The KB Leadership Prize (A.K.A Follow Your Dream) is a leadership and character development program designed for teenagers in secondary schools aimed at helping them discover and begin to develop their innate abilities and possible use such gifts for the benefit of their immediate community / school environment. This program is based on the philosophy that if young people are encouraged to discover and begin to develop their innate abilities at an early age, by adolescent and adulthood they would have become focused and strategic contributors to social development and nation building. For teenagers eager to discover themselves, boost their self esteem or address school based issues they feel strongly about, The KB Leadership Prize is the program to engage. For schools who desire unique extra curriculum projects and for corporate bodies excited about childhood development, The KB Leadership Prize offers unique market and opportunity.
The Program:
The KB Leadership Prize offers a 6 weeks extra curriculum lesson to interested students of participating schools between the 2nd and 3rd term school calendar year. After the 6 lessons, interested participants are invited to initiate and implement leadership projects in their schools to address any issue they feel strongly concerned about with the support of the school authority and their peers.
At a later date, field trips are conducted to the different schools participating in the program to evaluate the projects implemented by the teenagers. The best 3 project initiators win educational scholarships worth N50,000 for first prize and N30,000 each for 2 runners up.
K.B Prize 2nd edition 2010
…Nurturing teenagers towards nation building!
The Kingsley Bangwell Leadership Prize – a youth leadership and character development program- is a personal vision of Kingsley Bangwell (Team Leader, Youngstars Foundation, Jos), strategically designed to help young teenagers discover their latent potentials and to begin to maximize those abilities for the benefit of their immediate community/ school environment at an early age.
This program is based on the philosophy that young people like any other person carry greatness in them that can impact society positively if expressed. Thus, the need for them to begin to express it within their immediately space today! K.B Prize is also hinged on the belief that a teenager who discovers his or her potentials at an early age is most likely to emerge into a notable vision achiever and contributor to social/national development by the age of 35-40 years. Examples include Anna Halpine – World Youth Alliance USA, Gbenga Sesan- Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, Bill Gates- Microsoft, Farrah Grey – Author, Reallonaire, Malcom Gladwell – Author; The Tipping Piont, Larry Page and Sergy Brin, Founder of Google, B. Shasikant –Founder, Taking it Global, Kingsley Bangwell, Founder, Youngstars Foundation. Most of these change makers started engaging their destinies at a very young age and made their mark before their 40th birthday. Bearing in mind the myraid of challenges our society faces, you will agree with me that Nigeria is in dire and urgent need of many more young people who can think out of the box and begin to engage their spaces for nation building. It is this background that inspired the K.B Leadership Prize.
How the second edition worked:
The second edition worked with 9 schools on the Plateau. To begin the process, adverts were placed in the University of Jos and Plateau State Polytechnic in May 2009 inviting interested undergraduates to volunteer as facilitators in schools of their choice. About 15 facilitators were identified and were trained on how to train secondary school studens using the K.B Leadership course, with 15 students in SSS1. The 6 leadership classes were done between June and August 2009 depending on schedules of the schools. The 6 classes are: Class 1 ‘Self Discovery’, Class 2 ‘Heroes are Like You’, Class 3, ‘Understanding Your Space’, Class 4, ‘Thinking and Planning for Change’, Class 5, ‘Acting for Change’, Class 6, ‘Celebrating Leadership Action’.
Afterwards, the students were encouraged to carry out impact projects in their schools to qualify for the K.B Leadership Prize. Of about 135 students that participated in the 6 leadership classes, 31 initiated and implemented various leadership projects without any funding from Youngstars or their schools, but from personal sacrifice. Below are pictures of some projects implemented by the K.B participants.
The Award Day and Winners:
The Follow Your Dream – Kingsley Bangwell Leadership Prize 2010 could not hold on its usual date of 20th of January, a day set aside world wide to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King (America’s human right activist), owing to the civlil unrest recently experienced in the state. It was therefore rescheduled and held on Tuesday, 23rd February, 2010 at the Main Hall of the Plateau Sate Polytechnic, Jos Campus, between 9am to 2:30pm. The event began proper at 9:30am. Eventually, about 200 secondary school students from 10 secondary schools including parents and teachers were present. Notable dignitaries included Mr. Nankin Bagudu, Commissioner of Youth and Sports, Plateau State, Hon. Joyce Banwat, Senior Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor of Plateau State amongst others, while Kingsley Bangwell, Youngstars team leader delivered lessons on leadership and self development to the teeming participants.
However, prior to announcing the awards, the nominees where announced with details of their projects highlighted on a projector for all to see and received special packages from “De-United Foods Industries Ltd” makers of Indomie noodles, who also served their tasty meals to all the participants free of charge! Other partners of the project: Snappy’s Burger Eatery, Jos and Boulange Bakery, Jos, provided lunch packs and snacks for about 100 students while PRTVC, Jos and Silverbird Communications, Jos provided mass news coverage for the event. After the 8 nominees were celebrated, the award presentation began proper.
The first and second runners up in persons of Laitu Haruna from Infant Jesus Academy, Rukuba Rd, Jos with the project (You, Education & the Future) and Stephanie Nwaeze from Emmanuel Int’l Coll, Rayfield, Jos with the project (Renovation of her School Sick-Bay) were called up and presented educational support award of N30,000 each. Announced amid cheers and emotions shortly afterwards, was the first place winner of the 2nd edition of the K.B Leadership Prize 2010, Master Abdulrahman Abubakar from Command Day Secondary School, Army Barracks, Bassa L.G.C with the project (Time Management) clinched the first prize of N50, 000 schorlarship award support, courtesy of Kingsley Bangwell and the Youngstars Foundation.
