THE
ROOT
This work is focused on
the topmost elected executive arm of government officials in all tiers of
government comprising the Federal, State and Local government/council. For the
purpose of this work, these topmost officers would be referred to as Chief
Leadership Officers (CLOs).
This work is primarily
to prepare the minds of those aspiring to be CLOs to know the concrete steps to
take to get it right with regards to efficiency in governance getting
guaranteed all their years in such a highly worshipped servant office.
Though these CLOs are leaders, they are primarily there to serve and meet the
demands of the led which is why I earlier referred to the office of the CLOs as
Servant
offices.
In addition, these CLOs
upon resuming office appoint their cabinet members comprising ministers,
commissioners, special advisers, etc. whose primary job is to breathe life to
the goals of their bosses, the CLOs. Since the CLOs cannot be everywhere at a time, the
appointment of these individuals which is more or less a delegated
responsibility is necessary for effective governance to occur resulting from
division of labour. In this vein, I view these ministers, etc. as a clone of
the CLO due to them being their representatives in these ministries and
parastatals. To this end, whenever a minister fails, the president, etc. (CLO)
and not the minister gets the public backlash.
These said, for the
purpose of this work, the appointed representatives of the government in the
various ministries, parastatals and agencies will be referred to as the CLOs
shadows.
At all tiers of
government, there is need for those at the helm of affairs to be held
accountable for the mismanagement of tax payers money whenever there are wastages
comprising uncompleted capital projects that in no time get forgotten by the
government that started its erection to unnecessary appointments through the
creation of new offices and positions that are somewhat cloned from already
existing ones. Also, for the purpose of this work these wasted capital projects
will be repeatedly referred to as capital litters.
Such wastages are
rooted primarily in corruption arising from the disrespect of office by a large
number of these CLO shadows and the CLOs themselves which have for long
been a limitation to efficient governmental service delivery.
As the Chief Leadership
Officer (CLO) of a country, state, province, council etc, one is expected to
deliver as promised to the electorates, if not all but at least most of the
promises made when such individuals got begging for the need for them to be
giving a chance to lead. But sadly, such manifestoes and promises are usually a
deceit to have a “sure
bet” of getting into political power.
For a well meaning and
truthfully delivered manifesto, achieving all or at least most of the promises
is a hurricane task that when achieved, deserves a big commendation and heroic
praise by the populace whom granted the leaders political power.
With the help of this
work; “Accountability Directed Towards Efficiency in Government,” it
is high time the CLOs got their manifestoes effectively breathing.
THE
ECONOMIC TERRORIST
The economic terrorist
(corruption) has for long existed in the world and will continue to exist for
as long as the CLOs increasingly lack the required discipline towards efficiency
in governance. Though prevalent in other parts of the world, but in Africa such
indiscipline is widespread and sadly with the manner in which it is operated,
it gets the led perceiving it as being a “norm” of being in government. This norm
no
doubt has overtime in no small measure adversely contributed towards
the dwindling fortunes of most of the citizens (led) of the continent with the
CLOs and other appointed members of the government unfairly not distributing
the fortunes of the state but keeping it to themselves. For example, in Nigeria
there are so many uncompleted capital projects spread across the federation
which comprise buildings, roads, bridges etc which are found littering every
nook and cranny of the country. These capital litters which get
uncompleted as a result of corruption and embezzlement gets no one blamed but
the CLO in office or one whom was in office as at when these capital projects
were embarked on which in no time got forgotten before becoming capital
litters.
Due to the need of
corruption to be a thing of the past and the best of governance achieved, at
this juncture, I would love to commend the works of Transparency International
for the terrific work they have been remarkably doing since 1995 via its yearly
published Corruption Perception Index (CPI), which
has always been directed towards ensuring that corruption free flowing nations
take a U – Turn.
I reiterate, this work
is directed towards providing recommendations on how best to guarantee
efficiency in government and service delivery to the people which if
appropriately implemented will drastically reduce the corruption level in a
country and of course make the government that adheres to it an embodiment of
good leadership.
