The Nigerian Prize for Leadership (NPL) says it has introduced the Protege Leadership programme to groom and raise a replacement generation of leaders with the right values, mindsets, and character in the country.
The Chairman, Governing Board of NPL, Prof. Anya Anya, said this on Wednesday, at the unveiling of the nominations and entries for the race for ‘NPL 2021 Prize Winner’ in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NPL has also called for applications for the 2nd edition of ‘NPL Ambassadors Leadership Programme.
Anya said that the programme targeted young Nigerians between 21 and 35 years of age.
According to him, the selection process begins with an intensive training programme of qualified youths as leadership Ambassadors.
“Qualified Ambassadors will enlist for a higher programme to qualify as NPL Fellows. It is from the rank of Fellows that the final process is conducted to select the Proteges.
“The proteges are attached as ‘apprentices’ to the NPL Prize winner each year,’’ the chairman said.
According to him, today’s event is to unveil the nominations and entries for the race for ‘NPL 2021 Prize Winner’ and call for Applications for the 2nd edition of ‘NPL Ambassadors Leadership Programme.
“The Prize will be presented annually. The process began with a careful, meticulous and rigorous selection process by the Technical Team of Experts (TTE) led by the late Prof. Ayo Ibidapo-Obe.
“The team set out the selection criteria and guidelines, which has been presented earlier today by the Executive Secretary as ‘NPL Leadership Barometers’.
“This is followed by what we are doing today, after which the Board will set up the Assessment and Recommendation Panel (APR) to review and assess the entries and recommend possible winners to the Governing Board.
“The 2021 Prize Winner will be presented with: Medal of Honour; Plaque of Excellence; Sach of Distinction; and monetary sum of N25million.
“It is important to emphasise that the Prize is open to all Nigerians,’’ he said.
According to him, the Nigerian Prize for leadership is an initiative of some eminent elders, statesmen and women.
“The Prize is to recognise outstanding acts of leadership based on a clearly defined Nigerian paradigm, at various levels of society and human interest.
“It seeks to identify what leadership means to Nigerians; benchmark what should represent the image of a successful or failed leader in Nigeria.
“It is also aimed to determine what responsibility leadership confers on both the leader and the follower and establish a new culture of leadership in Nigeria,’’ Anya said.
The Executive Secretary of NPL, Dr, Ike Neliaku, who gave a breakdown of the measurable criteria for qualification for the prize, said there were two sets of barometers that would be used to shortlist possible winners.
The first set, he said, included vision, creativity and innovation, character, competence and sacrifice.
For the second set, he said that the NLP would look out for impact on society, governance, diversity and inclusion as well as a role model and mentoring.
The former Minister of information, Prof. Jerry Gana, said that a leader must have a vision and a drive to move people to achieve the set objectives.
“A leader must have a vision, very clear direction where he or she is taking the people. Secondly, a leader must have the capacity to translate vision into action.
“There is a lot in between them that is why most people fail. Doing that translation, you have to do it with passion and commitment,’’ Gana said.
(NAN)