Africa-Press – Liberia. Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor has indicated that leadership is about serving people who you hold dear to your heart, and that if one is not service-oriented that means he or she is not a leader.
She said the desire to aspire for or seek leadership positions must be triggered by commitment and dedication to serve those whose mandate is being sought.
“Service is about people and if you can’t serve you can’t lead,” the Liberian VP told a cross-section of young people recently in Monrovia. “You must have the passion to serve the people if you are seeking leadership because, without that, there is no need to be there in the first place.”
The event was on the margin of the VP’s official 60th birth anniversary celebration when she, along with some high-profile personalities she invited for the occasion, engaged some Liberian youth in a discussion at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex theater in oldest Congo town.
Foreign guests in attendance included the Vice President of Nigeria, Oluyemi Osinbajo, and the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Madam Fatima Jabbe Bio. These two high level dignitaries shared their leadership experiences with the youthful audience — indicating how they continue to strive to be servants to their people. “As a leader, you have to serve your people and not yourself,” VP Osinbajo said.
“When you serve, let your people beg you to stay. And it should not be the other way around,” First lady Bio noted.
The foreign guests projected social media as one of the greatest influencers of the contemporary world, and that leaders and those aspiring leaders, must use those platforms to reach out to their constituents for greater engagements.
“I often use my social media platforms to reach out to young people, and try to educate them by making them know and have the mind to make the right decision and not to be manipulated by politics,” said Madam Bio. “We also try to provide safety for girls and promote women empowerment because young people are the ones who are vulnerable to harm the most.
For the Nigerian VP, he sees social media as a blessing. “I see social media as a blessing for everyone and not only for politicians. I use it to educate young people,” he said.
The event, hosted and co-hosted by Liberian journalist and Voice of America (VOA) stringer Mr. Moses Garzeawu, and former Liberty Party youthful chairman, Benjamin Sanvee, was meant to inspire young Liberians to set an agenda for a better leadership for the future.
Making an input, VP Taylor said social media platforms have changed everyone’s life and that it is a medium through which we connect with our children, families, and friends and loved ones.
She further noted that social media has transformed many lives and she does not think that anyone can do without it.
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