THE
NEED TO GET THE CLO SHADOWS EFFECTIVE
As a President,
Governor, Mayor or Leader (CLO) in a jurisdiction entailing an
office of political capacity within a geographical location, one appoints
individuals (CLOs shadows) to head various parastatals, ministries and
agencies. These individuals are most times employed on a short term basis,
usually pending when the CLOs feel they are relevant (either through good
service delivery or pending when such people are like) or at best the duration
of the CLOs tenure or time in office. For this reason, I believe that upon
getting to such “short term appointments”, the immediate psyche of a large
number of these CLO shadows is how best they can speedily enrich their pockets,
thus wickedly eating from the treasures of its office rather than the urgent
and primary purpose of having the privilege to serve in such a huge capacity
rightly implemented. This ill-psych which has overtime grown at an embarrassing
level accounts for why many nations of the world, notably in Africa are far
behind others. But dealing with these leadership deficiencies will propel the entirety
of African in all spheres of nationhood at a geometric progression.
Since whenever the CLO
shadows are found wanting for not performing as expected, either
through corruption or having a sleeping approach to effectiveness they most
times only get sacked without getting punished, with the failure tag given to
the respective CLO and not the CLO shadow in question, I opine that
it is high time these CLOs take action through tough,
stringent, though tasking and time taking measures which in the long run will
lead to the guarantee of the materialization of good governance.
In a report by nigerianbestforum.com
on 2 August, 2012; “no fewer than 37 contracts awarded by the Federal
Government for the construction and rehabilitation of roads valued at N308.13bn
have yet to be completed. These contracts were awarded between 2002 and 2010 by
the Federal Ministry of Works.”
In a similar report by http://www.punchng.com
on 29 February, 2012 “the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) condemned the high rate of uncompleted projects
in the country, urging government officials and corporate individuals to be
accountable while discharging public duties.”
From these 2 reports
above, it is evident that something is wrong somewhere that needs to be
addressed. Making these leadership deficiencies history is the primary goal of
this article.
EFFICIENCY
BY THE CLO SHADOWS: A guide to its materialization
It is high time all
these lapses and negativities to government efficiency are laid to rest
courtesy the following suggestions I put forward which should be strictly
adhered to and well oriented to anyone to be appointed to be the shadow of the
CLO;
1. Appointments should be based on merit
and not god fatherism or by who knows who. god fatherism appointments
encourage “no purpose appointments” which most times lead to individuals
with misplaced priorities expected to deliver which they usually don’t do occupying
public offices.
As against this, it is
important for the appointment to be guided by 100% credibility which would no
doubt ensure that their service delivery would be worth public celebration and
commendation.
2. The government
should convene a committee of experts and professionals (screening committee) to
look into the appointment of the CLO shadows. This committee will be tasked
with the responsibility of bringing forward the names of individuals with
proven credible pedigree that are best soothed for the various positions. For
every position, between 3 and 5 names must be put forward.
With the names
submitted, every appointee (minister, commissioner, thus CLO shadow etc) should be
invited to bring forward a blueprint to the CLO on his or her immediate or
short term plans (spanning from the time of assuming office to 24months
afterwards.)
This blueprint as put
forward by each candidate must include;
a1. a list of projects/ideas he or she would
embark on in his or her first year in office.
a2. the manner in which such ideas and
projects will be brought to life. These done, the candidate with the best performance
with regards to his or her project/ideas deemed best by the screening
committee would be put forward for screening to the legislative arm of
government. With the candidates going through the earlier screening phase; screening
committee phase, passing through the screening of the legislative arm
of government will be an easy task and a sure bet of appointment guaranteed.
NB:
if the above is embarked on, the following advantages accrue to the government
(CLO);
i. The CLO is guaranteed that it has
people that will deliver upon having the privilege to serve in such a capacity.
ii. The CLO will be well carried along to
know who is in line with his or her plans for the country, state etc.
iii. Unnecessary appointments will be a thing
of the past.
3. With the approval by the legislative arm of
government effected, the appointments of the CLOs shadows should be
probationary. I believe that the probationary prerequisite of these
appointments is the most important step to checkmating inefficiency and subsequent
embarrassing appointments that are capable of dragging the respective
government (CLO) through the mud as the inability of a CLO shadow to perform as
expected during the probation period will speedily lead to such deficient
member(s) of the cabinet speedily replaced.
4. A financial implication of projects to
be embarked on by the CLO shadow must be made available to the CLO for
approval. The essence of this is to avoid wastages and to get the head of the
executive arm of government within the jurisdiction of such public service
delivery well informed on the plans of his shadows, thereby weighing if funds
are available for such projects, rather than embarking in projects that will
not be completed due to funds shortages.
