Presidential Precinct Helps Forge African Community

Lagos, Nigeria – I am a city girl with a heart for the countryside, so I felt doubly privileged when I arrived at the Presidential Precinct in Virginia for the Mandela Washington Fellowship two years ago. On one hand, I was honoured to have been selected with 24 other young leaders from Africa to participate in the fellowship. On the other, I was excited that I would be spending six sweeping weeks within Virginia’s vast countryside – far away from the hustle and bustle of Lagos.

People often ask me for my biggest take-away from the Presidential Precinct. My answer has always been the same: the discovery that I am not alone. Leadership can be a lonely, dreary journey full of self-doubts and anxiety. It’s inspiring to know that the fellowship has gifted me, and hundreds of other young leaders, a network of people who will stand by us, defend us, teach us, and encourage us.

Since my time in Virginia, I am no less excited about the Fellowship and the changes it brought to my life; yet, anytime I am asked to describe the experience I struggle to find the right words. How do I describe the kindness, the openness and the generosity that were part of daily life throughout my stay? How do I describe six weeks of the most insightful leadership lessons? How do I describe the awesomeness of the Precinct’s vast grounds and the breath-taking beauty of Virginia’s woods, farms and seemingly limitless open spaces?

One of my favorite pastimes is searching for post-fellowship stories of the over 1,000 fellows that have partaken in this prestigious programme so far. Google has been my guide. Over time, I have discovered one common thread in hundreds of stories: the Mandela Washington Fellowship changes lives in big ways.

When I heard about how Ethiopian blogger, Zelalem Kibret, was barred from leaving his country after being selected for the fellowship, I was reminded of the diverse challenges that journalists grapple with on the African continent. It is good that Kibret, who had been jailed for speaking truth to power, never gave up. He was, after a long battle, allowed to travel after the intervention of the U.S government. He’s currently spending six weeks at the Presidential Precinct as a Mandela Washington Fellow.

I am convinced beyond doubt that Kibret will find more courage and strength to carry on while walking the grounds of the University of Virginia, Morven Farm, Monticello, Highland, Montpelier and the College of William & Mary. More importantly, he will find a community at the Precinct that he can rely on to stand with him, always.

Stories and struggles like Kibret’s inspire. They tell us about the power of possibilities, connectedness and hope; however, Kibret is one of the lucky few. There are hundreds of journalists who are killed, jailed and oppressed for speaking the truth to power.

As an African and a Nigerian, I am glad that this conversation is taking place. There are many things that make me hopeful about the future of my continent and my country. But stories like Kibret’s also serve to remind us that though so much has changed in and about Africa, there is still a lot to be done. Our continent is still lacking in the most basic freedoms, the freedoms that enable societies to thrive. Every African deserves to believe whatever they please, speak and write about it, and also live it without fear.

At any rate, for Africans to enjoy basic freedoms, leadership is crucial. This takes me to another take-away from the fellowship: how to manage challenges as a leader. Often these challenges are people-related and there is no better place to learn how to deal with these challenges than in a class made up of activists, journalists, government representatives and entrepreneurs from all over the African continent.
Coming from different backgrounds and armed with sessions on networking, innovative civic leadership, navigating politics, building strong civil societies, transparency, etc. we demonstrate that there is strength in diversity. This strength is what has led to partnerships among Presidential Precinct fellows, thus birthing innovations across Africa.

Our continent is changing rapidly and there is much hope of a better tomorrow. For these reasons, more than ever before, Africa is in dire need of young leaders of all kinds. I am proud to count myself one of them and you should be proud to count 25 more in your beautiful part of Virginia.