More than 80 International students from 19 African countries were present at the End of Year Dinner and Leadership Lecture organized by Pan African International Students (PAIS) in collaboration with the International Students Association (ISA) of Ashesi University. These international students, pursuing a wide array of courses from business to software engineering, hailed from Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, D.R. Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger and Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
At the start of the programme, the National Coordinator for PAIS Ghana, Aheto Jacob-Paul reiterated the essence of the formation of PAIS, that is, to help solve the leadership crisis ongoing in many African countries. Most African leaders over the years have been International Students at one stage of their lives, ranging from Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) through Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), to John Garang (Sudan) and Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe). What if they were properly engaged to truly understand what true leadership means and were deeply transformed to eschew corruption and all the excesses? What if they were taught and discipled to lead like Jesus Christ, the greatest leader of all time? PAIS seeks to make that difference and bring the African International Student to that place of awareness and empowerment to lead well when their turn comes. PAIS also seeks to be a welcoming body to all other non-African International Students studying in Africa to create an atmosphere of home away from home.
The leadership lecture was delivered by Dr. Yaw Perbi, a proven global leader who is an executive coach of C-suite leaders and principal at Perbi Executive Leadership Education (PELE), a company that has over the years trained and equipped high level leaders from multilateral organization to multinational companies in nearly every sector of the economy across Africa and around the world. Dr. Perbi is also the founding international director of Kwivver, Global CEO of The HuD Group, and co-founder of PAIS together with a Kenyan counterpart Rev. Ezekiel Jako.
Among other things, Dr Perbi taught the students how each one of them can help bring about positive change in Africa’s leadership milieu by training one person at a time and having that person also train another. Physically drawing in the students at the hall to participate in a simulation of this form of training, soon almost all those hitherto seated at the dinner table had not only been equipped and trained in excellent leadership but had also cascaded their impact. This practical approach opened the eyes of the students to see that although it seems nearly impossible to effect change in people on a large scale on the continent, it is doable by a person coaching and mentoring one person (or a few) at a time. This simulation stuck with the students.
The president of the International Students Association of Ashesi, Ms Hortense Berabose Umubyeyi from Rwanda said Ashesi University is home to some 31 nations in the international Students community and thus was very happy when nearly two-thirds of them represented at the maiden dinner and lecture. She stated that, the challenge to collaborate with PAIS has challenged her to be a better leader after her encounter with PAIS movement during the launch in September this year. She has since taken leadership seriously and hope to give her best to her country after her education in Ashesi.
Pan African International Students movements seeks to make leaders out of all international students community across the world starting from Africa. Let’s groom tomorrow’s leaders TODAY. PAIS seeks to build a strong community of Alumni International Students and a strong Diasporan community who are salt and light in their sphere of influence of which a clear example is Dr. Patrick Awuah, Founder of Ashesi University, it’s no coincidence the first collaboration was in Ashesi. In Ghana, PAIS is working hard to establish connection with all International Student communities within all major universities such as University of Ghana, legon, University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Central University and All Nations University in Koforidua among many others. Be on the look out for our next leadership lecture which is scheduled for every quarter of the year.
PAIS is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with an active movement in Accra, Ghana with talks of establishing similar movements in South Africa, Nigeria, and eventually have her presence in all the African countries.
In conclusion, the Administrator for PAIS interviewed a few students after the dinner and leadership lecture and these were their response:
When asked of their views of the lecture, Swali Ahmed from Niger said, “I really found the programme really interesting as it has given me awareness of Africa leadership, what I can do and how I can do that to achieve a common vision”. Usman Barku said he learnt about team work and how having a team of people who have the same vision can achieve a lot through teamwork.
Raisha Adamu also said she’s learnt a lot about time management and that, “She can never be good than what she spends her time on”.
One other student who was asked at the beginning of the lecture if he could change the world and had answered that he doesn’t have the time waxed lyrical by the end of the lecture that, “Leadership is not about title or position but in one step, you can change the world.” When asked again if he would make the the time to change the world he confessed, “Now I have time to change the world. Before I came here, I thought I couldn’t but now, I’ve changed my mind because I know how to do it.”
The dinner was held at the Norton Motulski Hall of Ashesi University, Brekuso, in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Ashesi University is a private, non-profit university that combines a rigorous multidisciplinary core with degree programs in Computer Science, Business Administration, Management Information Systems, and Engineering. Its mission is to propel an African renaissance by educating ethical, entrepreneurial leaders, one that resonates well with the mission of PAIS.
