Tasks For Rivers State Government

With the recent swearing in of Commissioners, advisers and personal aides and assistants, it is the expectation of Rivers people and those earning their living in Rivers State that the strains on the state governor would be much reduced. There is an old management axiom that a leader is at his best when people rarely know that he exists. This translates into the truth that effective delegation of activities to the ablest available hands is the hallmark of leadership.
What is known as “80:20 Rule” in management is based on the fact that routine or trivial operations can be handled by subordinate staff, while most important issues which are usually about 20%, should demand personal attention from the big boss. That method in management with regard to the art of delegation, is also known as ABC method, Pareto’s Law or Management by expectation (MBE). The boss should have time and privacy enough to draw inspiration from higher realms of consciousness. This is why self-effacement is recommended for serious-minded managers of human affairs. You see or hear them rarely, even in newspapers.
It was an emotionally- moving experience to find Nigerians of very humble backgrounds sweeping the streets of Nigerian urban towns, between 5-6.30am, Most touching was the sight of a woman, with a baby tied to her back, sweeping a major road in Rivers State.
It was hard to resist the urge to interview her, with the aim to hear the story of her life. Why sweep the street at 5.40am with a baby of less than 2 years old? What we are used to in Nigeria is a situation where those who lead in all spheres of life create maximum zones of comfort for themselves, but rarely know the plight of the voiceless sections of the people. An elitist political leadership is the kind that would pontificate and ask public servants to give maximum service, even without caring to know what long distance the obedient servant travels to get to work. Talk about social welfare system in Nigeria and what would be put in place would be a corruption-ridden sinecure and patronage system to woo and catch political support.
As commissioners visit various ministries, departments and agencies on familiarisation tour the message which they carry along is usually the plea for hard and dedicated services. Some can even issue threats such as: “Anybody not ready to work can resign, because there are many looking for the opportunity to find a job.” Hardly is there the empathy that can create a rapport between servants and masters, in the course of visiting and relating with the people who keep the economy going.
Therefore, one vital task for the Rivers State Government this new year should be to create a rapport with civil servants which would promote empathy and understanding. In the first place, the state of the economy is so harsh that some thought should be given to the plight of the wretched of the earth.
Using the example of a street sweeper who had to do her job at 5.40am, with a baby tied to her back, it is possible she can be given a query or sacked if she does not do her work. But who gets concerned if the child she takes to work gets ill and demands medical attention? Did anybody give her and her baby any hampers or chicken last Christmas? Rather than shout at her for some little infraction, does anyone show concern about how she lives with her family, perhaps in a batcher?
Political administration is not all about contracts and project execution, but more relevant in the area of human capital concern. It is a valid motivation theory that people that put in their best if they are in a state of happiness. A major factor which creates happiness in people is concern, not threats, pontification or promises. People notice quite easily when someone shows genuine concern about them and their affairs; and they appreciate that better than bureaucratic cosmetics. Appreciate little things!
In Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, a leader, Duke Vincentio, disguised as a Friar or priest and pretending to have travelled, was able to know the degree of hypocrisy of his officials and true state of his domain. In politics, good intentions, policies and programmes of a leader can be distorted, ruined or misrepresented by officials working for him. It is not a wrong practice to put subordinate staff to tests, occasionally. Some rarely stand!
Ugly names which some leaders are called often come from the activities of those working with and for them. Duke Vincentio’s strategy enabled him to know that people can be pretentious and hypocritical, including those who appear sanctimonious and strict.
Among those who damage the names and intentions of leaders are contractors who are usually political wheeler-dealers. Such contractors may not be involved in project execution, but being high patrons and party giants, they constitute what we know as the cabal in Nigerian politics.
A task for Rivers State Government should include ensuring that government is about people and people-oriented, rather than serving put the well-being of the people as vital concern. When an administration invests in power rather than people, what dominates activities and policies would be ego.
Nigerians are intelligent enough to know when a government is a caring one, because this translates into a state of happiness which promotes patriotism. When the people are happy, government would have less problem of security and there would be no need to spend money to buy the goodwill of the masses.
Obviously, managing people and public affairs are very vital and serious responsibility for which the prayers of the masses can achieve great results.

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