My LBS Series 1

My very good friend, Jibola and I once had an argument on the difference between brilliance and intelligence. The argument is still thought-provoking many years after, and I reminisced about it while driving on the Lekki-ajah expressway into the serene environment of Lagos Business School (LBS). These thoughts created a nostalgic feeling which I hid behind my smile as I exchanged pleasantries with the school’s security and looked forward to the day’s outcome.

In the midst of these thoughts, I asked a lady, standing about half a meter away, for directions to the Intercontinental hall, the venue of the orientation programme. This would mark the end of the fifteen-year hiatus after my last academic pursuit. Little did I know that the kind and friendly lady was also in awe of the environment, which was precisely the same as her alma mater from which she graduated eighteen years ago. A quick chat of barely forty-five seconds led to my first acquaintance at LBS, Sally Birth.

It was about 8:39 am, with the harmattan haze rescinding, and a light breeze whistled through the long alley connecting the car park to the main hall. Sally and I strolled through, exchanging pleasantries with the courteous horticulturist and, subsequently, the security personnel who guided us through the scanner and confirmed Sally’s earlier description of the route to Intercontinental Hall. The walls on the stairway and corridors were filled with beautiful art designs of African and Western works neatly lined out and complementing the well-polished Masonian wood on the numerous doors along the hallway we strolled through.

As we approached the hall, different groups were also ascertaining if that was the Intercontinental Hall. The excitement and nervousness were tangible in the air, as we all ventured into a terrain with so much to offer but little certainty of the process. This was confirmed in less than thirteen minutes as reality beckoned.  

A tall and dark-skinned gentleman dressed formally, who turned out to be the Dean of the Executive MBA programme walked in and alerted everyone with his baritone voice by testing the microphones. He welcomed us all, explained the planned course of events for the next year and also what we could expect. I briefly stared at Sally, and we seemed to agree as to the fears we had anticipated. It would not be a walk in the park and very different from some of our undergraduate escapades. The Dean was clear when he said, “this is not like when you got an A or a C grade to boost your GP”, which was a reference to our standard university system in Nigeria. You could feel the heartbeat of everyone in the room, and at that moment, someone who I later discovered was called Jude, exclaimed to break the silence, “God no go shame us” and everyone murmured their agreement.

Would take you on this exciting journey in a series. Till next time thanks for your time.