AUDACITY OF HOPE as ANIMASHAUN emerges UNILORIN Students' Union President-Elect.

“Approaching our collective destiny with an intellectual honesty and decision.”

The 1965-independent nation of Singapore moved from third world to one world in one generation because her 35-year old Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew was a man who went through the process of time to develop his leadership capacities and vision. He has a transformational leadership style, developed passion for his people and had the zeal to change his nation.

I see this same capacity, passion and zeal in Oluseyi Animashaun as he has been elected to serve his fellow students as UNILORIN SU President-Elect under the mantra, “Investing in People”. The competence of Oluseyi to lead the SU is his superior force of excellence cultivated by mastery of essential leadership skills which he acquired by virtue of his exposures speaking at educational events, curating ideas, volunteering and trainings. He has served in various capacities both within and outside the university. And it cannot be that the product of this process be a mediocre or visionless leader.

The quality of life of a people is proportional to the quality of life of its leadership. And the quality of leadership is a measure of the process such leader has gone through. I always caution people against following a leader who had no track record of consistent and excellent followership. Followership forges the character of a leader. And Character is the most important quality of a leader. Oluseyi is not a vagabond in destiny. He is a consistent follower. He is the product of a process. I vouch for his integrity and noble character.

I have spoken vehemently and even written a book on the brain-drain in our institutions of learning; the emergence of homo stupidus and how ill-prepared our universities are to produce creative and solution-oriented graduates. We have made a great decision to approach our collective future with an intellectual leadership. Oluseyi is sound, intelligent and brilliant as he has represented the University and his faculty in special outings and came back with commendations and good reports.

The intellectualism, soundness and creativity of Oluseyi was tested last week during the SU Presidential Debate where he won the debate with a score of 86%, outsmarting and outwitting the closest aspirant with a margin of 23.2%. A leader with such depth, insight and foresight with this golden opportunity will explore his vision for human capital development.

UNILORIN at this critical point in time when she is setting the pace for other universities in Nigeria does not need any kind of leader, but a leader who is far ahead of his time; who has foresight and insight to navigate the terrains of leadership and bring everyone to a place of realization of their dreams and potentials.

There is something indispensable about effective leadership: And that is the creation of an enabling environment where the dream, creativity and giftedness of every follower can thrive and find expression. Such is the vision of Oluseyi for his fellow students whom he has been elected to serve; to create an enabling environment where every student can find and express their voice and confidence.

I know it may not be fashionable to speak of patriotism and national destiny these days, but I feel it is appropriate to do so on this occasion as UNILORITES have with one voice elected Oluseyi as their leader. It’s a golden opportunity to allow him lead the student union and I’m glad that we did not allow the forces of mediocrity, prejudices and idiosyncrasies to suffocate our hope for a leader with character, vision, creativity and action.

We have not allowed historians to record that when UNILORIN was one of the most intellectual Universities in Nigeria, we passed on the other side of the road and remained silent, passive and complacent while issues that determines our collective future were being decided.

In conclusion, I salute every transformational leader that has ever served as UNILORIN SU President who rose above petty ambitions and myopic vision to fill the landscape of our collective dreams.

I assure you that Oluseyi Animashaun will fill this landscape as the new President-Elect of UNILORIN SU.
#ThankYou

(Taiwo Isola is a Nation Builder,
Winner of 9 Writing Prizes and published Medical Scientist.

He is a graduate of University of Maiduguri Medical College and Alumnus of Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University.

He is the Founder and Lead Curator of Midas Consulting, Nigeria; a Leadership, Career and Entrepreneurship Development firm. He can be reached on isolavisionpower@gmail.com or +2348035470965.)

Congratulations!!! I pray u will promote decency during your tenure and also stand firm behind poor students by pursuing their cases against unjust lecturers.