Ten young graduates selected across the country who on Monday became the pioneer graduates of a three months intensive Young Leaders Internship Programme have promised to make massive impacts on the nation’s socio-economic sphere.
They made the promise Monday in Abuja at the maiden graduation and award of certificate ceremony of the Kukah Centre Leadership Interns course organised by The Kukah Centre and the Ford Foundation.
The 10 graduates are Adeshina Adekorede Emmanuel, Akande Christiana Oluwatomisin, Goshit Shwarji, Zakariya, Haido Safiya Abdullahi, Musa Emmanuel Bala, Obi Nwamaka, Okpe Sabinus Uche, Okolotu Ugochukwu Paul, Olugbode Ayomikun Emmanuel and Shehu Nazri.
Speaking at the event the founder of the centre Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah said the failure of leadership is often said to be the bane of the Nigerian nation as underscored by the late writer Chinua Achebe in one of his books ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’.
“It is in part to address this challenge, particularly among the youths, that The Kukah Centre was established in December 2012 with three core programmatic areas- Faith, Leadership and Public Policy. In pursuant of this and with support of the Ford Foundation, the Centre launched an internship programme for Nigerians, under 30 and no more than three years post-NYSC experience in 2017, to hone their leadership skills through a mentoring program with partnering organizations in both the public and private sectors.
“The overriding objective is to help instill in the interns the values of sound and ethical leadership anchored on the common good of all. This is reflective of the Centre’s vision statement. Currently in its inaugural pilot phase, the centre plans to make the internship a key part of her annual programs, and overtime internationalize it by forging partnerships with similar initiatives in Africa and beyond,” Kukah represented by the Executive Director of the centre Dr. Arthur-Martins Aginam said.
According to him the selections were based purely on merit after advertorials were places in the media from over 200 applications and that no other factors apart from competency and meeting the requirements of the internship.
He said that three of the graduates were offered job placements where they did the internship in government and private organisations.
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