Beatrice ADIGUN

 

The annual seminar of Ibadan Archdiocesan Laity Council was held on Saturday, 8th November 2025, at St. Michael Catholic Church, Yemetu, Ibadan.

The theme of the seminar is: “Leadership in challenging and turbulent times - way forward”. Other outlined sub-topics included: “Effective leadership as key to growth of the Church and imitating Christ as a servant-leader”.

The day which was opened with the Holy Mass had Very Rev. Fr. Paul Asawale, the Archdiocesan Laity Chaplain as the Chief Celebrant, concelebrated by Rev. Fr. Charles Onyema, the parish priest of St. Michael Catholic Church Yemetu.

After the Mass, the participants gathered for the seminar. In his welcome address, Mr. Felix Olujide Oladokun, the President, Archdiocesan Laity Council stated that the topics: Effective Leadership as key to growth of the Church and imitating Christ as a servant leader became necessary because of lapses in different parishes. He added that for next year, the seminar will be at deanery level as deaneries will be more involved because of its closeness to parishes. He then admonished the deanery presidents to take it as an opportunity as leaders at that level to organize programs that will bring effective leadership to parishes under them. He also stated that the Archdiocesan Laity Council shall monitor to see that right things are done.

The seminar showcased presentation of two papers by two distinguished presenters: Rev. Fr. Stephen Nwabuike presented the first paper on “Effective leadership as key to growth of the Church”. He started by defining “Leadership”. According to him, Leadership is a multifaceted approach to harnessing resources, which include human, material, capital and time. It combines resources optimization, goal achievement and forward thinking. He described “Effective Leadership” as the ability to achieve desired goals and provide a significant and positive impact. For the leadership to be effective there must be:

• Strong inter-personal communication
• Inter-personal skills
• Emotional intelligence or empathy/compassion

Speaking further, a leader must possess servant-leader qualities which include: simplicity, humility, sacrifice, self-giving and compassion. The servant-leader inspires, motivates and guides.

Furthermore, effective time leadership means effective witnessing to the good news that draws people to Jesus and the Church. It means witnessing in such a way that the Holy Spirit touches hearts and lives, transforming and renewing them making them better human persons.

Leadership in the Church must lead people to love, faith, hope, prayer, worship and commitment.

Effective leadership must make disciples of the people who will go out on the evangelization mission.

The priest stated that leadership in the Church cannot be like leadership in the world. This is because the Church is different from the world. The Church is in the world but it is not of the world. Leadership in the Church must be transparent, accountable and transforming. It must not focus on physical and material development, rather it is to foster and grow preaching, teaching, prayer, worship and community service. It must be simple, humble, self-giving, and compassionate, empower, inspire and guide.

In conclusion, to achieve the mission of the Church; leadership must encourage collaboration, openness and inclusivity.

The second presentation was handled by Col. Dr. Wilson Ijide (RTD), Department of Psychology University of Ibadan on the topic: “Imitating Christ as a servant-leader”. He began by giving a brief definition of terms that make up the topic. These include: ‘Imitating’, ‘Christ’ and ‘servant-leader’. According to him, imitating means to follow in the footstep of a stimulus object, or a figure which in our case refers to Christ. Christ means anointed or messiah. ‘servant-leader’ refers to someone who is hired to perform regular house chores or other duties and receives compensation as opposed to a slave. It also refers to one who serves another, providing help or services in some manner. ‘Leader’ refers to anyone who leads, directs, also one who goes first, while others follow.

Speaking further he said leader does not necessarily have to be in the front as many erroneously think. Taking the two words together ‘servant –leader’. According to him, a servant leader is someone who takes the responsibility of both a servant and a leader.

He identified some attributes of Christ as a servant leader which include: Empowerment, leading by example, sacrifice, prioritizing the needs of followers, humility, and empathy. That was followed by steps to imitate Christ as a servant leader: Baptism and Confirmation, prayer and fasting, studying the Bible prayerfully, self-re-examination, regular confession, attending Mass regularly and receiving the Holy Communion worthily and regular visit to the Blessed Sacrament.

Way forward: All of us must imbibe attribute of humility, empathy, love and sacrifice among others. We must not see ourselves as Lords over fellow citizens or our followers. Knowing the challenges of our human limitations, we must seek to imitate the servant-leader attributes through regular inner-self reflection, prayers and determination. Thus, through Christ our leader we shall succeed.

The seminar also witnessed questions and answers session. It was a wonderful experience as 177 participants including members of the Executive of Archdiocesan Laity Council attended the seminar. At the end of the seminar, the following resolutions were issued:

• To imbibe attributes of humility, empathy, love and sacrifice
• To be a servant-leader
• To prioritize the needs of our followers
• To bear witness to good news
• To encourage collaboration, openness and inclusivity
• To promote community service
• To be transparent and accountable
• To empower our followers
• To promote unity among the members of the Church
• To lead by example

The vote of thanks was given by the Seminar Committee Chairman, Mr. Peter Ahaneku. The seminar ended with a closing prayer by Sir Jude Oduah (KSM) while Very Rev. Fr. Paul Asawale gave the blessing. The participants were given a sumptuous lunch thereafter.