By Disun Amosun
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila has decried the dearth of a genuine succession program to groom young Nigerians to take over the mantle of leadership from the present crop of political leaders when they exist from the scene.
He noted that the absence of such a transition in leadership remained a setback for the country’s growth as the future rightly belongs to mentored youths imbued with foresight and innovation.
Gbajabiamila, who spoke in Abuja, said there was the urgent need to correct the anomaly so that the country could have a pool of young leaders to draw from as the old brigade moved on to other fields of endeavours.
He put this across at the graduation and induction ceremony of the first 74 trainees of the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI) held at the National Assembly.
The LMI, an initiative of the Speaker aims at building the next generation of Nigeria’s public sector leaders, particularly in the Legislature, had 74 young trainees drawn from the 36 states of the federation and FCT that underwent intensive training, mentorship and leadership programs in the last five weeks.
“I have always said the lack or failure of leaders to mentor the young ones is the bane of our society, that is why we introduced the LMI, a robust programme to equip our young ones for the leadership tasks ahead, for governance and for the good of our country”, Gbajabiamila stated.
The Speaker observed that the timing of the training was significant, coming at a period the world faced increasing challenges that would require people of great skills and knowledge to address, especially from among the youth.
Gbajabiamila then charged Nigerian Youths to rise up to the leadership challenges ahead of them by coming up with visionary ideas and backing them up with positive implementation.
“Distinguished fellows, you are graduating at a time of great uncertainty in the world. We are in a historical moment of great danger, and abounding opportunities brought on by technological advancements, accelerated globalisation, and the reformation of the global economic and political order.
“When I talk about setting your sights high, I am not talking about holding high office in government. Though, I fully expect you to do that. However, your visions for the future must not rest on the positions you aspire to or the ambitions you have for yourself alone. Your dreams must be about more than yourself because dreams that begin and end with your own prosperity alone are not enough for individuals as talented, bright, and capable as those graduating today”, he said.
The Speaker commended the graduates for their zeal to learn as demonstrated by the quality of their contribution to discussions and various knowledge-based tasks while the training lasted.
A mock plenary session was held at the ceremony which depicted that the LMI graduands have a good grasp of the intricacies of a parliamentary sitting and how the presiding officer accommodates the different whims of members.
