17th June, 2014
Eromosele Ebhomele
Lecturers from Cambridge University, United Kingdom, on Monday began a five-day lecture for members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, western Nigeria, in what the Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, termed “an effort to further improve on the effectiveness of the lawmakers”.
The lecturers, led by Dr. Kamal Munir of the Judge Business School affiliated to the university, would engage the lawmakers in various topics that would translate into “Transformational Leadership and Organisational Change” which is the theme of the retreat.
Other participants at the retreat include the Speakers of Oyo, Ogun and Osun state Houses of Assembly, members of staff and lawmakers of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
While declaring the retreat open, Ikuforiji maintained that it had nothing to do with his ambition for the governorship seat of Lagos in 2015.
Ikuforiji said the retreat was in a continuation of previous lecture series enjoyed by members of the House in the United Kingdom, adding that the first series had changed the way the lawmakers and staff of the House carried out their official tasks.
Arguing that human capacity development is a major part of human success, the Speaker said: “The journey to make the House the leading House in the country and one of the best in the world started the day I became the Speaker.
“It has nothing to do with any ambition to become governor. Since then I have not wavered. It is a continuation.
“We are still working to make the infrastructure better. It is not only about infrastructure. The people also have to be developed.”
He urged all the participants to make the best use of the opportunity of the retreat so as to learn new approaches to their jobs.
Clerk of the House, Ganiyu Abiru, explained that the House embarked on the training programme to improve the roles of the lawmakers and staff of the House.
He said the leadership of the House extended invitation to the leadership of other Houses of Assembly in the All Progressives Congress-controlled states in the western part of the country so they could share from the experience.