The Student Union Leaders Fellowship is an initiative targeted at emerging and aspiring student leaders from universities across Nigeria and it aims at giving student leaders the know-how and resources they need to succeed and lead.
Burdened by the desire to build and empower transformational leaders among young people, and given the role of student union leaders in shaping conversations and movements among tertiary students in Nigeria, Civic Hive, with support from Luminate and MacArthur Foundation, launched The Student Union Leaders Fellowship.
Our call for application went live in early July 2023 and we received over 400 applications from student leaders drawn from the southeast and Southwest geo-political zones of the country. In the few weeks that followed we shortlisted 62 applicants invited to join the inaugural cohort.
The fellowship was divided into two parts; online sessions and in-person sessions. It was 3 weeks of online classes and 3 days of physical sessions. The South West regional physical session was held at the University of Lagos, while the South East event happened at the Bridgewater Hotel in Enugu.
About The Fellowship
The fellowship comprises student leaders who are Student Union(SU) Presidents, SU Vice Presidents, Senate Presidents, Social Directors, and Chief of Staff to the President in their various institutions. Below is the list of schools that our fellows came from.
SouthWest;
- Lagos State University,
- Olabisi Onabanjo University,
- Obafemi Awolowo University,
- Yaba College of Technology
- Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba
- Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta
- Federal University of Technology Akure
- Tai-Solarin University of Education
- Ogun State Polytechnic of Health and Allied Science
- Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH)
- Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State
- University of Ibadan
- Adeyemi College of Education Ondo
South East;
- Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
- Enugu State University,
- Ebonyi State University,
Special Invitation;
- Nasarawa State College of Health Science and Technology Keffi
This leadership fellowship has been transformational for me and impact led
The Curriculum
The journey of becoming better leaders for the fellows started on the 31st of July with the Introduction and inaugural event. The fellows met themselves and it was also a time to learn about all the deets that the fellowship has in stock for them. Joseph Amenaghawon, Civic Hive Lead, spoke about the historical antecedents of students as a pressure group and how they have played a major role in the civic space and Nigeria’s development. The whole of August was very intense with workshops and mentorship sessions with incredible speakers and facilitators like Ebenezer Wikina, Femi Oladehin, Rinu Oduala amongst others who provided unique insights and practical steps that can help student leaders grow into becoming effective leaders and change-makers!
Our curriculum partner, The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law West Africa educated the fellows on Justice Innovation. Kelechi Achinonu, lawyer and Regional head at HilL WA, explained why justice innovation is critical to providing a fair and efficient legal system that adapts society’s changing requirements while promoting equal access to justice. This session gave further insight on why justice is different from law.
Today, I Participated in the Day 2 (Virtual) Session, of the ongoing Student Union Leaders Fellowship program, organized by @CivicHive
Our facilitator took us all round, on the nitty-gritty about Justice Innovation
She took her time to critically explain what justice is all… pic.twitter.com/DvK6UgRNiG
— $tip #tip xx (@Leomotayo) August 2, 2023
With support from EiE Nigeria, we had the opportunity of having Mr Femi Oladehin, a renowned speaker and investment banker, educate the fellows on tools they need to make informed decisions and effective positive change in their communities. Leveraging on his years of experience both in the corporate and civic space, Mr Femi’s charge to the fellows spurred them to reflect on their type of leadership that they have been running and what they can do better to create the changes they want to see.
On today’s episode of what I learnt at #TheSULF, @femioladehin spoke on “Issue discovery and policy analysis”. I learnt that the quality of policies is as good as the implementers and that everybody can come with an opinion, only geniuses come with data.
— IyanuOluwa of Le Cordon Bleu (@bossladycookist) August 4, 2023
It was a beautiful session with Mr Femi today. Leaders would face difficulties, but then, what makes you an effective leader is the ability to navigate through those times using the available tools.#TheSULF https://t.co/gueW68JXhI
— Igboafu Emmanuella (@IgboafuE10733) August 4, 2023
We had trailblazers like Ebenezer Wikina and world famous Rinu Oduala, who taught the fellow on how to build and sustain social movements. Using their tested approaches to social movement, Ebenezar talked about lessons from #ReformIELTS while Rinu spoke about #EndSARS and her commitment to ending police brutality in Nigeria. Their combined experience outlines strategies and techniques that propel movements to create a lasting impact. It was truly inspiring!
Today's class with @SavvyRinu >>>>>>>>>
Thanks for the impactful and educative session
God bless you mightily 😇@CivicHive Thanks for this memorable opportunity pic.twitter.com/VzAS97Ec8E— Hon Waris A. Sakariyau (@Hon_Gucci) August 14, 2023
Other facilitators include;
- Damola Morenikeji, founder of Curiosity Africa, who took the fellows on the journey of self
- Olugbenga Ogunbowale, CEO and Co founder of Grant master, took the fellows on funding and alternative strategies, resources management and showed the students the practical ways to get funds they need to make differences and how to write grant proposals.
Another incredible highlight during the online session is from the Communication and Art of Storytelling class which was facilitated by our partner, Document Women. Their team talked about the power of storytelling as a tool to drive change. They inspired the fellows on how to use storytelling for advocacy, accountability, and promoting active participation in civic life.
After weeks of an intense and engaging online session, we invited the fellows for in-person sessions which were held regionally in southwestern and southeastern It gave the fellows a time to interact, exchange ideas, and prepare for their Justice Hackathon pitch. Across the two regions, we had incredible speakers and mentors like Yemi Adamolekun (Executive Director, EIE), Motunrayo Alaka (Director, WSCIJ), who delved into the issues around gender, leadership, and inclusion, sparking insightful conversations and highlighting the importance of being inclusive and being an empathetic leader.
At Civic Hive, we know that for student leadership to effectively advocate for students, student leaders need structures and systems that enable them to have a good chance to lead their generation to effectively participate in decision making processes and civic life.
Alongside our partners on Student Union Leadership Fellowship, we recognize the inherent learning value and importance of developing students’ leadership skills. The success of this pilot cohort reaffirms our commitment to investing in youth’s leadership development for a more hopeful, inclusive, and accountable society.
Student leadership needs to be as collective and representative of student populations as possible to avoid tokenism. This requires equitable, democratic, and student-run structures with leaders whose capacity are built to reflect the changing development landscape in Nigeria.
Conclusion
To conclude, the Student Union Leaders Fellowship was an incredible journey of development, learning, and inspiration. The Student Fellows emerged as empowered and enlightened leaders, ready to address leadership issues in their schools, and communities with the tools, knowledge, and network necessary to promote good change, advance civic participation and make a lasting impact.
