Etokowo Owoh
ONE fundamental of a growing society is that it must continuously evolve. Evolution has two components namely, adaptation to change and the embrace of innovative models that signpost the change. Both can breed revolutionary organizations that walk the corporate world like colossus. The philosopher, Viktor Frankl, said that “between stimulus and response, there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom”. The creation of regional development commissions by the Tinubu administration seems to some of us a fitting response to Frankl’s philosophy. This is what strengthens our welcome of the South-South Development Commission (SSDC) with a wish that the corporate amazon, Ms. Usoro Akpabio, achieves resounding success as she begins to grapple with the transformation of the development-starved South-South region.
While we applaud Tinubu on this score, we must, however, be circumspect in some respects, noting that there is a world of difference between policy enunciation and implementation. Oftentimes, rhetoric overwhelms reality. And, until policies are matched with commitment to see their realisation, we cannot attain the level of macro-economic performance that guarantees sustainability. Most times, otherwise plausible policies get choked in the thorns of politics and a cobweb of several neo-partisan cleavages. The SSDC can bring a new and exhilarating development narrative to the region if its creation and management is a deliberate innovative dimension to Nigeria’s development dilemma.
As a development strategy, breaking Nigeria into development blocks could signpost a new paradigm in development administration. An administration where this multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multi-cultural country is broken into manageable culturally homogenous units for the purpose of ensuring that development aligns with natural existential inclinations. That way, proximate cultural units congregate under their common historical experiences to shape the dynamics of change. There could then arise healthy competition within and between regions, and serve as an in-built mechanism for inter-regional peer review. Under such an atmosphere, intra-regional synergies could be harnessed while dealing with duplications, which breed inefficiency in resource application. Thus, if the driving force is non-political, but largely developmental, if it is not ethnically or religiously induced, but culturally centrifugal, and if the core aim is to stimulate thinking, allow for resource aggregation, reduce waste, and a paradigm change, then it is not only warmly welcome but should be wholesomely embraced by all and sundry.
The crux, however, and particularly at this early stage, is the development methodology and managerial typology adopted, or adapted. The right admixture of these catalysts would usher in the much-needed accelerated development our people so urgently crave. Like the Holy book in Habakkuk 2:2-3 admonishes, we have to “write the vision and make it plain on tables, that he may run who reads it…..”. It would be exciting to see a South-South regional strategic plan, or development masterplan, document, that profiles the roadmap with tactical plans for implementation driven along sectoral lines but weaved together to form an organic whole. A 25 to 50-year development plan faithfully followed, but re-appraised within reasonable intervals to atone for changes in national and international macro-economic outlook would be a veritable bible for transforming the region.
Such a document should not fail to enunciate measures to aggressively stimulate human capacity development, particularly skills acquisition that would stem the tide of the current run away unemployment rate, real sector production, disruptive technology, creation of regional growth poles such as power generation, transmission and distribution, intra state tube system, enterprise villages, industrial parks, rigorous promotion of entrepreneurship and a most innovative SMEs development funding model. All these, or most of them conceived within a private sector context to guarantee sustainability. Put more succinctly, we are advocating the evolution of a progressive development agenda fulcrumed on the improvement of the material well-being of the people of the region.
One feature of Nigeria’s development experience since independence has been the continuous creation of a pool of the very rich who constitute less than 4 per cent of the population and the swelling of the ranks of the very poor which create grave danger for the country. This manifests in crimes and several other anti-social behaviours. It breeds a society of mad people; people who have become distraught as a result of human suffering in the midst of abundant human and material resources. Wherever such lopsided statistics exist, it is a clear indication of a defective planning model or a flawed plan implementation.
A new organisation, such as the SSDC, primed to negotiate a new development bend must avoid the pitfalls of the past which have landed us in this unfortunate trajectory. It must therefore devote greater time to planning and evolve detailed implementation strategy. Following therefrom would be spending time to develop an internal organisational dynamic – personnel and structure that will be capable of delivering on the plan.
This paper acknowledges the competence of the board and management of the Commission in their ability to bypass all the errors that have plagued previous organisations of similar persuasions. They can effectively fashion out a robust managerial template that would curb waste, graft, and incompetence. They should choose men and women of knowledge, experience, character, and attitudes that seek excellence as daily bywords. The SSDC should not clog itself with boated bureaucracy; rather, it should go professional, outsourcing some critical responsibilities to accommodate diverse competencies. As I often say, we must build from the premise of excellence, stay on the lane of excellence and strive to end at the bend of excellence. Many great organisations leverage their core values of integrity, innovative (disruptive) thinking, and value-for-money. Ms. Usoro Akpabio is persuaded to anchor her tenure on bequeathing an enduring legacy. Welcome on board the great South-South Commission top team.