FG spending trillions of Naira on fuel subsidy – El-Rufai

AHMED MARI,  Maiduguri

 

Immediate past Governor of Kaduna State Mallam Nasir El Rufai says the Federal Government has spent trillions in subsidizing petrol since the removal of fuel subsidy last year.

He also identified leadership as the bane of Nigeria’s development,  stressing that the country has all it takes to be developed like its contemporaries such as China, Malaysia, and South Korea but did do so due to the problem of leadership.

 

Delivering a lead paper at a capacity building workshop in enhancing the skills of government officials in policy implementation and productive human resources management in Borno held at the International Conference Centre, Musa Usman Secretariat Maiduguri on Monday, he said “Nigeria has always the opportunity to develop like its contemporaries but leadership has been the problem.

“Nigeria’s problem starts and end with leadership and to be a successful leader you have to operate as a team, set your goals, identify the problems to achieve your goals, allow for open debate before arriving on a decision, generation of options and monitoring delivery of policy “, he said.

He said: “I am a great supporter of State Police and restructuring. In 1960s Nigeria were in the same level of development with South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore but our major problem is leadership occasioned by series of polity instability.”

“There is no way that the son of political leader goes to school different from  that of poor person. We went to same school with the son of a then Governor of the Northern Nigeria. So the current trend has to change for us to get it right. So I urge all in this hall not to send your children to schools or hospitals abroad,” he added.

On the removal of fuel subsidy, Mallam El Rufai said “the Federal Government is spending N8 billion monthly in subsidizing petrol. If you want to know, the price of  PMS is supposed to more expensive than diesel but now Nigerian are paying more on diesel than petroleum “.

He said “whether Nigerians know or not, subsidy is back as FG pay more on subsidizing petroleum. Because after the removal government know the policy implementation has a problem.

He also said scarce resources, lack of trust from stakeholders, management of expectation, opposition, capacity of team , time and environment are the major problems of leadership in Nigeria.

El Rufai said for a leader to be successful, he should ensure quality education and legimacy, committed, develop policies and be pragmatic, invest in primary, secondary, tertiary and vocational education physical infrastructure, public service and market.

According to him, some projects need more than 5 years to be implemented, as such he is a strong supporter of 7 years single term for the President, Vice President, Governors, Deputy Governors and other political leaders.

Speaking at the occasion, the Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum said ” I  deliberately directed the Head of Service to invite all the top echelon of the service and indeed my administration in general to be the target participants at this workshop.

It is also interesting to note that the participants at this workshop i.e. members of the State Executive Council, the Special Advisers, Chief Executive of Boards and Parastatals, the Permanent Secretaries amongst others are the drivers of our economy in the state .

He therefore  urged the participants to ensure that the knowledge and skills gained today are reflected in the management and operations of their Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

“Before I conclude it is pertinent to reiterate that since coming on board my administration has attached the highest priority ever to capacity building across the entire operations and architecture of public administration especially in the civil service.

“We have always recognized the need to have in place competent hands in all sectors and across all the MDAS. From May, 2019 to date, my administration has introduced several new policies and reforms in the civil service to entrench competence and enhance productivity and align the operators to the global standard and system of doing things. We have introduced promotion examinations for all the civil servants in the state which is being applied as a benchmark for promotion”, he said.

“Today senior civil servants aspiring for the position of Permanent Secretaries in the State must first undergo tutorial and examinations to determine their academic and professional eligibility

as well as confirm their mental, physical, and managerial ability in particular. We shall continue to consolidate on these matrixes as the basis for a reformed, efficient, and effective civil service in the state, ” he said.

Zulum further  said  “my administration does not stop at the level of imposing rules and regulations but follow and balance all our policies and reforms with the provision of welfare, incentives and conducive working environment to our civil servants. It is on this premise that the State Government has remained committed to the payment of their monthly salaries and allowances. No civil servant is being owed any salary. We have also introduced other packages such as loans released through the NLC/TUC.

“We have introduced government-owned buses at subsidized rate that ply the roads through which civil servants and other citizens in the State use as part of our commitment to cushion the removal of petroleum subsidy which hiked the cost of all forms of transportation in the country. These and others we would continue to improve upon.”.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Borno state Head of Service, Barr Mallum Fannami said over 200 civil servants will be benefitting from the capacity building workshop from level 23 to 15 and a number of resource person’s, 10 directors will be sent for training and some Permanent Secretatries to National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies  and commended Governor Zulum for approving the trainings.

“The 5-day workshop is divided into two segments. The first segment which is today’s one is dedicated to

top brass government officials i.e. Honourable Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, Heads or

Executives of Agencies and Departments of Government, Chief Advisers and Special Advisers to His Excellency, Special, Technical Advisers, Heads of State Tertiary Institutions and, Local Government Chairmen., Barr. Fannami said.

He said “the other segment of the workshop shall commence tomorrow

16th April, 2024 and last up to Friday 19th April, 2024 and it has a target participants of 250 officers from Grade Levels 13 to 16

in the administration and planning cadre of the civil service.

“A good number of resource persons who are carefully selected will be presenting papers on the theme of the workshop,” he added.

 

The topic for Monday’s workshop is “Leadership and Public Policy:

Navigating Challenges and Lessons”. The lecture is to be delivered by a very distinguished Nigerian and quintessential public servant par excellence. He is His Excellency Malam Nasiru Ahmad El-Rufai, CON the immediate past Executive Governor of Kaduna State.

Your Excellency, permit me to digress slightly and seize this rare opportunity to share with you my modest experience about our lead presenter Malam Nasiru Ahmad El-Rufai.”

He also said “I had the rare opportunity of meeting him at close range under one roof listening to him during the joint Northern Governors Forum meetings with Heads of Traditional Institutions in the

region on two occasions under the distinguished chairmanship of then Executive Governor of Borno State, and now the Vice

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria His Excellency Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON when I was the Permanent Secretary Political and Cabinet Affairs and key member of the

Secretariat. His Excellency Malam Nasiru was then the Governor of Kaduna State.”.

He urged the participants to listen atentively to get the best out of the workshop, as papers will presented in various aspects of public administration and the public service.

In his key note address, the Chairman of the Borno State Civil Service, Alhaji Bulama Maki Gubio said ” public policy is the main dictionary of as civil servant, stressing that any government that toy with its public policy is planing to fail.

Dr Gubio said public policy is the main vehicle for the implementation of campaign promises of political leaders and that  every civil servant is very important in public policy implementation.

 

 

For a better society

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