One thing that has become a refrain in Nigeria for decades is that our country has never been in short supply of beautiful policies. What seems to be preponderance of views is that our national development was short-circuited as a result of policy inconsistencies and poor coordination.

President Tinubu wants to address serious governance issues that have combined to stunt and distort economic growth for many years with the appointment of Hadiza Bala-Usman, former Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, as the Special Adviser on Policy Coordination. Usman is a very competent and strong-willed woman, who has already set out to deliver on the core objectives of her mandate – to ensure that government and governance deliver value to the citizens.

There is no doubt that the policy environment is fragmented due to many reasons. One of them is that senior government officials fight for turf, instead of working together in synergy.

In the next four years and possibly beyond, the Tinubu administration’s eight priorities will be food security, ending poverty, economic growth and job creation, access to capital, security, fairness and rule of law, fight against corruption and social inclusion.

The other reasons are corruption, personal interest at the expense of public good, misalignment of priorities and lack of effective monitoring and coordination. The office of the Special Adviser will now strengthen the presidency to ensure clarity on all President Tinubu’s priorities areas across MDAs and also set performance benchmarks for quarterly reviews for ministers. President Tinubu, at the inauguration of his Ministers, was emphatic when he told them that his administration carries the burden of expectations of over 200 million Nigerians, who will not accept any reason for failure.

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The government has embarked on economic reforms that have been hailed across the world, even when it also brought some initial pains to the people. The task before the office of the Policy Coordination is to now ensure that through efficient service delivery, Nigerians get the gains of the economic reforms.

In separate interviews with Bloomberg and TVC, Usman revealed that all Ministers in President Tinubu’s administration have a shared understanding that they will sign a performance bond with the President, which will be their social contract, on the basis of which they will be appraised every quarter.  She also stated that the Ministers will have to take full responsibility for the optimal performance of the government agencies under their supervision because there will be Key Performance Indicators and consequence management framework for all appointees who fail to deliver.

Essentially, the role of the Special Adviser on Policy Coordination is to ensure that government policies and programmes run seamlessly across Ministries, Departments and Agencies. The Special Adviser has started her work with tripartite engagements and briefing sessions with every Minister to let them understand that while there are policy deployments across MDAs, the Ministers must ensure expected deliverables are met. In her interview with TVC, Hadiza revealed that the assessment of ministers will commence in January 2024.

She said: “We are going to have a cabinet retreat in November with Mr. President. In the end, this would culminate in the performance bond that will be signed by each ministry. Every Minister and the Permanent Secretary would sign a performance bond with the President, which would detail what they are expected to do within the one-year 2024 budget cycle. One thing we are keen to ensure and Mr. President has clearly given us that directive is that performance is a very important thing. He has made a commitment to Nigerians and that commitment is what he is going to ensure is delivered by his respective appointees.”

Essentially, the role of the Special Adviser on Policy Coordination is to ensure that government policies and programmes run seamlessly across Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

In his address on June 15, during the inauguration of the National Economic Council, which is constitutionally  chaired  by Vice President Kashim Shettima, President Tinubu succinctly captured the philosophy that will drive  his administration.

This he summed up in his mission to “improving the lives of Nigerians in a manner that not just reflects our humanity but encourages compassion towards one another and duly rewards our collective efforts to resolve social ills that seek to divide us.”

In the next four years and possibly beyond, the Tinubu administration’s eight priorities will be food security, ending poverty, economic growth and job creation, access to capital, security, fairness and rule of law, fight against corruption and social inclusion.

*Ajayi is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity

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Dr. Bolaji Akinola’s “Hadiza’s Book of 99 Errors,” syndicated in the media last week, is an unmitigated let-down from a man of the author’s status and standing in the maritime sector.

Although he exposed his mission by describing the book as “Hadiza Bala Usman’s polemic” at the beginning of his piece, one expected more from a self-confessed industry stakeholder like this media consultant.

Akinola, who holds a master’s degree in Transport Management, is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Shipping (NIS) and a Fellow of the Certified Institute of Shipping of Nigeria (CISN). He also consults for leading maritime companies and should be able to provide quality information that confirms or contradicts the important points that Bala Usman raised in her book. But what do we get? A treatise on the construction of English sentences and whatnot!

That is not to dismiss the fact that the proofreading of the book could have been better. However, a stakeholder who has constituted himself into an essential factor for industry players (except for Bala Usman), should be more concerned about the issues. Unless, of course, there are some other motives.

The hypocrisy of Akinola’s attempt to diminish what Bala Usman’s book will contribute to public service is his inability to avoid errors in his 1469-word article. I will give only two examples.

Akinola identified tautologies in Bala Usman’s book, yet the knowledgeable one could not save himself from the same error. In the second paragraph of his article, he wrote: “the book, I must point out, is REPLETE (emphasis mine) with MANY (emphasis mine) errors…”This doctor of letters should know that “many” is redundant in this context!

