The planned Countryside Emerging Leaders Fellowship (CELF) programme for public secondary school students in rural communities of Kwara State will now be undertaken by both the Hashim Initiative For Community Advancement (HICA) and the Hannis Institute for Development Studies (HIDS), according to a statement from the convener, Mr Lawal Olohungbebe.
Olohungbebe said, in the new statement made available to The Ravens, that the change was due to the fact that an organisation with deeper roots into the communities should undertake an event with grassroots colouration like CELF.
According to him, “Notwithstanding the several community interventions already undertaken by HIDS as an institute, the requirements for the planned Fellowship require that we pay deeper attention to the knowledge of the individual communities where the intending Fellows will be drawn from.
“No doubt, HICA enjoys a privilege edge in this regard compared to HIDS whose role and activities centred more on providing training and guidance on community interventions. HICA, being an organisation that has engaged more with stakeholders at community levels is better positioned to meet the moral requirements.”
The community development expert however noted that save from this partnership, nothing has changed about the programme, adding that the public will be kept updated on new developments and partnerships.
“Indeed, this is a pointer to our resolve to ensure we continue to adapt the conduct of this maiden edition of the Fellowship in accordance with the guidance and advice provided from time to time by our advisory and technical councils.
“While HIDS would continue to provide the needed managerial and coordination support to ensure the attainment of the objectives of CELF, members of the public, including students, parents, media and all other stakeholders, the plans and other information regarding the programme remain the same.
“Indeed, we would continue to release statements of this nature from time to time in order to keep the public abreast of partnerships that may become necessary in order to guarantee the delivery of optimum experience to our intending Fellows,” he concluded.
