The Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule has stated that people’s resistance to change is one of his greatest challenges.
The Governor made this assertion when he hosted a team from the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) at the Government House, Lafia the state capital.
Sule who had to quote a social psychologist Douglas McGregor’s Theory, said most people in the State do not want any type of responsibility. He frowned that the people are resistant to change.
The Governor said, “Working for several international and national companies prepared me and I was motivated to seek public office with a view to giving back to the society.
“Working with these global corporations and organizations and the preparations I received are some of the reasons why I decided that I wanted to go into governance of a young state like ours. To see if what I had learned, I will be able to give them back into the society.”
Governor Sule, however, regretted that becoming the Governor, people have resisted introduction of new principles. He said, I have been trying as much as possible to instill due process, which was the norm in most of the places that I worked.
“The big companies that I worked have a structure, they have a process, they have ways of doing things. They have due process. Most importantly, they have transparency. Those are the things that I brought into Nasarawa State,” he added.
He disclosed that on arrival, his administration passed the TSA to consolidate all revenue accruing to the State. This was in an effort to ensuring transparency.
“Then we introduced it through the House of Assembly. We came out with a law that established the Bureau for Public Procurement. Everything goes through the bureau to ensure it’s in line with the due process. In line with the law before it is brought back to me to sign.”
Sule, however, expressed concern that people don’t appreciate change even if it is for the better.
“I have heard these statements from some of my directors, permanent secretaries and some of my people who work closer to me. ‘Sir, this is the way we used to do it’. I have heard this many times. And I have had that resistance to change.
“That is one of the greatest challenges that you would come across. Because I came with a different concept, different way of doing things. Especially someone like me that never worked in government before. I just came in from my private sector, a JJC in government. You know you would have problems,” he stated.
The Governor also identified lack of resources as another of the biggest challenges. This given that Nasarawa is always second or third to the last when it comes to federation allocation.
He said, “Nasarawa State has lean resources. It’s always like second or third to the last when it comes to the federation account allocation. With all the ideas we have, we have inadequate resources to be able to support them.
“I also came with my own big problem. Not wanting to go and borrow. Because I hate to borrowing money from high interest paying banks to come and invest it into a non revenue service. You will take it and put it where there is no revenue to pay back.
Reacting to criticisms being bombarded on his government by some Nasarawa State indigenes, the Governor said. “They just criticize because they just want to criticize. I think you have plenty of them in this State. And I don’t know whether majority of them were sent from other States to Nasarawa State. And a lot of them are from my Local Government also.”
The Governor, however, acknowledged the relative peace in Nasarawa State. He said, “Though there were several other challenges, Nasarawa State continue to enjoy relative peace. This is because God Almighty God guided my administration. Everybody was invited through inclusive governance and at the end of the day security has been stable.
Sule explained that his vision is to see Nasarawa amongst the three most competitive States in the country.
The Governor lamented that it was disheartening that most people in the country see politics as a business and as a way of making money.
“The moment you have that kind of mindset that politics is business of making money, then your own success would be different from what I am talking about. You will make the money but you would be in trouble making the money.”
“You can be in trouble even without making the money. But you would be in bigger trouble when you come in with the purpose of just making money.
“I would advise them to go into politics with the intention to serve. With the intention to impact your skills or what you have learned into politics. And you are likely to make impact. You are not going to make everybody happy. No matter what you do, so many people would not be happy in politics. Do things that at least, you know your conscience is at rest,” the Governor stated.
source: Daily Trust
