158 Young Nigerians, One Powerful Lesson: Ethical Leadership Begins with Everyday Choices
Updated: Oct 13
At Pleasant Life College in Afolabi, Lagos, Nigeria, Africa 10XG Foundation turned difficult conversations about honesty, bullying and peer pressure into practical commitments and measured what students said they learned.
A child is laughed at for looking different.
A student faces the temptation to cheat.
Another wonders whether telling the truth is worth getting into trouble.
These may seem like small moments in school life.
But they are also the moments in which character is tested.
On 7 October 2026, 158 participants gathered at Pleasant Life College’s Second Annex for Africa 10XG Foundation’s Ethical Leadership School Outreach.
The message was simple: leadership begins with what we choose to do when a choice is difficult.
The outreach brought together 88 female and 70 male participants for conversations about integrity, self-control, healthy relationships, hygiene, drug avoidance and personal responsibility.
Behind every number was a young person learning that their choices matter, not someday, but now.
Before the outreach: the uncomfortable truth about everyday choices
Three weeks earlier, on 17 September, Africa 10XG surveyed 30 students using an anonymous, five-question baseline questionnaire.
The responses were candid.
Twenty-seven of 30 (90%) said they had at some point taken something that did not belong to them. Twenty-eight (93.3%) said they had lied to avoid trouble or gain an advantage.
Twenty (66.7%) reported cheating on a test or examination.
Ten (33.3%) said they had bullied, mocked or deliberately belittled a classmate.
These figures reflect the answers of 30 students, not all 158 outreach participants, and not Nigerian children in general. Nor do they define any child by their worst decision. They reveal something more useful: the everyday pressures that ethical leadership education must address.
There was also an important contrast.
Twenty-seven of the 30 students (90%) disagreed or strongly disagreed that buying leaked examination questions or “cheat codes” was acceptable.
In other words, many recognised a serious form of wrongdoing even while acknowledging past dishonest behaviour.
Knowing the right thing and consistently doing it are not the same.
“Integrity is not simply knowing where the line is. It is choosing not to cross it.”
Turning difficult truths into practical lessons
Rather than treating ethics as a distant lecture about government or corporate scandals, the outreach connected it to school corridors, friendships and personal decisions.
An interactive opening question about lying invited students to examine their own experiences.
They then watched an ethical leadership presentation by Africa 10XG founder and CEO Chidi Ameke, alongside drug-abuse awareness content.
Coaches Amanda Ubaka, Emmanuel Obapalike, and Doria Oguike led separate sessions for boys and girls, focusing on values, boundaries, maturity, wellbeing, and peer pressure. Faith Egbuka facilitated the sessions overall.
Questions, games, written action plans and a collective pledge helped students turn big ideas into choices they could recognise in daily life.
One moment made the lesson especially real. According to the programme’s monitoring report, a boy mocked another student by calling him a girl, prompting laughter. Facilitators used the incident to challenge the behaviour.
The same report recounts a student describing how a classmate was mocked for being slim. The response was practical: stand beside someone being bullied and tell a trusted school authority.
That is what ethical leadership can look like at school: not the loudest voice in the room, but the courage to protect someone who feels alone.
After the outreach: what 30 student evaluations actually show
A separate post-event questionnaire collected 30 student evaluations. It measured satisfaction, perceived learning and intentions, not independently observed changes in behaviour.
Because the baseline and post-event questions differed, and individual responses weren't linked across the two surveys, the results cannot establish a percentage improvement in honesty, cheating, or bullying.
Nevertheless, the feedback offers a useful snapshot.
Nineteen of 30 students (63.3%) rated the programme “excellent/very fun”; another six (20%) rated it “good”.
Together, 25 of 30 (83.3%) gave one of the two positive ratings. Five (16.7%) said it was “okay”.
Asked about making good choices, resisting peer pressure and setting boundaries, 27 of 30 (90%) selected “yes, absolutely”; three (10%) selected “a little bit”.
This is a self-reported response to a learning question, not proof that students had mastered these skills or would always use them.
On readiness to put the lessons into practice, 22 of 30 (73.3%) chose “yes, I am ready”, seven (23.3%) chose “maybe/I need to try”, and one (3.3%) chose the third response option, labelled “not helpful” in the evaluation report.
That final option's wording does not fit the readiness question neatly, so it should not be interpreted as a definite refusal to act.
The most frequently selected favourite component was the boys’ and girls’ breakout session, chosen by 21 students.
The leadership video received 10 selections, the question-and-answer activities three, and hygiene/body care two. Students could choose more than one component, so these counts are not meant to total 30.
Students also identified next steps: 25 selected developing a purposeful vision for life, 12 chose living by core values each day, and 11 selected teaching at least two friends what they learned.
These are intentions, not confirmed future actions. But they offer a starting point for teachers and mentors to revisit.
The words that matter more than a percentage
Perhaps the clearest expression of the day came from a student’s written reflection: “For you to lead others, you must first lead yourself.” Another student wrote, “I want to stop lying.” A third pledged, “I want to stop mocking people.”
These are modest sentences with enormous potential.
They do not promise overnight transformation. They show young people beginning to name the habits they want to change.
“A pledge is not the finish line. It is the first step towards a habit.”
The programme also linked dignity to practical wellbeing. The impact report records 88 female recipients of sanitary pads and hygiene support.
What the evidence tells us and what comes next
The outreach reached 158 participants, and each of the two surveys covered 30 students.
The baseline documents reported past behaviours; the post-event survey captures immediate reactions, learning and intentions.
Without matched questions and later follow-up, it would be misleading to claim the programme reduced dishonesty or bullying by a measurable percentage.
What we can say is meaningful: students engaged with difficult ethical questions, 25 of 30 rated the experience positively, and many articulated concrete commitments.
The next challenge is to help those commitments survive the ordinary pressures of school life.
The Foundation’s report also identifies practical lessons for future visits: allow more time, plan seating and supplies, ensure enough Hope Books for participants, and continue evaluation.
Sustained impact will depend not just on reaching more classrooms, but on returning to ask what students have actually put into practice.
“The future of ethical leadership is built in ordinary moments, one brave choice at a time.”
To discuss hosting an Ethical Leadership Outreach or exploring a partnership, contact info@africa10xg.org.
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