One of Nigeria’s leading faith-based organisations, The Muslim Congress (TMC) has emphasised the importance of leadership workshops to the attainment of organisational goals.
The Amir of TMC, Alhaji AbdulWasi’i Bangbala said this on Friday at the opening of the 2023 National Leadership Workshop (NLW) organised for national, state and local government executives of the organisation.
Bangbala who stressed that the workshop was critical to the TMC’s lifelong vision of societal reformation, said the programme marked another significant step forward in the relentless quest to develop a continuous improvement mindset across the rank and file of the organisation.
The two-day hybrid event with the theme: ‘Attaining Organisational Resilience’, was held through Saturday and attracted participants from nine states of the Federation, namely; Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Kwara, Edo, Niger, and FCT, Abuja, including the host State, Lagos.
NLW, an essential part of our mission – Amir
In an address, Alhaji Bangbala said; “The Annual National Leadership Workshop (NLW) is an essential part of our mission at The Congress, guided by the vision to raise foremost and strong-minded leaders that would commit to making true and measurable contributions to our organisation’s lifelong vision of societal reformation.
“As a legacy from the visionary leadership of our forerunners, we have this avowed commitment to create an enduring culture of curiosity that allows for personal and organisational transformation in an atmosphere that enables change and innovation.
“After almost three decades since our organisation was founded, it is paramount that we build a positive capacity that helps to adapt to any kind of disruption, for it is only a resilient organisation that can handle any crisis or problem thrown its way,” he said.
The Amir noted that the focus of this year’s workshop is to forge members into able personages who can motivate and empower others and are capable of building coalitions of stakeholders across the organisation when it comes to tackling complex issues.
While especially appreciating members who travelled the distance to attend the leadership workshop, Alhaji Bangbala charged participants to come out of the sessions with firm determination and zest to achieve improved efficiency and effective levels of performance.
Shura, a tool to achieve organisational goal – Prof. Yusuf
Prof. Tajudeen Yusuf of the University of Lagos in his presentation cited different scenarios to demonstrate the importance of Shura (decision by consensus) which he described as a cogent factor responsible for returning organisations to their glorious days.
Prof. Yusuf, the Chairman, Governing Council of the Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (IIFP) said Shura as a tool is the command of Almighty Allah in the Glorious Qur’an (3:159 and the whole of chapter 42), adding that, “As Muslims, we must ensure that all stakeholders are carried along in the work of Da’wah.”
According to him, “Historically, the Prophet (SAW) was commanded by Allah to still consult his companions in the affairs of the Deen and the State despite the outcome of the unfortunate incident that happened during the battle of Uhud.
“The Shura tool is supposed to be utilised by the leadership to carry everybody along. It involves inclusivity and allows them participate in matters that affect them. That’s the best way to galvanise an organisation towards achieving its objectives. When they are consulted and their opinions are sought, it gives them a sense of belonging and once that is done, they will be more committed to the mission unlike when decisions are taking on their behalf.”
Prof. Yusuf said The Muslim Congress has been using this tool to run the affairs of the organisation that houses different sets of people, including professionals, artisans and even children, women and the vulnerable, among others.
“Aside from organisational benefits, the use of Shura is also necessary in a Muslim community because it gives the minorities a sense of belonging. The Prophet (SAW) applied the tool in Madinah with the Jews and Christians during the formation of a Constitution that would regulate the affairs of the heterogeneous society. They are all stakeholders.
“This is very useful in the Nigeria of today. Muslims alone do not constitute the citizens of the world. There are non-Muslims too. We have to carry them along, so as not to allow shaytan to use them against us.”
Prof. Yusuf called on the participants to see themselves as ambassadors of Islam and utilise the tool in carrying all members of the society along as they move to spread the message of Islam to all, noting that there is also need for leadership to do follow-up.
“When you give instructions to your followers through SMS, follow it up with calls to confirm if they received your message because some might not have gotten the message. So, follow-up is necessary. It will assist them to mobilise and achieve better results than when you don’t do follow-up,” he noted.
Smartphone is capable of enhancing productivity – Dr. Rufai
Another facilitator, Dr. Mutiu Rufai, during his presentation on the topic, ‘Working Smart – Leveraging Popular Productivity Tools In a High Tech Era’, said smart work is using effective and efficient ways to complete tasks while also managing time and quality.
According to Dr Rufai, who is the Head of Department, Computer Technology, Yaba College of Technology, the smartphone is a powerful mini-computer that is capable of enhancing productivity for administrators.
He noted that for an organisation like TMC, the smartphone has some applications and features that can make the duties of wulat, wukala, ruqaba and secretaries very efficient and effective.
Noting that smart work is different from hard work because some hardworking people have to put in strenuous hours to execute certain tasks.
He identified some of the phone applications that can contribute to the efficiency of members’ tasks as including, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Forms and Google Meet.
Every stakeholder must be carried along – Olajide
Also speaking, the CEO of AVAS Technologies, Engr. Faheed Olajide, educated participants on stakeholders engagement, where he stressed that all stakeholders must be carried along for the success of any project.
“We need to identify stakeholders to a project for proper stakeholders’ engagement. We should then make a plan on how to engage them, to the interaction to be made with each of them and down to reporting back. On top of this, you have a large number of small processes you engage and of course tools to place each of the stakeholders in categories to identify how to deal with them. Those are the messages I have shared at the session.
“Everything about stakeholders’ engagement is communication. It is about the project manager or team lead’s ability to ensure that every single person is given the right information. Communication is like 70 to 80 percent of the work in stakeholders’ engagement.”
Olajide said the bulk of tasks at TMC as a faith-based organisation is executed through volunteering. He therefore enjoined the volunteers to see that they are working for Allah.
“Efforts need to be put in place to take care of the volunteers. For volunteers, it’s not as if they are in the workplace where they are employed exactly for the role they are performing. So, in a place you have volunteers, you need to do more to carry them along.
“I believe what is important really for the volunteers is the conviction that the work you are doing is for Allah and you are offering it for Allah alone. That’s what will push you to do the maximum you can do for this kind of project,” he said.
