live their life now.

At the lecture themed, “Market imperatives: Re-thinking soft skills in a highly competitive world”, the eminent jurist said, “Being a student is beyond waking up every day for daily activities or classes, but building the future. The future eventually comes for the young ones and often times the reference point to attaining the height of success outside the regular academic knowledge is integrity based. It is your foundation that makes you solid. When building the foundation of your life for success, you must build a solid foundation that can uphold your life as you reach for the sky. So, whilst studying hard, you should endeavour to build your foundation from shared truthfulness to yourself, God and man” she said.

She further said it is imperative for students to know their capability in order to know where they can be of greater impact to the community and the nation at large.

Managing Partner Aelex Legal Practitioners & Arbitrators, Mrs. Funke Adekoya, (SAN) while delivering her lecture said honesty is still the best policy for a successful life.

“Soft skill is character building. It is a necessary education that everyone must acquire as it helps students after having gained academic education, to be distinct in a highly competitive market.

She added, “If Nigeria is going to survive as a nation, we need the soft skills of ethics, honesty, and integrity. These soft skills should be a way of life and not something anyone should do away with. While your knowledge will get you a job, your character is what helps you keep your job and pave ways of success for you. When employers look for something more aside qualification, they look for integrity, honesty and other attributes of soft skills in you” she noted. Adding that, students should henceforth develop their character and not just book knowledge.

Adekoya further said: “Your character will take you where your university education stops. What stand you out amongst others will be your honesty, reliability, loyalty, and ethics. Make a choice to take a chance in order to make the change that Nigeria needs because these soft skills will take you farther in life than the book knowledge education would take you. So make your word your bond and make honesty a way of life” she said.

On her part, Social worker, Bountiful Taiwo Adelanwa said soft skill is a life skill, as people mostly get jobs based on recommendations and referrals.

“No one will recommend you if your character is heavily flawed. Acquisition of soft skills is all entrepreneurs need to survive in a highly competitive economy as we have now in Nigeria. This is why I think it’s about time institutions take the lead of LASU to begin to inculcate acquisition of soft skills in student or even incorporate it in the school’s curriculum” she enthused.

The vice-chancellor, Prof Olanrewaju Fagbohun said it is a yearly tradition of the institution to have distinguished speakers’ series where role models are brought into the institution to interface with the students.

Fagbohun said: “We don’t just want to teach our students about role models, we want to show them examples of people who have lived Spartan lives so that they will know that they do not need to cut corners to achieve their goals or get to the top. Which is why we brought Justice Adamu and the three other speakers with impeccable success records to teach the importance of soft skills to our students.

We recognised that our world is a very competitive one with globalisation, and so, irrespective of the institution a student graduates from in Nigeria, you will be competing with other students who graduated from international institutions like Yale, others, and no one will draw a distinction between local universities or international, they will tag everyone a graduate. Hence the need to in-build them with all the skills they require.

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