By Kemo Cham
The National Science and Leadership Festival (SciLeadFest2026) started in Kabala, Koinadugu on Wednesday with calls for Sierra Leoneans and Africans in general to embrace their culture as basis for development.
Experts and activists emphasised the significance of conceiving and implementing development programmes on the basis of local realities, rather than imitation of foreign models.
SciLeadFest is a biennial event that is convened by Project 1808, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable community development. This edition which runs from January 14 to 16, is being held on the theme: “Breaking Barriers and Building on Africa’s Cultural Foundation.” Over 500 people are attending the three-day event which brings together scientists, innovators, policy makers and students to interact and discuss the intersection between science and leadership, among others. The event entails cultural performances and aspects about psychosocial wellbeing.
The festival focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM), and it entails panel discussions, presentations and demonstration of innovative ideas. Prof. Alhaji Umar N’jai, Founder and Chief Strategist of Project 1808, said the idea of both Project 1808 and the festival is to promote self-reliance in national development. The festival is designed to nurture talents and build technical and leadership capability particularly among young people, to enable them identify and solve their own problems. It also seeks to create entrepreneurships and job opportunities.
“No nation can develop with charity,” Njai, who also lectures at the University of Sierra Leone, said in a statement during the opening ceremony of the event at the Red Cross Campus of the Koinadugu College, the main venue of the event. He added that the prevailing global political dynamics have left Africa increasingly marginalized, further emphasising the need for self-refection.
N’jai noted that Africa faces the highest number of deportation of its citizens in the ongoing anti-immigration clampdown in developed countries, especially in the US, which has also cut its support to international aid, affecting Africa the most.
“The doors of the West are closing on us. We need to work on our dignity, he said.
Project 1808 is registered as a non-profit both in the US and Sierra Leone, and, according to its founder, it is dedicated to building collective success through empowering the next generation of transformational leaders. The Koinadugu College is one of its initiative, as is the SciLeadFest.
Project 1808’s main areas of focus are education, environment, health and science and leadership. Among other things, it provides scholarship for disadvantage students and facilitate extra learning classes to enable slow learners catchup with their colleagues. Through a mentorship programme, Project 1808 also provide career guidance for pupils, among other potentially life changing supports. Since it began operation in Sierra Leone, the organization has supported hundreds of students, according to N’jai.
ScieLeadFest was previously held annually, until the 7th edition in 2024, after which the organizers decided to hold it as a biennial event.
Wednesday’s event featured cultural displays, which will also form a major part of the three days event, as well as a panel discussion. Experts from civil society, academia and the private sector underscored the need for a change of approach to problems facing the country and the region in general, with emphasis on investment in education and seeking local solutions.
The panel was held on the topic: ‘Leveraging Africa’s Cultural Heritage to Drive Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Research and Development. It featured award winning Sierra Leonean poet-storyteller and filmmaker, Prof. Kewule Kamara, who spoke on the importance of storytelling to preserve one’s culture.
“We have documentation about governance and systems that do not depend on our own stories,” he said. And this, he noted, also reflects colonialism’s failure to encourage Africans to organize on the basis of family. According to Prof. Kewule, this status quo has deprived Africans of their true identity, which serves as obstacle to the development of the continent.
Also in attendance are a host of other experts from the crucial sectors of food production, public health, education and engineering, all of which are at the top of the agenda for discussion in the course of the three days.
Participants will have the option of attending presentations in nearly two dozen disciplines, including biology, chemistry, agriculture, environment, climate change, and arts and culture. There are also presentations on Information, Communication, and Technology; Leadership, Behavioral Sciences, Sociology, and Governance; and the Mass Media and Journalism. Students of all ages will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on experiments using basic and advanced scientific tools.
True to the Pan-African idea behind Project 1808, ScieLeadFest continues to attracts participants from beyond Sierra Leone. This year saw guest coming from Guinea and Liberia, as well as the US.
