Chimezie Eugene-OguzieChimezie Eugene-Oguzie (PhD), 49 is a Catholic Priest & Educational Leadership & Management professional from Owerri – Nigeria. He’s highly qualified with academic degrees in Philosophy, Classical Languages, Theology, Religious Studies, Educational Management, & Inclusive Leadership. Chimezie specialises in voluntary agency education. He has extensively studied the interface between HRM & ELMA, & the dynamics of government takeover & eventual return of schools to voluntary agencies in Nigeria, focusing on how this affects ELMA & shapes outcomes in public & private schools in a developing economy & the critical role effective ELMA in voluntary agencies can play towards establishing education as Nigeria’s main tool for growth & development.
Chimezie has 25 years post-graduation experience at top management levels in print-media, education, consultancy, NGOs & public service/administration. He’s currently an ELMA consultant, & a director in one of Nigeria’s foremost voluntary agency school systems. He designed & developed an Employee Retention & Attrition Assessment Score Guide for mitigating the loss of highly skilled teachers/employees.
He’s also a director with three charitable organisations, & belongs to numerous national & international professional associations. He loves Arsenal FC, F1, travelling, cooking; is passionate about climate change & girl-child education; & fascinated by flying objects.
A simplistic reason an individual/nominee from my background who’s seeking to become a BELMAS Council member might offer is that my presence on the council will demonstrably improve diversity, inclusiveness & equity – key focus areas BELMAS as an organisation has been keen, & rightly so to improve lately. My nomination/candidacy if I may suggest carries much more than that value.
It brings a rich vein of everyday practitioner experience & insight into ELMA from the developing world or global south countries. Enhancing growth, development & the wellbeing of humanity by “supporting quality education through effective leadership & management” is critical, strategic to, & at the core both of BELMAS & what we do as ELM practitioners. Research is great, but the practitioner faces the challenge of incorporating research findings & theories into school life in an impactful way. This is what I’ve been doing in a developing economy, & among what I’d bring to the council if elected. This is important given my specialisation in Voluntary Agency (VA) educational management. VAs are the live-wire of education in developing countries like Nigeria. If BELMAS would make the needed impact in such areas of the world by driving effective ELMA, then having one from such a background on the council would create an added advantage.
We do understand that context & perspectives matter in ELMA. My candidacy brings a whole lot of developing country context & perspective to what BELMAS is trying to achieve internally, externally, & globally. Great as the current Council team is with wonderful people & consummate professionals, it’s evident as the memo calling for nominees for council membership pointed out that “our Board is not currently reflective of the wider membership…” given the limited element of diversity in its constitution in terms of minority groups representation. My candidacy will help plug this gap.
Furthermore, I’ve in the past pointed out in writing & as feedback to BELMAS a few issues. Thankfully, the organisation swiftly made changes & corrections, & explained where needful. An example was restricting doctoral thesis awards to UK candidates when BELMAS has members from across the world. My council membership would bring added value towards greater inclusivity, integration & minority voice & view in the design of subsequent BELMAS policies.
I’ve had to handle with remarkable success very complex pluralistic, multicultural, multi-ethnic & sometimes conflicting environments & situations. Nigeria is such a “hot pot.” Such wealth of experience will serve the better interests of BELMAS with its ever-increasing global outlook, presence, & membership.
I adapt, collaborate, & manage change & reform exceedingly well. My candidacy will further enrich/reinforce strategic & critical approach to issues concerning the society.
I am committed to BELMAS & its intents & purposes through my active membership & much more. But more, I’m devoted to the wider goals & purposes of effective ELMA as evident in the work we do in the sector in emerging climes like Nigeria. Becoming a Council member will reinforce such commitment & devotion.
Thank you.
