Israel BAYODE

It was WOW! It was like a graduation but without gowns and family and friends to celebrate with. Nonetheless, massive fun was caught by those who love to enjoy every moment. Some of us, seeing the way the fantastic music from the live band was well danced to, can be called 'dancing machines'. October 26, the 33rd and officially the closing day of YALI RLC NC3, was absolutely incredible! After breakfast, we all were set for the 'Closing Ceremony', which we had at the nice ASCON large lecture theatre. Dignitaries from all walks of life graced the beautiful ceremony; the likes of the USAID West Africa Mission Director, Mr. Alexandre Deprez; YALI RLC Director, Mrs. Shola Duoda; ASCON Director, Mrs. Cecelia U. Gayya who was ably represented; and the king of the Badagry, to mention but a few. A lot was done; awards were presented; and music was well danced to. The dinner was massively superb. The ceremony at the dinner was just almost like what we did in the morning, but on...

The 25th day of October, the 32nd of NC3, was fantastic! Dr. Pascal talked on 'Decision Making' and 'Distress'. He said, "if one doesn't want something, one should change it; but if one can't change it, one should change the way one thinks about it." He said there are three levels of stress: the first is 'calm', a level where the stress and performance are both low; the second is 'eustress', which simply means 'beneficial stress', a level where the stress one has undergone is tantamount to the performance; and the final one is 'distress', which is the state at which one has been so much stressed and yet there's low or no performance. The objective of the talk on stress was to make us know how to better manage stress as young African leaders. The class was absolutely incredible and fun. However, Mr. Kappo talked about the 'Vicious Cycle of Poverty'. At about half past 2, the simulation challenge commenced bu...

A lot, too, was done on this day, especially after Mr. Kappo's early morning nuggets. Dr. Pascal took over and continued from where he stopped on Monday. He talked extensively on 'Personal Branding'. He started by saying, "one can never maximize oneself by minimizing someone else". He said, there are some things we as leaders should do and shouldn't expect to be appreciated. He then asked us to give ourselves a brand. Many of us came up with fantastic brands. It was really wonderful. My own brand was, "challenging status quos". He further requested we do a SWOT analysis of ourselves, which we did. He stated that, "when preparation meets opportunity, success becomes inevitable". He said, too, contrary to the views of many of us, that the reason a CV is needful is for one to be called for an interview; nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Then he took some time out to enlighten us on how a standard or generally acceptable CV should look...

It was the 23rd day of October and it was NC3's 30th day. Mr. Kappo took the bull by the horn again on this day as he gave some fantastic presentation, with so many biblical references. One would think he's a Pastor (and maybe he really is). However, the day was like Dr. Pascal's day. I don't think anyone, at any point in time, got enough of his presentation. He's good at what he does. Most of the things he showed us earlier weren't alien to those of us whose track is Business and Entrepreneurship. One can't really get tired of his classes. He's got a lot of fantastic punchlines, and he always encourages everyone and demands everyone's absolute participation. We did some personality tests and they were just very intriguing. Who could have handled the MBTI Personality Test better than Doc.? He's not just got the experience, he's equally adequately talented. Glad to have had him present. We did a little presentation on the country each of...

This day, the 22nd day of October, the 29th day of YALI RLC NC3, was great. It was completely different from other Sundays we had had at ASCON: very unusual things like water not flowing, for a while, both on “Victoria and Banana islands”, and an impromptu 'quick' meeting which lasted for about 100 minutes and so on. Not sure anyone exercised himself or herself in the morning. However, many had their breakfast at about half past 7. Some went to church, some visited the prisoners and also preached salvation to them, while some of us decided to take some time out to rest well. Lunch was served at about 1pm, with a few options to choose from. Nonetheless, it was really OK. Then we got an announcement for a quick meeting with Mr. Kappo. Lo and behold, it wasn't as quick as everyone expected; Kappo started by lecturing us on 4 H's. He explained the great importance of each of 'Head', 'Heart', 'Hands', and 'Health'. He said it's visi...

Day 28: October 21, 2017 (Timeline) 6am: Physical Exercise - Some did; many didn't. 7am - 10am: Breakfast - Many woke up late, and came late, too, for breakfast. 8 - 9:30am: Football Training - Done by a few. 10 - 2pm: Rest 1 - 3pm: Lunch 3 - 6pm: Sultan Beach Resort Fun Time - So much fun was caught. One could find out from the pictures, if one didn't go with us. It really was fun. The ocean waves at the beach were higher than those seen at the Beach of "the Point of No Return". A lot of games, too, were played. It was such a wonderful moment to relieve oneself from the stress of the last 4 weeks. 6 - 9pm: Dinner was served. 9 - 11:59pm: Rest. Day 28 ends. 6 more days to the end of YALI RLC NC3.