August has been an exciting month, especially for our 25 Emerging Political Leaders who have been immersed over the last month with context on various modules such as; Government 101, The Emerging Political Leader and Running for Office.
Fellows have gotten extreme value from our facilitators so far who have painstakingly delivered thought-provoking and value-adding presentations on the various topics, the fellows had this to say;
“The Secretariat is doing an excellent job already on the diverse selection of people that are on board to impart knowledge to us”
“I must commend the team for the great work. It is interesting how I have read or watched almost all materials shared but one! Indeed I know I won’t leave this fellowship the same. Already it’s been challenging my inherent leadership capabilities”- Dr Omoayena Odunbaku
The Virtual training phase of the fellowship began with two sessions with Dr James Raphael on the topics; Understanding the Backstory and Contextualising the Present which took place on the 2nd and 4th of August respectively.
Feedback Highlights from Fellows
“I was happy to learn about historical issues in Nigeria. How far we have come as a country, how these affect us and where we are headed historically.”
“Contextualizing the present gave me that clear understanding of how the challenges we are currently facing started, and the way forward as regards our challenges as a nation”.
During the second week, we had sessions facilitated by Mr Stephen Kola Balogun and Mr Olakunle Soriyan on the topics; The Evolution of the Nigerian Constitution and Designing the Nigerian Dream, to mark the end of the module “Government 101” we had a panel discussion on the topic “State of the Union”- the panel styled event encouraged knowledge sharing and open dialogue to help fellows gain deeper context about the module. Panellists such as; Abiodun Bayeiwu and Mr Biodun Layonu had the opportunity to answer the budding questions of fellows, this session was moderated by the Technical Advisory Board Chair; Mercy Abang.
Feedback Highlights from Fellows
“The key highlights were basically how I got to understand the people behind the contextualization of what we now have as a constitution and how it has evolved over the years.”
“Thank you to The Bridge Leadership Foundation for including this most important and contentious issue in our curriculum. My thanks also go to the faculty for their guidance on how best to address legislation and the challenges of a constitutional review.”
“I love the gender parity perspective of Abiodun Baiyewu and the clarion call for youth engagement in politics and governance by Dr Biodun Layonu”
We started a new module in the third week “The Emerging Political Leader” which was facilitated by Mr Olakunle Soriyan, Sen Liyel Imoke, Dr Tunde Oseni, Maryam Aliko Mohammed, Mr Bruce DelValle and Mr Biodun Layonu.
“The facilitator kindled a self-awakening in me, that I haven’t really noticed. About how my surroundings and things I have been exposed to which has shaped a lot of my decisions.”
“The modules were more than necessary to be discussed and the facilitators were outstanding in doing justice to it.”
To conclude the module, we had a fireside chat on the topic “The Personal Leadership Imperative” which had panellists such as Mr Olakunle Soriyan, Mr Bruce DelValle and Maryam Mohammed Aliko answer the questions of the fellows which centred on the need for self-mastery and leadership, this session gave the fellows an opportunity to gain new insight necessary for their political journey.
“I have gotten understanding about how to engage and put myself out there in this political journey. I have a better understanding of empathy as it relates to leadership and how not to be manipulative when showing empathy as a leader. I have also resolved to keep most of my biases aside and respect other people’s cultural and personal beliefs .”
The last week of the month ended on a good note with a new module on “Running for office, the various topics being delivered are opening a new chapter of learning for fellows as they take a dive into the political leadership context.
It has been a month of learning, relearning and unlearning and we are confident that the next few months will expose fellows to more learning and context.
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