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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2014
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COMMENTS
N the context of the reality that words have denotative value, it is worth contemplating the import of a particular letter of commendation and its remarkable testimonial quality. It was written by the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, and the recipient was Akinwunmi Ambode who had retired voluntarily after a 27-year career in the civil service, including stints as the Accountant- General of Lagos State from 2006 and 2012, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, and AuditorGeneral for Local Government. This background is striking because it highlights Ambode, who left to pursue other dreams, as probably the most experienced individual in terms of familiarity with the state civil service operations to seek the position of governor since Lagos State was created in 1967. Fashola reportedly wrote: “I write on behalf of the people of Lagos to commend your high sense of dedication, selflessness and integrity which you brought to bear on the civil service. I wish to specifically remark that working closely with you has been of tremendous mutual benefit, particularly in the present administration.” He continued: “You have displayed high sense of professionalism and have been a good team player, guided by the philosophy of a true public officer, who must place himself last while rendering service to the public. We are convinced that your brilliance and zeal will make you excel in your future endeavours.” Who wouldn’t be proud of such a glowing portrayal? Unsurprisingly, Ambode, 51, the Chief Executive Officer of Brandsmiths Consulting, made a passing reference to the characterisation at his May 15 book launch at the Civic Centre, Lagos. The presentation of two books, Public Sector Accounting by Ambode, and his biography, The Art of Selfless Service by Marina Osoba, provided a fitting forum for him to bask in the glory of his recognition. “The letter of commendation by Fashola is my gold medal for public
‘As Fashola prepares to leave the stage next year, the state deserves an exemplary successor who will be focused on excellence in office informed by a mastery of wealth creation and a humanitarian orientation... A square peg in a round hole would most likely reshape the hole; and it would then require far more effort to recreate a round hole’
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INCE Abia State came into being 23 years ago, it has become the norm to celebrate the birth of God’s Own State by the government and the people. This annual event which falls on August 27, has assumed a larger context since the inception of the present democratic dispensation. This is because the event has gone beyond an occasion for parade, pomp and pageantry to a period for stock taking in the developmental efforts of the state.Before Abia became a reality, the founding fathers had already put in place the developmental architecture of the state. Their dreams and vision centred on making Abia the first among equals in the achievement of human development. This dream was not far-fetched given that Abia is a state well endowed with human resources fired by creativity, resourcefulness and resilience. Indeed, the vision of the founding fathers was that if the human capital was adequately harnessed, Abia would become a state of abundant opportunities for its citizens.There is no denying the fact that the dreams have not been fully realized, largely because the past administrations, both military and civilian had not followed the charted course of development. But today things have changed for the better. With the coming of Chief T.A. Orji as governor, the state has been redirected from the course of rudderless journey to purposeful developmental journey. That is why in this year’s Abia Day celebration, the usual lamentation about the slow pace of development was absent. Rather the people are now in high spirits to continue the journey to greatness.The attainment of the present developmental achievements did not come out of the blues. It took the wisdom of a well-focused leader who deviated from the worn out path and a personal decision of leaving a legacy for posterity. T.A. Orji inherited a state devoid of any foundation for development. He set out, first of all, to lay the foundation on which his own administration and successive ones could build on. While it may sound absurd that for over two decades Abia government was operating on temporary structures, the truth is that the Government House and the Secretariat are temporary structures, a rented structure made available by a patriotic and enthusiastic citizen immediately the state was created. As Abians celebrate the 23rd anniversary of their dear state, they can afford to wear broad smiles and point to tangible infrastructures that define a state in full motion for development. Governor Orji has built a modern secretariat hence Abia workers now have a conducive office environment that inspires creativity and hard work just as the new Government House is fast reaching completion. Today, the state is also in good stead to host big conferences with the coming of an ultra modern International Conference Centre. It is not for nothing that the projects being executed by Governor T.A. Orji have been christened Legacy Projects. These are projects that would outlive his administration and sustained for posterity. These are projects that would enhance and sustain the internally generated revenue of the
‘Gold medal for public service’ service,” Ambode said at the event. Of course, the letter may be inadequate to catapult him to the high political office of governor which he seeks; nevertheless, it is a sufficient pointer to his competence. Indeed, the writer of the letter himself also deserves commendation. There is no doubt that Fashola was in a position to know and evaluate Ambode’s contribution, and it is to his credit that he was straightforward in his depiction of Ambode’s worth. He could have chosen to downplay the man’s role and his observed performance, especially given the fact that the letter’s commendatory content could always be quoted to advance the recipient’s interest. A self-absorbed autotheistic leader would not have written in such a manner about someone else; and such leaders abound who go about with a destructive mentality. So, Fashola deserves respect for his demonstration of disinterestedness. Did Fashola have an idea of Ambode’s ambition to succeed him as governor? Was the song of praise calculated to help him achieve his aspiration through an implied endorsement? Or it just didn’t matter to Fashola what Ambode’s next move might be after leaving the civil service, and however he might exploit the laudatory comments for self-advancement. It is interesting that Ambode, a would-be governor and a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on August 21 presented a paper titled “Public Finance: Probity and Accountability” during a two-day workshop organised by the Lagos State Government and the Lagos Business School at the Pan-African University, Lagos. He spoke to 300 youths from tertiary educational institutions across the state, and told them: “If we take the concept of resource generation,
