Youths inspired at Bonny leadership summit

About 130 youths attended the maiden edition of LEAD summit, which held at Bonny Island in Rivers state on Saturday.

Maxwell Ogaga, a missionary at Kingdom Development Christian Centre in Bonny and convener of the summit,  said the programme seeks  to transform the society.

“It is meant to bridge the identified gap in leadership, ethics and attitude development in our society and beyond by sparking conversations that reverberate beyond mere gatherings into actions that work and transform the society from the bottom up,” he said.

Speaking on the topic: ‘Enhancing leadership Skills’, Ekeinde  Ohiwerei,  a  supply  chain  manager, who was one of the facilitators, challenged the participants on the need to harness their leadership skills.

“Leaders help a  group of  people  move from one paradigm to another,” he said.

Explaining the Dalton model for growth, he affirmed that leadership can be built from an apprentice platform to a mentor/sponsor stage.

“With change being the new constant and with the old ways of working dispensed with,” he said.

“Leadership needs to be enhanced to provide the needed answers in the face of increasing and dynamic demands from stakeholders.

In his presentation, Kingsley Bangwell of Youngstars Foundation, advocated a new appetite for a culture of and inventions.

Drawing from his nearly two decades of working on the international scene, Kingsley held the audience spell-bound.

He emphasised the need to reflect on why Nigeria is referred to as emerging market and not emerging powers.

“The bottom line is what Africa brings to the global market in terms of innovative and hybrid products define whether we shall continue to be captives or captains of the future,” he said.

“How will Africa look if developed countries deny us technology and modern gadgets?

“People who have since embarked on the innovation journey are the captains, while those who will today decide to begin the innovation journey are the shapers.”

The participants found the question and answer sessions very interesting.

Primary  school  and  secondary  school  versions  of  the  summit,  are scheduled to take place before the next major summit in 2016.