Pistis Life and Leadership Institute (PLLI), a human capital development organisation for leaders, with a distinct framework for facilitating learning in Africa, has been launched via a recent press conference in Lagos. With the vision of building a community of exceptional leaders who will be equipped with the right values to transform societies and impact Africa, PLLI aims to develop a community of people and a robust enabler ecosystem equipped to stimulate positive transformation on the continent.

Addressing the press conference were founder, Godman Akinlabi; chairman of the occasion, Femi Johnson; and Board of Trustees member, Meka Olowola. Others include General Manager, Peter Eze and Interim Management Board members, Kunbi Adeoti and Busola Wale-Siyanbola.

With a youthful, fast-growing population and abundant natural resources, Africa is seen as the next frontier for economic growth. Nevertheless, the continent needs strong institutions, smart policies, and good leadership to realise its potential. According to the Brookings Institute, 375 million young people in Africa will reach working age by 2030, yet 160.8 million youth in these emerging and developing countries were still living in poverty in 2019. Therefore, equipping Africa's youth to become educated, skillful, and economically empowered in the future requires visionary leadership across multiple facets and strata. PLLI aims to fill in this gap by providing a platform to develop and empower leaders. The institute currently offers open enrolment courses in Governance and Politics, Leadership Development, Enterprise Development and Faith Ministries.

“Recent events in Nigeria indicate that the failure of leadership is the failure of everything else. Therefore, no other time is as ripe as this for the establishment of a leadership development initiative with a unique and dynamic framework,” said founder, Godman Akinlabi. “PLLI is intent on providing a unique learning institution powered by a robust digital technology base that will enable the training and development of leaders in different fields of human endeavour.”

According to Akinlabi, the institute’s special focus on young people within the Millennial and Generation Z age brackets, is targeted at putting paid to the debate on whether Africa’s largely youthful population is an opportunity to be leveraged, or a ticking time bomb.

Addressing the conference, chairman of the occasion, Femi Johnson, said the raison d'etre for PLLI was to change the poor leadership narrative in Africa by developing a community of people imbued with the right values and equipped to bring positive change to Africa.

“PLLI’s unique educational framework is targeted at creating a future-forward learning experience that will be perceived by all as the future of education designed for Africans and the world. It is poised to make significant contribution to the development of Leaders that will transform the African continent,” Johnson added.

Meanwhile, PLLI is scheduled to hold its inaugural course on 5th December 2021 via online zoom platform by its School of Enterprise Development. Tagged ‘Business of Entertainment’, the free and open course features as facilitators, popular entertainment figures including music record label boss, Audu Maikori, ace comedian, Ali Baba, and renowned movie director, Kemi Adetiba. The Business of Entertainment course will help participants identify growth opportunities in the Nigerian entertainment industry and how to take advantage of them.

Following its Business of Entertainment course in December, PLLI plans to carry out a voters’ registration sensitization webinar tagged “Making Your Votes Count”; billed to hold on J15th January 2022 and hosted by the Institute’s School of Governance and Politics (SOGP).

•PHOTO: LR: Femi Johnson, Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT), Pistis Life and Leadership Institute (PLLI); Godman Akinlabi, Founder; Busola Wale-Siyanbola, Member, BOT; and Meka Olowola, Member, BOT, at the launch of the PLLI in Lagos recently

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