A Different Kind Of Retreat – By Uzordimma Nzeribe
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Loading ...I have attended a number of retreats, especially ones organisd by state governments, because of the nature of my job. But after observing the two-day retreat by the Anambra State government on March 23 and 24 for members of the new Executive Council as well as permanent secretaries, heads of agencies and selected directors, it became axiomatic that the other retreats were mostly talk shops. The governors who sponsored them did not show passion for the retreats. They rather saw them as perfunctory events. They regarded the retreats as shows to humour some technocrats and international lending institutions like the World Bank.
It is a mark of the seriousness which the Anambra State government approaches development issues that Governor Willie Obiano invited the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, and the Director of the Code of Conduct Bureau in the state, Daniel Okafor, to attend last weekend’s retreat in Awka with the theme “Setting the Tone for the Next Four Years”. The governor went out of his way to ensure the participation of the foremost anti-corruption bodies to demonstrate acute commitment to transparency, accountability and integrity as well as due process. It was his way of telling both the new members of his administration and old ones that corruption, which has paralysed the country’s development over the decades, would not be tolerated in the state, all the more so in its second term which was earned through an unprecedented electoral victory last November 18. Obiano is of the opinion that if corruption is not treated with iron fists in the state right from the beginning, his plan to leapfrog the state’s development would end up a mirage.
Both the Code of Conduct Bureau director and the EFCC chairman gave a good account of themselves. Their speeches were similar in most respects. The major difference is that while Okafor spoke softly like a civil servant, Magu left no one in doubt about the missionary zeal which drives his anti-corruption campaign. For instance, the bureau director took time to explain to public servants what to do and what to avoid, the EFCC boss declared from his prepared speech: “Corruption is a disaster. Everyone should join in the fight against it. Use any weapon you find”. He told the yet unreported story of a permanent secretary who collected N23bn from a bank just before the 2015 general elections, and both the bank and the civil servant are now in a mess.
Obiano’s Anambra is the first state Magu visited after his appointment, and it was the first state to congratulate him on the appointment. It is also the only state where Magu has ever attended a retreat. Whereas most government officials run away from anti-corruption bodies, Obiano brings them nearer and nearer. His administration must be in excellent standing in the eyes of these bodies. As a social science professor observed recently, Anambra’s substantial social capital, or stock of values like trust and integrity, is a critical driver of the rapid progress in the state in the last few years.
Obiano was at the retreat with his wife and Deputy Governor Nkem Okeke, an economics lecturer, and sat throughout the two days, constantly making robust contributions and asking difficult questions and regularly comparing figures. Lead participants included Professor Chukwuma Soludo, ex Central Bank governor; Osita Ogbu, another engaging economics professor who was the Chief Economic Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chairman of the National Planning Commission, like Soludo; Dr Okey Orama, President of Africa Exim Bank in Cairo, Egypt; Bismarck Rewane, the chief executive of Financial Derivates Ltd based in Lagos; Fela Durotoye, a Lagos-based charismatic transformational speaker; Collins Onuegbu, the CEO of Sasware, a cutting-edge ICT firm, also in Lagos; and Twinkle Oruwari, an engineer and management consultant.
The other speakers included Solo Chukwulobe, the Secretary to the State Government who is on a leave of absence from the from the Business School of the Birmingham City University in England as a professor of econometrics; and Barrister Harry Udu, the state Head of Service. The retreat was organized by Macaulay Tasie, principal partner at Nextzon Associates in Lagos and coordinator of the Anambra Economic Think Tank.
Before the speakers made their presentations, Gov Obiano did something nice which Nigerian leaders, at any level, rarely do: he reeled out the name of each of his commissioners, their portfolios, bio data and professional accomplishments. He did not look at any piece of paper, showing a good knowledge of each person. He added: “I carefully chose each person; it was a difficult assignment. I refused to be influenced by lobbyists and the rest”.
This intimate knowledge contrasts sharply with certain key statements made by various Nigerian leaders about their cabinet members. For example, President Muhammadu Buhari has on occasion spoken of how he did not know anything about most of his ministers, his Inspector General of Police and his Chief of Army Staff, among others, up to the time they were appointed, their appointments were based on recommendations from some unnamed persons. Ex President Obasanjo has stated how Western leaders were surprised to learn that he appointed Alhaji Sule Lamido his first Foreign Minister in 1999 without knowing anything about him. In the United States, the President gathers reasonable information about every nominee and markets him or her to not just the Senate but also the public.
There is another sense in which Gov Obiano has behaved like American leaders as regards nominees: he disclosed early enough the ministry to which every of his nominees would be assigned. This development is reminiscent of the fact the Senate in 2015 passed a resolution asking the Nigerian president to henceforth disclose early enough the ministries to which ministerial candidates will be posted.
One particularly striking revelation about the retreat is Gov Obiano’s insistence on frank assessments from his commissioners and consultants, urging them to concentrate on analysing areas which call for improvement rather than where his government has excelled. He stated that the performance of some memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed by his administration has not been exemplary. Obiano seems to belong to the class of leaders which social scientists refer to as authentic leaders, that is, leaders frank enough to admit errors and apologise for them. Such leaders are very rare in Africa in particular.
When Engr Oruwari showed to retreat participants pictures of abandoned vehicles in the State Secretariat which compromised the aesthetic integrity of the place, the governor admitted responsibility, saying he would start to pay surprise visits frequently order to see things for himself. He quickly set up a committee comprising the Deputy Governor, Secretary to the Government and Head of Service to give the place a new look within two months. Obiano’s resolve to start paying surprise visits to facilities brings to mind the theory of management-by-walking-around (MBWA) which requires leaders not to rely completely on reports from subordinates to know how things are going on, but to leave their offices frequently to pay informal visits to the frontlines to see for themselves the true state of projects, facilities, equipment and how workers actually feel on key issues. Japanese executives practise gemba (“go and see”) walks. Hewlett Packard, the American ICT company, became in 1973 the first Western firm to adopt it as a leadership strategy. The strategy subsequently became world famous because of its acute effectiveness.
I am glad to observe the two-day retreat for top members of the new Obiano administration. Public administration researchers will find Obiano’s Anambra State a rewarding case study in contemporary leadership.
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Nzeribe works for a consulting firm in Lagos. 08037095615
