Gradual killing of the system Eric Teniola SINCE the civilians took over government in 1999, we have had eight Inspectors General of Police till date. They are- Musiliu Smith (1999-2002), Mustapha Adebayo Balogun (March 2002- January 2005), Sunday Ehindero (2005-2007), Mike Mbama Okiro (2007-2009), Ogbonna Okechukwu Onovo (2009-2010), Hafiz Ringim (January 2010- 2012), Muhammed D. Abubakar (2012-2014) and Mr Suleiman Abba (2014- till date). A keen observer will note that in some cases, some Inspectors General of Police, even introduced new uniforms during their tenure. From 1999 till now, we have had seven Chiefs of Air Staff. They are Air Marshall Isaac Alfa (1999-2001), Air Marshall Jonah Wuyep (2001-2006), Air Marshall Paul Dike 2006-2008, Air Marshall Michael Oluseyi Petinrin (2008-2010), Air Marshall Mohammed Diko Umar (2010-2012), Air Marshall Alex Sabundu Badeh (2012-2014) and Air Marshall Adesola Nunayon Amosu from January 2014 till date. From 1999, we have had nine Heads of Service of the Federation. The post is a creation by the constitution. They are Mr. Abu Obe (1999-2000), Mahmmud Yayale Ahmed (2000-2007), Ms Obele Okeke (2007-2008), Ms Ammal Pepple (June 16 – June 15 2009), Mr Steve Oronsanye (June 16 2009 – November 15 2010), Prof. Oladapo Afolabi (November 16 2010 – September 2011), Alhaji Isa Bello Sali (September 30 2011 to March 2013), Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji (March 25 2013 to August 2014) and Mallam Danladi Kifasi (August 19 2014 till date). All things being equal, Alhaji Kifasi will retire in December next year when he clocks 60. He has served as a member of the governing board of the Central Bank of Nigeria. I am told that Alhaji Kifasi is highly imaginative and hardworking. Poor soul. According to the pioneer Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms established in February 2004, Dr. Goke Adegoroye who retired as permanent secretary of FCT two years ago, there are over 150,000 federal civil servants (Mainstream) as at now. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was established on April 1, 1977 as a merger of the Nigerian National Oil Corporation and the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel. It also supervises the upstream and downstream oil development and it is charged with regulating and supervising the oil industry in Nigeria. It has nine directorates. They are exploration and production, Refining and Petrochemicals, Commercial and Investment, Finance and Accounts, Corporate Services, Gas and Power, Engineering and Technology, Business Development. The corporation also has various subsidiaries, and from 1999 to date, we have had eight Group Managing Directors for the Corporation. From March 17, 2010 when he became acting President till he was finally sworn in as President, on May 6, 2010 following the death of his predecessor, five Managing Directors of the NNPC have served under the current President. Likewise the present minister of petroleum resources has appointed four group managing directors for NNPC since she came to the ministry on April 16 2010. From 1999 till date, we have had seven Chiefs of Naval Staff. They are Vice Admiral Victor Kare Ombu (1999-2001), Vice Admiral Samuel Olajide Afolayan 2001-2005), Vice Admiral Ganiyu T.A. Adekeye (2005-2008), Vice Admiral Ishayalko Ibrahim (2008-2010), Vice Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim 2010-2012, Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba 2012-2014 and Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe Jibrin January 2014-till date. All these appointments clearly define who we really are. These career appointments made in the last 15 years alone, have ceiling on the number of years one has to spend in the service before you retire or you are kicked out. In case of judiciary, seniority takes precedence. All the appointments were made by the President. In some cases, he made the appointments, in consultations with the National Assembly or the National Council of State. He does not need consultation before appointing anyone as Group Managing Director of NNPC, neither does he need to consult anyone before appointing anyone as Head of Service once, he is a Permanent Secretary. But there is nothing in the law or in the procedure of appointments, which says anyone less than two years left to serve, must be appointed head or anyone who is the most senior. And there is no law that says the President can not appoint someone that has at least four to six years to serve before retirement, so that he or she could carry out the necessary reforms before he or she retires. Changing service chiefs constantly, like we change police uniforms, is amazing. Why must a new President distrust serving service chiefs to the extent that he has to appoint his own, bearing in mind that since 1999 till date, only one political party has been in power in the centre. The problem now is that we don’t allow the system to grow. And a system does not grow overnight. It has to be systematic and gradual. If we don’t allow the system to grow, then we must expect all kinds of corruption, misconduct, irregularities within the system, hence the numerous gigantic and difficult problems that have now plagued us. •Teniola, a former Director at The Presidency, lives in Lagos.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 04:39:31 +0000
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