Student Leadership: A Prototype of Nigerian Future Leaders

0

Damilola Azeez

Over the years, I have come to realize that the university is not all about the certificate. Yes, we should all strive to get good grades as education is the major purpose of attending the university. But as many students are choosing careers that do not relate to their degrees, is attending a university in pursuit of tertiary education a waste of time for these students? To answer this question, coming to a university to study transcends the acquisition of formal education.
Being in the University environment as students offers us the opportunity to make meaningful connections and build networks, brands, careers, relationships, and even character. These are also made possible through participating in extracurricular activities. Central to this is the preparation to hold leadership positions in any students’ extracurricular body we choose to be a part of and this is working to possess good leadership skills and qualities come in.

The effect of bad leadership in Nigeria and Africa is evident. Worse is how this is spreading to Nigerian tertiary institutions and campuses. Here is a description of the characteristics of student leadership and politics at the moment: creative brutality, bold insubordination, subtle greediness and selfishness, diplomatic deceptions, and the chase after vanities, gratification at the expense of substance and impact, each of this, at its best.

It is unfortunate that the country is building another generation of leaders who are turning blind eyes to the needs of those who have elected them, who will stop at nothing to use their office for their own interest, who do not care about their institutions but their personalities.

I usually emphasize the fact that whether we like it or not, the present set of leaders will soon fade away naturally. But do we really have hope? Are those who are to take over from them better? If a departmental level leader cannot do what is right, the faculty leader does not think outside the box, and the student union leader does not stand for what is right, then what hope do we have that we will do better than our present leaders.

If our departmental and faculty executives cannot manage the meager funds in their disposal and do something substantial with it, how will they become future leaders that will manage the country’s wealth? If they cannot see the needs in the faculty, how will they see the needs of thousands or even millions of people? If they cannot effectively manage the little funds in their care, how will they cope in times of inflation? Will they not keep “removing subsidy” too? If they can’t overcome the temptations of using their office for personal gains, will they not enrich their family at the expense of the people?

One of the qualities of a leader is vision, which he has to convince his followers to believe in and key into. But do our leaders even have a vision? Even if they do, it is evident that they lack the skill to persuade their followers to believe in them. Many of them could not even remember their two-paged manifestos after few months as they have totally derailed.

It is easy to criticise our present leaders. But in a few years time, our departmental and faculty leaders today will contest for public positions. Unfortunately, our student leaders are becoming the mirror of the present leadership in the country.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *