I read about the Lagos Business School Young Talents Programme (YTP) randomly on the media for the first time in 2023, albeit late, so I couldn’t apply. However, I set a reminder one year ahead, hoping it pops up on time and I can apply early enough.
A year later, on the 8th of May, 2024 (My birthday), I submitted my application after recording the 1-min video requested by the admissions team. Like every other person, I hope, I began to do extensive research on the program, primarily to forecast my chances of success, and it became clear that it was a competitive program with a 7-10% acceptance rate.
Long story short, an evening while I was in church, I got a congratulatory email from their admissions team, and from there on, there was relief on one side, but work began on the other. We were divided into groups and assigned projects to defend in roughly three weeks (2 days on-site).
I’m mostly writing this for myself, so I never forget the experiences forged during the 3-week program, but if you intend to join the program in an upcoming cohort, this will help you know if it’s a good fit for you.
For details on applying, a certain Akin does justice to that here.
In a sequential order of impact and contact, here has been experience in the Lagos Business School, Young Talents Programme 2024.
The one with my team
Three days after the congratulatory email, I received another email from the YTP organisers notifying me of my group, its members and the project we had to work on. Our task was to create an AI policy and a solution for MTN with a clear social impact on its stakeholders, and work began almost immediately.
We chose team leads, created sub-teams based on our expertise, chose sub-team leads, and moved as swiftly as possible. We met once every two days to discuss, plan, and sometimes, just chat.
I remember having separate late-night calls with a few team members to ensure we did our best work. It was stressful because many of us had day jobs, but the sheer will from almost everyone in the team was all the encouragement you needed to put in extra hours.
Usually, I’m not too fond of group work for obvious reasons, but this was a bit different, and I’m thankful for that.
The one on the LBS campus
The serenity of the Lagos Business School campus, inside and outside, is worthy of mention, especially because the building is over twenty years old—this may be an unusual compliment. Still, I have been to a few Nigerian universities, and it’s never felt like this.
The greenery, the classrooms, and the waiting rooms never really felt like the traditional academic architecture. However, this was my first Business School visit, so maybe it’s a standard—but I have my doubts.
The one with LBS Faculties
After experiencing the campus, we were immediately welcomed by faculties. The radiant faces were a good start; their intelligible words were also a major plus, but the dynamism in how they teach was what really crowned it all. I’d be honest: at some point, I thought LBS was putting on a show to bamboozle us. You can’t blame me; many of the school’s acts were so excellent, but it felt unreal.
We had faculties and industry leaders come share their experience with us and teach us about entrepreneurship and career progression—as a budding entrepreneur myself, the experience was worth every minute.
We shared rooms with some of the brightest minds in the Nigerian workforce, and we were lucky enough to ask questions to our heart’s content—fun fact: the current CFO of Dangote Refinery was a programmer.
We also had mentorship sessions with faculties as a group, where they spoke to each of us individually; this was particularly helpful to many people who intended to further their careers in academia.
The one with other teams
After completing and submitting the project we were assigned weeks before, we were asked to present our solutions to the representatives of the various companies we were assigned. This afforded us the chance to meet other teams and hear from other participants.
If I had any doubts about the calibre of people I was in the same room with, and I most certainly didn’t, they all cleared up as they had their presentations.
I got the chance to connect with a few people during tea breaks, lunch and a networking session on the last day. Group 4 won the pitch competition, while my group came just behind in the second position.
In a way, we all won. We got to share our ideas with the people it mattered most to and hear them criticise in a constructive manner, in real-time. That was bliss!
In Conclusion
I promised LBS (in my application) that if I was admitted into the YTP program, I would ensure that my name is one they would always look back on with pride—I might as well get back to work and make my name worthy of the excellence I have spoken of.
Till we meet again, LBS.
Cheers.