Leadership Talks, But Who Listens? A Review of the FHR Summit

 

by USMAN Toheeb

 The FHR for Social Sciences conducted her Legislative Summit on the 20th of December and was quite under the radar. The occasion, originally set to start by 10:00 for various reasons, commenced at 10:48.The turnout for the event was sparse, prompting concerns about the low participation. This led the PRESS to conduct interviews with both the Speaker and his Deputy as to why they restricted the summit to legislative members in the faculty and not the wider community of students especially since the summit has its theme on leadership 

 

FATSSSA PRESS: Good afternoon. Can you briefly introduce yourself?

 

SPEAKER: Good afternoon, My name is Ifeanyichukwu. The speaker of FHR (Faculty of The Social Sciences). 

FATSSSA PRESS: The attendees [for the legislative summit held today] are low, was it [solely] for the FHR members, or you decide not to make the FATSSSAites aware? 

 

SPEAKER: Actually, there is a memo sent within the faculty group at large, though not exposed to the FATSSSITE, instead to the FHR members and honourable members in the four departments of the Faculty. A letter was sent to the principal officers of every department to participate or send a representative to participate in this event. It was a leadership skill, and a certificate will be issued to every participant who attended. 

 

FATSSSA PRESS: The University at large has different organs, so also the Faculty. I noticed the L&D and the PRESS were not invited, and they are also leaders in their respective fields. Why were they excluded? 

 

SPEAKER: Every organ has its way of organizing its events. The Faculty held a Leadership summit, and they invited the whole FATSSSITE, but this one was primarily for the FHR members and not for the whole FATSSSITE. Several factors are considered, ranging from Feeding and Certificates that will be issued to the attendees; summing this up together will amount to a lot, that's why it was restricted to the FHR members alone. 

 

Following the interview with the SPEAKER, The PRESS also got in touch with his Deputy, and the conversation went thus; 

 

FATSSSA PRESS: Good afternoon. Can you introduce yourself, please? 

 

DEPUTY SPEAKER: Good afternoon, I'm Akinlabi Toheeb. The Deputy Speaker of the Faculty. I'm in my third year. 

 

FATSSSAPRESS: Attendees present at the legislative summit were quite low, was there no publicity for it? 

 

DEPUTY SPEAKER: Of course there is, And representatives were invited from every department to send at least three people. Even some of the FHR members did not show up; this is common to the association, and I felt maybe because they did not pay for it, that's what made some of them not to show up. A communiqué was sent to them, and still, they didn't show up; exchanging ideas is paramount; there are some knowledge we might not learn in class and this is part of it. The event was a very educative one, I learned a lot personally; Prof. Aiyede talked about identifying oneself and trying to reflect on one's life daily. As a leader, One must be able to lead himself before leading others, and lastly, a leader should be transformative in his thinking.  

 

Present at the summit was a training consult on leadership (Kairos Consult), and Prof. Aiyede, who were invited to the summit to put the law-makers in the faculty, through the rudiments of leadership. 

 

As noted by the Deputy Speaker, the legislative summit featured leadership experts who educated the attending legislators. The first speaker addressed Motivation, Discipline, and Sacrifices as essential qualities necessary for achieving a leadership role.  

  

Prof. Aiyede discussed the importance of capacity building in a person's career, placing greater emphasis on competence. He also discussed professional and personal development, linking it to Happiness.  

  

The summit also covers the topic of Comparison. One of the Speakers noted that comparison is appropriate when it is conducted between individuals in the same field or profession. The key point is that comparisons must focus on growth rather than on regression.