YALI RLC: My Experience (Day 3)

The 26th day of September 2017 was the 3rd day of YALI RLC, Nigeria Cohort 3 leadership training. It started, just like the previous day, with the physical exercise but got more attendance. All sorts of aerobics were carried out, without any music though. The exercise officially ended at about quarter past 6. Stark from Togo, Innocent from Ghana and I did some extra trotting around the ASCON campus before retreating to the hostels to prepare for breakfast and lectures.

The breakfast was such that it's practically difficult for any participant to escape egg, except if one really hates egg; the yam was fried with egg, there's a serving dish full of purely fried egg which would be nice for either yam or bread, and the stew was absolutely ‘egged’. So, we can conveniently say that Day 3's breakfast was eggy!

Dr. Uwem Akangson, after breakfast, started by recapitulating what was done the previous day, especially the not-the-formal-type-of-debate he moderated. He said he was thrilled at our performances in the debate in spite of its extemporaneousness. He specially commended the Elephant Group for doing extraordinarily well, having some rivers amongst them who got 10/10 in the debate. He, however, continued by lecturing us on leadership and accountability.

He started by saying that 10 of the US Presidents were fishermen: Barack Obama, George W. Bush, George W. H. Bush, Franklin Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Warren G. Harding, Glover Cleveland and George Washington; and that we should find out what exactly it is, with these fishermen. He said a leader is not only someone people can look up to, but also someone who brings people together for a common purpose; and that leaders see what others can't, and share their respective visions for the future.

Since he was talking on accountability, he painted some scenarios, some of which were true life experiences, and sought our opinions and asked how we would respond to the situations should they occur to us. He continued his highly interactive and interesting lecture after we had snacks-break.

A representative of the Lagos State Commissioner for Youths came on board and delivered a 'lecture' that earlier got a remark (even before its commencement) that it would stimulate enthusiasm. Whether or not it stimulated enthusiasm, I really can't say. What I can say is, borrowing from the common saying that “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”, enthusiasm is in the mind of the ‘assesser’.

On the other hand, the elegant and beautiful lady — highly spirited — from Abuja added some spices to the training and promised to continue after lunch break, but sadly surprising, she was nowhere to be found after we had a fantastic lunch. (I hoped she’d return but she never did) Her disappearance was felt so much as we saw a movie titled, 'Invictus', part of which was about Nelson Mandela and American football, which was properly reviewed the next day.

We all continued with our plans for the debate, after which we proceeded to the restaurant for the last time on the day to have dinner. While some participants went straight to their hostels for a well-deserved rest, some others were still very busy with the plans for the debate.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

YALI RLC: My Experience (Day 32)

Image
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...
Read more

YALI RLC: My Experience (Day 16)

Image
It was Monday, the 9th day of the month of October, the 16th of the training. It was the third Monday, and it was entirely different from the first two. Everyone received lectures in his or her track. But some participants in the other tracks wished to be in 'Business and Entrepreneurship'. I really don't know why! Maybe it's because of how engaging and interactive the track really was; I can't say, really! As usual, breakfast got served after the period for calisthenics. At 8, most of us were already assembled at the usual lecture room. After some time, Mr. Kappo came and addressed us before those whose tracks are 'Public Management' and 'Business and Entrepreneurship' left the room for the 'Civic Leaders'. The Entrepreneurs were taught by the 'Three Wise Men'. Mehn, these guys are talented; they're 'loaded'. The class was really engaging and interactive. Dr. Bernard Acquah Obeng was the chief speaker; but be...
Read more