5. Also, there is need
to avoid the independence of these appointees. The independence of these CLO
shadows encourages corruption and a freedom to inappropriate actions
and abuse of office by a number of them due to the fact that they are not
timely answerable to the CLO until after a long period of
time.
Due to the fact that
the CLOs gets the insult for a mediocre performance and not the appointed
individuals (CLO shadows), I opine that the CLO should be well informed by
the CLO shadows on every project, prior to embarking on it and from time to
time, a progress report.
Upon the submission of
the anticipated project, the CLO should appoint a committee perhaps the Project
Evaluation Committee (PEC). The PEC will be tasked with the responsibility of
studying the plans put forward by the CLO shadow, thereby matching its
importance and relevance with the CLO goals and objectives.
Prerequisites for the
continuity of service or otherwise of a CLO shadow
With the CLO
shadow in office his termination of appointment and vice versa should
be guided by the following recommendations;
a. The CLO
shadow upon resumption of office must within a maximum of 9 months list
all deficiencies encountered and the requirements and steps he or she would
take to clean up the mess or deficiency.
b. ensure that he or
she has a zero tolerance on corruption.
c. ensure that his
service is guided by the blueprint he or she presented to the Project
Evaluation Committee (PEC).
Anyone who falls along
the way due to negligence or a deliberate and selfish action to flaunt the
above 2 stated prerequisites will not just be removed but made to face the full
wrath of the law, especially in the case of corruption.
6. The CLO of any country,
state, council, province etc should avoid unnecessary appointments that are
most times a duplication of one another. This lead to only a few of these
appointees (CLO shadow) working while many others are left idle. An
example of such well echoed deficiency that has for long been the order of the
day could be seen in the link as thus; http://www.nairaland.com.
In the link, a handful of the many unnecessary appointments were stated. Such
appointments in my opinion are simply disadvantageous to the economy of a
nation as it breeds wastages in government funds. For an efficient leadership
to be met, it is pivotal for the government not to make lousy appointments but very
reasonable appointments. Efficient leadership is not guided by numbers
(how many advisers, special advisers, senior special advisers or ministers etc.
one have) but quality (the rich pedigree the appointees have, no matter how few
they are for as long as they guarantee efficacy in government)
7. Also, the existence of many agencies and
parastatals with similar responsibilities should be well avoided. The existence
of 2 or more agencies providing broadly similar services promotes corruption,
inefficiency in government resulting from what I call “an unhealthy confliction of
duties due to the existence of cloned agencies.”
Also, as soon as these
projects are executed, the PECs are to have the responsibility of evaluating
the capital project thereby approving the project as being just perfect, having
met the earlier submitted blueprint prior to when the project was implemented.
It is no doubting the
fact that these recommendations would go a long way towards ensuring that
efficiency in governance is 100 percent achieved and the issue of mediocrity,
added to wastages in public funds are flushed out of the system.
These recommendation
though time taking, tough and tasking are the most healthy approach any
government can employ towards ensuring that it delivers not just as expected
but beyond expectation.
In my last words, accountability
directed towards efficiency in government at all levels can only be achieved
when the CLO is in full control of his shadows otherwise,
unaccountability and abuse of power will be the mainstay of the government.
These said, good
governance is a must for all nations of the world for it is the key to an all
round National and International recognition, respect and historical
significance in all spheres of nationhood and existence.
DISCLAIMER
Asides the 2 references which were used as examples, this work was
carried out by the writer without being researched. It is however pivotal to
point out that the points, suggestion, phrases and entirety of the write up are
stated from the ideas of the writer.
Plagiarism is utterly frowned at. If the words and illustrations
pointed out are to be adopted in subsequent works by other individuals,
encompassing an extraction or a further build up on this or in the course of a
lecture/seminar delivery, referencing the writer will be highly appreciated.
Thank you.
Taiwo, Kehinde Oluwaseyi (17 August, 2012)
References
Ademola Alawiye “ICAN
decries rising uncompleted projects” The Punch 29 Feb., 2012. 15 Aug., 2012. < http://www.punchng.com/business/money/ican-decries-rising-uncompleted-projects/>
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