The Vice President, H.E Jessica Alupo has urged student leaders across the country to embrace ideological education in order to solve societal problems in their respective communities.
She warned that without proper ideological orientation, the young people and all citizens for that matter are bound to lose direction and be completely off target.
“Getting lost or being unsure of what to do is a recipe for danger. A citizenry that is lost or confused is bound to face more danger or cause harm to themselves and society,” H.E Alupo said.
She made the remarks today while delivering a lecture to over 800 student leaders from various institutions of higher learning who are undergoing a two-week Patriotism training program at Nkumba University.
H.E Alupo emphasized that it is necessary for leaders to undergo ideological orientation to understand where Uganda came from, where it is and where it’s going.
“Ideology is a compass that gives leaders direction so that they are not manipulated by the negative forces. It is imperative that leaders continuously get oriented on the correct ideology based on the facts and truth,” the Vice President said.
She added that leaders should always strive for more knowledge everyday because ignorance is the cause of poor leadership.
“Well as for instance the stomach communicates to the brain when it is empty and the person looks for food, the empty brain on the other hand does not communicate to the person.”
Making reference to Proverbs 4:23 and Philippians 4-8, the Vice President appealed to student leaders to be careful about how they think, because their lives are shaped by their thoughts.
“My brothers and sisters fill your minds with things that are good and deserve praise, truth, noble, rightly pure, lovely and honourable,” she said.
H.E Alupo noted that she was happy that the secretariat of Patriotism realizes that the best way to inculcate values and norms of patriotism and mindset transformation is through ideological courses for reorientation.
“Ladies and gentlemen you’re called upon to embrace ideological orientation because it is scientifically a proven method through which leaders can provide solutions to the existing societal problems,” she said.
She further challenged the students to be part of the problem solvers as opposed to being part or cause of the problems in their communities.
“We must all join hands to be change agents in order to transform ourselves, families, communities. Once you put your focus and mind towards achieving something, you will always succeed,” she advised.
Making reference to history, the Vice President said Uganda has faced various challenges including political instability, economical hardships and social upheavals, however the resilience of its people particularly the youths has been a driving force in overcoming these obstacles.
“As Nelson Mandela once said, what counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is the difference we make to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the lives we lead,” she reminded the students.
The Vice President further noted that the major question to students right now should be what is their contribution to the national development of Uganda.
“I hope the training you have undertaken or you’re undertaking is going to enable you to appreciate that it is indeed possible for a generation to create a big difference in the affairs of a nation,” she said.
She asked the student to significantly appreciate the fact that the founders and fathers of Uganda’s revolution chose a life of sacrifice even when they were very young people led by H.E Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
“They did this, not out of adventure but rather they sacrificed because they were convinced. The conviction was a result of making efforts to study the situation of their time to understand why some of the challenges had to come about,” she said.
H.E Alupo added that the founders and fathers of the revolution were able to clearly see that if they were to create a better country, then they needed to have a new mindset of liberation that required new principles such as avoiding bad politics, sectarianism based on tribe, religion and gender but rather embracing patriotism and pan- Africanism.
She said they were able to realize also that Africans deserve to live a better life, free from poverty and backwardness.
“This enabled them to chart a new way of achieving the historical mission of causing socio-economic transformation which we are now all enjoying,” H.E Alupo said.
Through such training, the Vice President implored the students to internalize the journey of Uganda’s transformation as ushered in by young revolutionaries.
“I would like you to check that by 1986, Uganda was surviving as an enclaved economy relying only on coffee, cotton, copper and tobacco, tea and tourism. Today the economy of Uganda has progressively improved to include non-traditional cash crops and the budget is now in trillions,” she said.
H.E Alupo said in the past, Uganda had refugees all over the world but today the Pearl of Africa is exporting peace and home to more than 1.5 million refugees and without any refugees of Ugandan origin anywhere in the world.
In his remarks, the Commandant of the Oliver Reginald Tambo School of Pan African Center of Excellence and Leadership, Kaweweta Col. Justus Rukundo urged student leaders to adopt effective patriotic methods of work and best practices in their endeavors.
He encouraged them to embody key values such as respect, humility, democracy, and a thirst for knowledge, urging that such values will not only earn the respect of their peers but also meet the expectations of those they serve, fostering a positive and productive leadership environment.
“You see something wrong but you want to keep quiet because you want to be known out of it, and you will never solve any problems or make any meaningful decisions as a leader, “Col. Rukundo said.
He emphasized the importance of embodying correct methods of work, saying that they will not only enhance their productivity but also inspire others to follow their lead.
Col. Rukundo cautioned the student leaders to avoid any destructive tendencies such as intrigue and the pursuit of cheap popularity.
He noted that these vices have been detrimental to relationships within guild councils, often leading to division and ineffectiveness.
” Just like it is the bible, when you do good you go to heaven,when you sin,you go to hell but even when you sin,there is a chance to repent. As leaders, I urge you to utilise this training and repent because it is not too late for you to get saved if you have been subversive in one way or another,”he noted.
He went ahead to advise the student leaders to shun opportunistic tendencies, emphasizing the importance of integrity, accountability, and selfless leadership.
” As a leader, you have to learn how to balance the boat, incase of any trips and training or meetings,rotate everybody on your committee so that other members know what goes around because you don’t have to be the only person enjoying them but again you are supposed to walk slowly and that is the only way you will reach far as a student leader.”
He further stressed the importance of collaborative decision-making, encouraging the student leaders to utilize committees and baraza meetings as effective tools for driving inclusive and participatory decision-making processes.
“As a leader, you must change, become a better version of yourself but also learn how to conduct meetings,form committees and they will help you to build consensus and in the long run,you will be able to fight intrigue, rumour mongering and also work as a team,listen to the general views of your committee members and nothing will be against you.Don’t appoint your boy/ girl friends to control everything.”
The training program which was organised by the National Secretariat for Patriotism Corps ( NSPC) under the stewardship of Commissioner Hellen Seku and State House Uganda, commenced on January 3, 2025, with the aim of equipping student leaders with the necessary leadership skills and knowledge to become informed and patriotic leaders of tomorrow.
The training emphasizes the importance of civic responsibility and encourages young leaders to actively participate in building a better future for Uganda.
President Museveni and the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Museveni will officially close the training on January 17, 2025.
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