In the second to the last sentence of paragraph 13, he wrote: “Clearly, the word “date” should have “dated.” The word “been” is missing between “have and dated” in that sentence. If Akinola could not keep a copy of less than one thousand, five hundred words clean, what justification does he have for attempting to impugn an effort that goes into tens of thousands of words? None, except that petiteness and self-interest push people into errors of judgement. And there were no 99 errors in the book. This was just bait. However, even if there were as many errors, Akinola should know two things. One is that no one is above errors, and two, some issues he raised could be a matter of style, which the English language permits if used consistently.

Regardless, Stepping on toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority bears more importance than the grammatical errors.

Bala Usman has clarified a few times that the principal reason for writing this book was to show Nigerians that the allegations of the non-remittance of N165 billion in operating surpluses into the Consolidated Revenue Fund account of the federation were false.

She made this clear and quoted references showing that the allegation upon which the former Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, got President Muhammadu Buhari to approve her suspension was not included in the Terms of Reference of the Administrative Panel of Inquiry, the minister set up. This implies that Mr. Amaechi only manipulated the president.

As Bala Usman said at a recent event in Lagos: “clearing my name was more important than preserving myself. That is the decision that I took. If anyone felt differently, they should also write a book to explain their position. But for me, I have written what transpired and what I feel is important for Nigerians to know. It is like self-preservation versus clearing my name. I cannot be in every living room where they are passing stories about me. I can’t be in every restaurant, bar or party where they say that Hadiza was removed because N165billion was missing. So, I felt it was important to put it in this book and provide clarity. People now know what happened because there is documentation. I encourage those who have contrary views to present their own versions with documentary evidence.”

The author also established the failure of the former minister to conform to the laid-down procedure for disciplining Chief Executive Officers of parastatals, agencies, and departments of government.

The book also showed the attempt by companies like Integrated Logistics Services (Intels) to circumvent the government policies, and how her administration at the NPA combatted these hitherto untouchable entities.

In addition, Stepping on toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority exposes the exploitation of the resources of Nigeria by business interests that capitalise on certain loopholes in our laws in connivance with some government officials.

The book presents a window into the pervasive misunderstanding of the essence of public service by those who hold offices in Nigeria, as well as a lesson in the ideals of such responsibilities. It is a call to the importance of transparency, accountability, and probity in the execution of public responsibilities and how these factors ultimately affect national development. The errors Akinola pointed out, regrettable as they are, cannot obliterate the essence of this all-important contribution to good governance in Nigeria.

*Sodiq wrote in from Abuja.

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Bala Usman will be speaking on the topic: On the way to mastery: The experience of a Nigerian woman.

Other speakers at the two-day event with the theme: “Moving To Mastery” include: Mr. Idoroyen Enang of Corporate Shepherd; Mrs. Mary Laniyan (Ovilan Consulting U.K); Mrs. Kofoworola Olaosebikan (Kofsol Group); Mr. Lere Baale, Chief Executive Business  School Netherlands;  Mrs. Funke Nnenna Micheals Kenya; Mrs. Sinmi Sowemimo of Ope Farms; and Ms. Magarita Lalayan from the International Labour Organisation.

According to the chairperson of the planning committee, Mrs. Bolanle Edwards, the annual event is targeted at the members of the network as well as the larger community of women entrepreneurs will hold real-time virtually, first of its kind.

Edwards said that every succeeding summit is always an improved version of the previous and this year edition will not be an exception despite the challenges of COVID-19.

She charged participants to prepare themselves to maximise the opportunity, the learning, and the exposure “Moving to Mastery” offers.

Speaking earlier, president of the association, Mrs Funmilayo Arowoogun, called for the implementation of policies that make loans available and accessible to women in business as this would help them flourish as female entrepreneurs.

She noted that in the 15 years of existence, NNEW had noticed that lack of access to such facilities was one of the factors militating against female entrepreneurs.

Arowoogun said: “A woman that is empowered and able to do her business well is an employer of labour. She helps to provide job security and also contributes to the Gross Domestic Product of the country as well as reduce the gaps in employment margin.

“However, the ease for women to do business is not encouraging. Access to funding is a major issue faced by women in business.  During the pandemic, we heard about funds being released here and there but most times, the money doesn’t get to the women. Even when the funds are provided, most of the women still do not have access.”

The NNEW president added that a lot of women are doing their best and many of them are shattering the glass ceilings, however, it would have been better if the government came up will less strict rules for women in terms of getting loans.

She added: “If the government both at the federal and state level can make access to funding especially loans very easy for women by reducing the protocol involved in getting these funds, it will enable women to have flourishing businesses.

“When you empower a woman, you are not just empowering her, you are also empowering the Nation.”

The president said women have done well for themselves in business, they, however, need to do more in order to master their businesses and be on top of their games if they want to remain relevant in their industries as entrepreneurs.

Mrs. Arowoogun explained that the last fifteen years of the network had witnessed major transformation beginning from the pioneer members who had grown their businesses to an enviable height within the business community; major achievements by successive leadership; and the current leadership and members who were doing well and making an impact in their entrepreneurial journey.

She noted that NNEW which was birthed in Lagos currently had five chapters in four geographical spread across the country namely, Lagos, FCT, Rivers, Ogun, and Kwara.

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