allocation and distribution into cognisance and apply the principles of good governance, we will achieve economic growth and development.” He was on familiar turf. Ambode is credited with designing a system that increased the state’s revenue generation from N600 million to N10 billion. A related excerpt from his biography is illustrative of his expertise: “In a popular business newspaper, Business Day, of Tuesday 2nd July 2013, it was reported that Fiscal Management in Lagos State had surpassed that of the Federal Government and internally generated revenue from taxes has touched the 75% mark in stark contrast to the Federal Government’s 20%. Also, the paper further stated that Lagos State makes up to 20% of total Nigerian GDP and 40% of non-oil GDP.” The narrative continued: “All these gains from the smallest state geographically (that is in terms of size) showing that Lagos State which is without any of the rich mineral resources that other states have in abundance can think outside the box and create wealth using what little it has and building on its commercial base. These great strides are particularly noted to have happened in the last six years (2006-2012) during which Akin headed the State Treasury Office (STO).” The importance of wealth creation to “the authoritative allocation of values” cannot be overemphasised; and it may well be good luck for the state to have a governor whose competency in this critical sphere has been established beyond any iota of contradiction. However, the megacity would require more than a mechanistic attention to figures; and it would appear that Ambode also has a humanistic appeal. Such a fusion is not always available in the power ring. Ambode’s definition of leadership is enlightening, although it could be said that words are never enough and would always need the potency of demonstrativeness. He said: “A true leader sees his work as selfless service towards a higher purpose. A true leader should be judged by what he has not – ego, arrogance and self-interest.” Demonstrable commitment to good governance and ability to deliver what the people yearn for should rank among the uppermost qualifications for the type of progressive leadership that would benefit the state at this juncture. As Fashola prepares to leave the stage next year, the state deserves an exemplary successor who will be focused on excellence in office informed by a mastery of wealth creation and a humanitarian orientation. The question of who should rule remains fundamental in the society’s search for leaders who have not only the capacity to make a difference but also the enthusiasm to do so; and it is always agonising whenever the wrong individual emerges and works against good governance. A square peg in a round hole would most likely reshape the hole; and it would then require far more effort to recreate a round hole.
Reflections on Abia at 23 By Charles Ajunwa state and enhance the standard of living of citizens, including those in the rural areas where rural roads are springing up. For the first time in the history of Abia, the hitherto static capital city, Umuahia, has started expanding in all directions. It is rapidly growing with new infrastructure thereby shedding its old toga of a glorified village. The movement of the Umuahia Main Market to a new site at Ubani Ibeku on the northern flank of the capital city has decongested the city centre and created a new settlement. Umuahia has also expanded eastwards with the relocation of the former Timber Market to a modern Industrial Market at Azueke Ibeku and southwards with the new Spare Parts Market at Ohiya that replaced the old one at the city centre. The relocation of the markets has added to the environmental cleanliness and aesthetic beauty of the capital city. The zeal with which the governor tackled the infrastructure deficit he met when he came on board underscores the feelings that Abia was in a hurry to take off in its flight to development having been dragging along. But in putting in place the needed infrastructure the governor centred everything on people. That is why he prioritized health and security in his development agenda since no matter the level of infrastructural development, if the people are not healthy enough they would not enjoy the facilities and if their lives and property are not secured good roads would make no meaning to them. The revolution in health infrastructure is rooted in the rural areas where over 710 modern health centres have been built across the state and equipped with some designated as referral health centres.At the secondary level of healthcare, nine general hospitals have been built and well equipped to take care of the health needs of the citizens that could not be handled at the health centres. Governor Orji has further expanded the accessibility of citizens to quality health care services by building tertiary health care institutions of international standard. His aim is to stem the tide of health tourism that has constituted a major source of capital flight in Nigeria. To this end, three Specialist Hospitals and Diagnostic Centres were built in Umuahia and Aba where such complicated diseases like renal and heart problems are diagnosed and treated. Abia also boasts of ultra modern dialysis and eye centres, which are part of the huge medical complexes at Umuahia.On security, Abia State now ranks among the most peaceful and safest states to live and do business in Nigeria. This feat was not achieved by wishful thinking. It took the courage and commitment of a governor who knew that dividends of democracy are for the living to wrest Abia from insecurity of the past years. As the chief security officer of the state, the governor has not spared any available resources in assisting all the security agencies including the Army, Navy,
Police, Department of State Security (DSS), National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), among others. Indeed his strategy in matters of security has become a reference point for other governors. Governor Orji has this strong belief that no amount of resources invested on the security agencies is a waste because the peace dividends, is unquantifiable. At 23 Abia State is now witnessing an unprecedented job creation and empowerment programmes that has contributed in making the state a haven of peace and security. Under the youth empowerment programme of the administration, thousands of youths have been empowered to go into transport businesses, others trained in various vocational skills and equipped to make their own living while a sustainable scholarship scheme have been put in place for those in tertiary institutions. Abia women have also been adequately accommodated in the empowerment programme as many of them are beneficiaries of loan schemes to engage in smallscale business ventures. The massive investment in education which has resulted in transformation of schools is a measure of the importance the present administration attaches to sustainable human capital development, which the state is well endowed with.In the Abia State of today, the self-esteem of citizens is very high because the government encourages creativity and blossoming of talents. Abians express their God-given talents in many forms and bring honour to the state and nation. It is on record that Abia is the only state in Nigeria presently sponsoring three football clubs in different levels of professional football. Enyimba International Football Club and Abia Warriors Football Club play in the Nigerian Premier League (NPL) while Abia Comet is in the National Professional league. This is because the governor not only loves sports but also provides the avenue for youths to channel their energy and talents into positive ventures. The investment is paying off handsomely. As Abia looks ahead after 23 years, the founding fathers, both living and dead, can for the first time ease a sigh of relief that their dreams for the state they fought for its creation is living up to expectations. • Ajunwa is the Chief Press Secretary to Abia State Governor
‘The massive investment in education which has resulted in transformation of schools is a measure of the importance the present administration attaches to sustainable human capital development, which the state is well endowed with’