By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyenkachukwu
The Value Rebirth-Centre LSD Leadership School, Delta Study Centre, on Saturday graduated 144 leaders from its Set 8 class and matriculated over 200 new students for the 2025/2026 session, with speakers calling for value-based leadership as a solution to Nigeria’s challenges.
Representing Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, a state official conveyed the governor’s goodwill and best wishes to the graduands, praising the institution’s “impactful work in shaping the leaders of tomorrow.”
According to him, “Your commitment to nurturing and empowering young minds is praiseworthy, and I have no doubt that the grandaunts today are better equipped to make a difference in the world.” He urged the graduates to see leadership “not just about titles or positions of authority; it’s about character, vision, and the ability to inspire and influence others.”
Founding Executive Director of the Value Rebirth and Empowerment Initiative (VREI), Amb. Pastor Edewor Egedegbe, recalled that the school was birthed from a divine encounter in 2014, anchored on Isaiah 58:12, with a mission to raise transformational leaders and restore societal values.
Egedegbe said, “Since inception, we have remained focused on training strategic leaders and entrepreneurs that will provide their quota to individual and national development. The Delta Study Centre has graduated 792 leaders, including the 144 students of today’s Set 8.”
Highlighting the tuition-free model, he explained that the programme equips participants with “practical strategies for addressing leadership and entrepreneurship challenges” and helps them become “positive change agents capable of preventing poor leadership practices.”
Guest speaker and retired editor of The Guardian, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, delivered the lecture on the theme, “Leadership & Value Decadence in Nigeria: Finding Local Implementable Solutions.”
In his remarks, Founding Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD), Dr. Otive Igbuzor, stressed that the country’s value erosion was “visible across every sphere of life – from politics to public service, business to religion, education to family,” but maintained that “leadership is both the cause and cure of Nigeria’s challenges.”
He urged investment in value reorientation and the implementation of locally relevant solutions, commending VREI for “consistent efforts over the last eight years in Warri to address leadership and value decay through free, high-quality leadership education.”
Governor of Set 8, Pastor Jovi Loyalty, described the journey as transformative, noting the group’s community development service, which included an awareness campaign to secondary and primary schools in Uvwie and Udu LGAs, distributing 1,000 customised exercise books.
“To my fellow students, I urge you to remember the values that we have been taught here. Let us strive to be leaders guided by a sense of purpose, compassion, and justice,” Loyalty said.
The event, held at Holy Catholic Family Hall, Edjeba, Warri, brought together traditional rulers, faculty members, development partners, security chiefs, and civil society leaders, all united in a call for purposeful leadership to rebuild Nigeria.