AREGBESOLA’S STRATEGIC AND PERFORMANCE REPORT
As active citizens, we need to review the performance of government ministers bereft of propaganda and emotional partisan considerations and rather be driven by data and evidence. As a concept, performance management helps to define and measure the contribution of an employee to the organization’s business and provides clarity on the “Line of sight” of every member to the overall goals. As a process it helps to reconcile personal goals with organizational goals to enable achievement of strategic intent, purpose and ambition.
Rauf Aregbesola as minister of interior has proved that 21st century leadership is about strategy and innovation. Aregbesola has provided strategic and innovative leadership in the ministry of interior in less than one year in office. There are four main agencies and a Board under the supervision of the Ministry. They are: Nigerian Correctional Service (formerly Prisons Service), Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Fire Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, and Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board.
Do you know that the Ministry of Interior is vested with ensuring timely processing of permits for those coming to the country to establish businesses? Possibly not. Do you also know that the Ministry processes expatriate quota in line with the Executive Order on Ease of Doing Business? It equally is vested with easing of tourist visa, biometric visa at all entry points into the country, and many others.
So, how well has the Ministry fared in 10 months? The Cabinet listened, as Aregbesola reeled out the achievements, agency after agency.
When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Which was why the Minister took the key officers of all the agencies to a resort in Ilesa, Osun State, early in the year. The purpose was a Strategy Retreat aimed at aligning mandate delivery.
Within five months last year, the Federal Fire Service responded to 2,615 fire calls, saved 724 lives and assets worth N1.629 trillion across the country. We take things like this for granted, don’t we? May we never see the fury of fire, as it ravenously devours everything in sight with its furious tongues.
At least 3,000 Custodial Centers are under construction and in various stages of completion in the six geo-political zones of the country. It would assuage the problem of congestion to a large extent.
Custodial Farm Centers have been reactivated round the country for large scale agricultural production in piggery, fishing, cattle rearing and poultry. Tractors and harvesters have been procured to facilitate the work, and contribute to food security in the country. Trust President Buhari, any opportunity to feed Nigerians, he utilizes.
There’s rehabilitation program, aimed at reducing the rate of recidivism (that’s big vocabulary, which means going to jail again and again) by engaging inmates in both vocational and entrepreneurial initiatives. About 1,000 inmates were enrolled for the 2020 WAEC/NECO examinations, while the number of study centers of the National Open University of Nigeria have been increased to 10 across Custodial Centers.
The Border Management Strategy (BMS) has begun, and is being implemented at all international airports in the country. Management Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) is now deployed at all air borders. Very easy to fish out anyone with criminal records from anywhere in the world, attempting to enter the country.
Nigerian passports can now be applied for online, while there’s also Visa-On-Arrival with biometric features at all air borders.
At the social end, the statutory marriage process has been automated to make things easier. Young people must marry, mustn’t they?
The Federal Fire Service is now present in all states of the country, with 28 newly procured fire engines deployed.
Six new fire service training schools have been established across the geo-political zones to cater for human capital development needs.
Over 5,000 officers of the Civil Defence have been deployed to protect IDP camps, and re-occupy liberated towns and villages in the North-East.
The Ministry has trained and deployed over 1,500 personnel as Agro-Rangers in Yobe and Adamawa states, to protect farmers and their farms. This will eventually go round the country as required. Minister Aregbesola took questions, made explanations, gave clarifications, and it was obvious that council members were satisfied.
Called Ministerial Performance Report, it was something instituted last year to receive regular feedbacks from Ministers, to judge whether they were complying with the spirit and letters of the mandates handed over to them when they were sworn in 10 months ago. It is something like a peer review session, in which the President, the Vice President, and all members of the Federal cabinet would listen, dissect, interrogate, applaud or bash the Minister reporting, depending on performance.
CONCLUSION
A new paradigm shift of objectively measuring the performance of Ministers and deputy ministers is required to enable Nigerians as active citizens hold the executive wing of government accountable for their stewardship. Five key enablers will be required. Firstly Political will by the President to manage his ministers and deputies based on evidence not on propaganda. Secondly multilayered engagement across all sectors of the economy in the design, execution, monitoring, evaluation and learning and documentation of the entire performance management value chain. For example engagement with civil society, academia, business, donor community, general public at national, regional, district and community level will ensure an integrated approach towards managing the performance of ministers and their deputies. Thirdly there is need for rigor in ensuring the objectives for the Ministers and their deputies have a clear theory of change ie expectations of transformation or impact expected as well as consistent application of measurement tools devoid of partisan considerations. Fourthly boldness by the President to recognize outstanding performance and also address under performance firmly without fear or favour. Fifthly, the media must play a leading role in focusing discussions on the performance of Ministers on the substance and not the “sensational politics” of the delivery of performance objectives. As for political parties, I know they will simply do partisan performance reviews, we must not give such people air time to spew hot air – lets help the President to measure what was agreed to be delivered and let’s examine how it was done with evidence not emotions.
