Dr. Tony Orji, an Associate Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has trained students of the University on impactful and transformative leadership.
The one-day Economics Leadership Summit (ECO Leadership Summit) held on Monday at UNN with the theme "Making of a Transformative and Impactful Leader" was convened by Orji who is also the President/ Founder, Success Tonics International, a platform for training young people to make a positive difference in their generation.
Delivering a lecture on the theme of the summit, Orji averred that Nigeria is in dire need of great and impactful leaders who will turn around the economic fortune of the country and change society positively.
He said that the vision of the summit is to raise global transformative and impactful leaders with excellent mindsets and characters, and described leadership as the ability to know the way, show the way, and go the way.
"I am inspired to convene this summit given that our country is in dire need of credible leaders, and having in mind that one of the major problems we are facing as a country is quality leadership. If we have transformative leaders who have the interest of the masses at heart, most of the ill happening in our communities, country, and society today will not happen.
"So, training young people on impactful and transformative leadership roles is a way of sowing seed so that when they become an adult and take elective or appointment positions, or become managers and captains of industry they will be able to make transformational change and not to continue with this level of the decay, bribery, and corruption that is prevalence in our society among our leaders.
"We want to get it right and this is the formative years, we thought it wise that this is the right time to start sowing the good leadership seed that will germinate to become fruitful tomorrow," he said.
The don explained that a good leader must demonstrate high level character, integrity and honesty, as a leader you must continually learn and grow as well as build strong relationship with people with effective communication skills.
"So, I urged you all to adopt transformational leadership, which is inspirational, visionary, and innovative," he said.
Orji listed Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi of India, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, Angela Merkel of Germany, among others as exemplary and transformational leaders who impacted their countries and humanity positively.
Also speaking, Mr. Innocent Eleke, a Lead Pastor at the Province of Grace Ministries International (PGMI), Nsukka, said that a leader must be open to learning at all times, stressing that the decisions they make will either make or mar in their leadership positions.
"A leader must be open to learning and should be ready to sacrifice if he or she wants to be a servant leader, you must consider the people you are serving first before yourself especially when you want to make critical decisions.
"The problem of some of our today's leaders is that they surround themselves with sycophants and wrong people who will not tell them the truth because of what they are benefiting from them," he said.
Eleke, however, urged the participating students not to be discouraged by the myriad of societal ills going on in the country but they should prepare themselves as agents of change and a better tomorrow through their impactful leadership roles.
In a remark, while declaring the summit open, Prof. Chidi Nzeadibe, Dean, Faculty of the Social Sciences, UNN, described the convener as not only being impactful to the Department of Economics but to students, faculty, and the entire UNN.
Nzeadibe commended Orji for organizing the leadership summit for students aimed at making them transformational and impactful leaders in any position they may find themselves now and in the future, so as to make a difference in society.
"I commend for this catch them young summit that would enable them to imbibe excellent leadership qualities that will make them great leaders.
"I urge the students to avail themselves of this great opportunity to be a transformative leader and lead by example in any position they find themselves," Nzeadibe said.
The Summit drew participants from different faculties and Departments within the University.
Some students interviewed described the summit as a unique leadership training that exposed them to the role and qualities of a good leader.
They promised to share with other students in their department what they have learned on how to be a good leader in society.
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