The United States (US)

Embassy in Nigeria, has organised a one-day leadership skills summit for students of eight secondary schools in Port Harcourt, recently.

This, the Embassy said is a way of preparing the students as future leaders of Nigeria.

In a keynote address titled, “Principles For Growing Future Leaders”,  the US Consul-General, Mr. Joseph Stafford, said the students must decide what is important in their lives as future leaders.

Mr. Stafford noted that they should know what they believe in to be able to show way to other people.

According to him, “As future leaders, study hard and do your best”, acknowledging that there could be challenges here and there, but advised them not to give up in anything they do.

The Consul-General charged their teachers to make a difference while teaching and advised them to give students ideas on issues affecting their academic work.

In a lecture presentation,Information Resource Officer, US Embassy, Nigeria, Mrs Suzanne Milier, said the idea is to help the students think about themselves and develop those leadership skills that they may not forget about until they are developed fully.

Mrs Miller noted that those skills may be intrinsic now but when fully developed, they can become confident and ethical leaders for the future of Nigeria.

She emphasised that as students get higher and older, the course contents change and it becomes more indepth.

“Again leadership is something like a dimensional programme, so development of a skill has to be practiced.

“Actually, people need to be thinking about those leadership attributes and development should be on regular basis”, she stressed.

The resource person reasoned that leaders must not always be at the top, they can be found even from the middle, pointing out that women can be found here as good leaders.

She advised future leaders to leave legacies and give room for succession.

In her views: “Literacy is about reading all kinds of materials and getting information about the world and possibilities that abound in the future”, and encouraged the students to be well read, both in fiction and non-fiction materials.

She further encouraged the students to carry out significant researches to have information they need in order to make decisions to become good leaders.

Books were donated to the participating schools and their teachers, American Corner Alumni and members of Rainbow Book Club.

Eunice Choko-Kayode