The lawmaker representing Ibadan North East/Ibadan SouthEast Federal Constituency, Hon. Abass Adigun Agboworin has trained over 150 youths on leadership skills as part of his commitment to nurturing future leaders and promoting national development.
The maiden edition of the event was part of the lawmaker’s efforts aimed at preparing the youths in Oyo state ahead of leadership task and responsibilities as future leaders.
Speaking at a one-day political leadership summit for young people at the International Conference Centre (ICC) of the University of Ibadan, the second-term federal lawmaker and Chairman House Committee on Narcotic Drugs shared his struggles in politics after returning to Nigeria from the United States of America whilst recounting the tough and seemingly unbearable journey he faced even before elected as House of Representative member in 2019 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stressing that youth must comprehend the steps involved in advancing Nigeria and scaling up in politics.
“The theme, Leadership Initiative For Tomorrow’s Leaders In Politics, bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical experience in politics, preparing young Nigerians for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead”.
Emphasizing that politics is dynamic, he posited that the youth of Nigeria must play with its dynamism as it is their time to get involved with their digital skills and knowledge to help move the nation forward.
Agboworin highlighted sincerity, funding, strong determination and destiny as major factors necessary for anyone to climb the ladder of political leadership in Nigeria.
“Politics involves a lot of things in this part of the world,” he stated. The political issues we face in our nation are not unique; most developed nations face issues very similar to ours. But their own institutional settings are being used to correct the abnormality there.
“We came up with this program and its theme because it has been part of my life resolution to continue touching lives. And not only giving out empowerment items, but the ability to equip people with necessary skills.”
The lawmaker equally stressed the need to have adequate financial standing before pursuing a political career, emphasising that failure is a necessary part of progress and that having a solid financial foundation fosters trust as well as intellectual competence.
The guest lecturer for the event, Professor Remi Aiyede of the Department of Political Science at the University of Ibadan, urged the youth to get more involved in politics, strive for leadership positions, and act as change agents in the community, arguing that an accidental leader will cause many accidents.
According to him, equipping future leaders is one of the way out of Nigeria multifaceted problems as many accidental leaders has succeeded in creating a lot of accidents for the country through their inefficiency and lack of leadership skills.
The main spheres of politics and governance, according to Aiyede, are public policy and decision-making, adding that if handled by inexperience or inefficient set of people, the mess created will bounce on all.
He reiterated that there must be proper involvement and engagement of young minds in the country’s political process.
“Leadership is the ability to think carefully and weigh many options. But if a careless leaers are in charge, problems tend to happen, and all of us start bearing the brunt of it.
“As a good leader, you must be able to equip yourself with both reading and writing skills. The two are important and key to a successful leader. There are ideas and policies that can only be expressed in the art of writing while some through the reading of literatures and books compiled by experts in public governance and administration”, he said.
While acknowledging that “Old people in politics and governance will retire one day,” the lecturer commended Hon. Agboworin for his clever notion of exposing young brains to the kind of intellectual knowledge they are blessed to receive at the summit.
He stated: “If the present set of young people are not well equipped to succeed them, the country is bound to be repeating the same error and negative results.
“And I think Hon. Abass Adigun Agboworin is one of those politicians and political leaders who are future driven and preparing the youths for the journey ahead of them in leadership positions. He probably does not want today’s unsolved problem to resurface again tomorrow for grouping young minds together to understand leadership skills needed in contemporary society.
“One of the key areas of leadership failure is the inability of leaders to recognize the values being input or contributed by their followers. Hence leading to loss of followers to other political actors, or make them interested in political process, participation and involvement.”
On his part, Hon. Dare Adeleke, Special Adviser to the Oyo State Governor on Federal Constituency Matters, encouraged the youth to persist in their political aspirations without hesitation or retreat.
He said: “All the leaders we are seeing today in different spheres of life have at one time or the other faced their own challenges. It is through determination and Grace of God that make them victorious.”
Engr. Dotun Sanusi, the founder and owner of Ilaji Hotel and Resorts, who also graced the occasion, utilised his real-world experience to educate the youth in attendance that hard work and dedication to one’s idea or vision are the only paths to success.
According to him, in this contemporary society, youths must be able to combine hard work and smartness together for a resounding success.
This was as he took the participants through his life story, explaining that a leader without developmental ideas is not a good leader.
He said: “One of the thing that is missing in this present day is leadership. I want to specially appeal to you, youths, to be ready to get involved in the political process of the state and Nigeria.
“You must be able to engage yourself in practical politics while not doing away with your second address, which is your occupation.”
The summit, which was designed to impart both theoretical and practical knowledge of political leadership, successfully equipped participants with the essential skills required for future governance
The event was attended by Commissioner for Youths and Sport; Hon. Wasilat Adegoke; former Special Adviser to Governor Makinde on Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Hon. Kazeem Bibire; Oyo State Youth Leader of PDP and acting Publicity Secretary, Hon. Micheal Ogunsina; Hon. Abiodun Babalola, Member of Oyo State House; PDP Leader, Hon. Dele Akinleye, Hon. Ademola Ekolo, Mogaji Nurudeen Akinade, and hosts of others.
