It was a humbling opportunity for the participants in the 6th Harambee Leadership Training programme to share in the company of Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a seasoned diplomat, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth and currently the advisor to the President of Nigeria on International Affairs
There is an African proverb that says, ‘When a young man washes his hands, he can wine and dine with the elders.’ And for the Harambee-ans, it was a humbling opportunity to share in the company of Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a seasoned diplomat, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth and currently the advisor to the President of Nigeria on International Affairs. The participants who were accompanied by the faculty team and mentors had the honour of sharing a drink over great leadership lessons as shared by the Chief, based on his experience travelling around the world and building trust amongst Commonwealth nations.
‘The future leadership of Africa must come from you!’ were the opening words of Chief Emeka. 
He went ahead to highlight some of the major challenges that deface Africa. His list did not fall short of corruption, negative ethnicity and poor governance. He challenged the new generation of leaders, ‘…to accept different ethnicities and diversity as sources of strength and not division.’ Using his marriage as an example, he cited that the common language shared with his wife is English as they come from different ethnic groups. It doesn’t stop there. Their daughter is married to a man from Benin. A true reflection of ethnicity as a uniting factor. On matters of governance, Chief Emeka told the young people that ‘… leadership must not concentrate on wanting to be loved but must aspire to be respected.’
At the end of the visit, the Harambee group left refreshed, gaining strength and passion from Chief Emeka’s concluding remarks, ‘I remain very optimistic about the future of Africa. My optimism lies on the hope that the young leaders of this generation will not make the mistakes my generation made.’ Indeed, when the young wash their hands, they can dine with the elders.
The participants are on the final lap of their classroom training and are gearing up for the second phase of the leadership programme – outreach - that involves interaction with the communities in Kano, Kaduna and Abuja. Through interactive sessions, reflection moments, group sharing and role plays, the participants explored their readiness to the leadership challenge and sought to carve out natural expressions of their authentic leadership as they face up to creating new realities for themselves.