Lagos State Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, yesterday, said that Nigerian youths should deliberately be equipped with leadership traits, abilities and capabilities so that when they are called upon for leadership roles, they would have be equipped with relevant skills to excel in those roles.

He said this, yesterday, while interacting with the 30 fellows of the Lateef Jakande Academy at their camp.

He said that the fellowship, which is a 12-month long programme, is aimed at helping the youth fill the leadership deficit in Lagos and by extension Nigeria.

Muri-Okunola called on the youths to imbibe the spirit of public service, togetherness, team spirit, keeping the eyes on the ball and remaining focussed as they journey through life.

“This academy is one of the babies of Sanwo-Olu to engage the youths to imbibe the spirit of public sector service. It is an intense and rigorous 12-month programme for the fellows to go round the entire public service, shadowing cabinet members and body of permanent secretaries to understudy the workings of the public service, workings of government and its hierarchical and bureaucratic nature.”

He added that the fellows are also expected to go on international tours to see how public service is rendered in other climes, disclosing that the fellows will be going to Singapore to study the public service in Singapore.

“This is to see what they can learn and bring back home.”
The Executive Secretary of the academy, Aisha Agbaje-Okunade, said that the target is to ensure that the fellows become better version of themselves and ultimately be change agents for the country.

“One of our biggest challenges is the challenge of leadership and we hope that we are building people in order to fill that gap of leadership through tutoring them in the process of leadership and how they can take up those roles to be effective Nigerians and be change agents in everything they do.

“We want the next generation of young people to be serious agents. It is important for the youths to put their energy into good use,” Agbaje-Okunade said.