Dr. Ismaila Ceesay received the ‘Most Influential Young Person of The Year’ 2019 award, conferred by the renowned Confederation of West African Youths in Freetown, Sierra Leone on the 31st of March at a Golden Tulip Forum & Award ceremony.
Under the theme ‘New Leaders, New Africa: A Gathering for Africa’, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay delivered a speech highlighting education in Africa and the need to invest in our own people.
This conferment follows the August 2018 confederation publication of the 100 most influential young persons in West Africa in which Dr. Ismaila was listed amongst others. Giss Giss fellow talk show host- Mr. Momodou Sabally also received the ‘Influential Person of the year’ award.
Dr. Ceesay and Sabally were the key panelists at the erstwhile popular TV talk show “Giss Giss” that won public adulation before it was yanked off air by the management of the State Broadcaster GRTS for inexplicable reasons.
Dr. Ismaila Ceesay’s award is in recognition of his outstanding role in mentoring and inspiring young Africans, thereby shaping the future of Africa.
Momodou Sabally, former secretary general and Presidential Affairs Minister has inspired young Leaders from across the African continent to take up the challenge of providing a fresh kind of transformational leadership for a better contingent.
“What we need is a new crop of leaders that would help us walk on the waters of Information Communication Technology and break bread in the labs of new food technology. But such a new leadership must stop aping the methods of the West whole scale without scrutiny.
Such a leadership must look back at our rich and dignified past and take from it what’s best and brightest and apply its lessons in inspiring dynamic ways. Such a leadership would learn and appropriate lessons from far and wide but it must never cut, copy and paste.” She said during a forum and award ceremony organised by the Confederation of West African Youths at Golden Tulip Hotel in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Citing the Sierra Leonean Government’s recent rejection of an offer of a modern airport by China, Sabally told the gathering of government officials and young leaders that the envisaged new transformational leadership he hopes for the African continent would be one with “UNWAVERING COURAGE.
The courage to take tough decisions and to defy interests and tendencies that want to game our systems or bait us with alluring present gains at the cost of our entire future.“
He implored the youth leaders thus: “The new kind of leadership envisaged must be one to rise above our current challenges and dream beyond the tough cliffs and lift our imagination into the glorious valleys of future bliss. This is a kind of leadership that should thrive on inspired VISION.”
The youth confab, which was also the occasion for the award of honours for deserving recipients, saw he conferment of Most Influential Person Awards to Sabally alongside UTG senior lecturer Dr. Ismaila Ceesay.
