Leaders who hate criticism can’t make progress - Ex-CPC gov’ship candidate
Lawal Itopa Lamidi was a governorship candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Kogi State. In this interview, he speaks on the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari so far, the 2018 federal budget, insecurity and unemployment
President Muhammadu Buhari has spent over two years in office. What is your impression about his performance so far?
If you ask me to rate my leader, you would be putting me in tight situation. President Buhari is a man of integrity and a man I so much cherish. He has demonstrated good leadership qualities. Remember this is a man who has been down with sickness for some good part of the two years of his administration.
He has done pretty well given the situation he met on ground when he came to power and vis-a-viz his health status. On some of those key areas where he has high level of competence, especially in security, we have recorded great improvement. He has also done a lot in his fight against corruption.
So in my own assessment of his mid-term scorecard, he has done excellently well.
The President has presented a budget of N8.126 trillion for 2018 fiscal year. Do you think the budget projection is feasible?
Our budgeting processes have actually improved through the use of what we call Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) where you actually budget for the next three years. The three-year-budget provides the basis for the yearly budget. You can also see that oil price has improved. Currently, it has actually increased to about 64 dollars per barrel. It means that the revenues of government would be enhanced. Government is also looking at ensuring that those companies that have actually not been paying taxes are made to pay taxes through a new scheme it introduced. This is to ensure that those who are not in the tax net are brought in and this would further improve the revenue.
Government is also doing a lot in the areas of probity and accountability and one of the things the current government has actually done through the Minister of Finance is that they have brought many agencies into the government integrated financial management system. The Treasury Single Account (TSA) has been able to save about N3 trillion for Nigeria so far. That is another source of funding for the government.
Many states in the country today are finding it difficult to pay workers’ salaries. What do you think is the way out?
I must say here that in the two Holy Books, it is stated that when someone works for you, you should pay that person. When you pay your workers their salaries, it will touch on the entire lives in the state. First, how did we get here? I am advocating that our political leaders should use common sense management system which is a technique that addresses the root cause of a problem rather than the symptoms. We are not getting more money from the Federal Government again. Why should you have depended solely on the Federal Government to pay your workers in the first place? You should generate enough revenue internally to meet such need.
There are various areas of expenditure but workers remain the greatest asset any government can actually have because they are the most active agents of development. When you pay your workers well and on time, they will continue to help the system move forward. Again, the kind of salary structures we have in the public service need to be overhauled. You cannot have a situation where there is no standardisation of salaries.
You have a situation where in the civil service, your remuneration and promotion is based on qualifications. But it’s not so with our political office holders.
What makes all the governors to be earning the same salaries? Do they have the same experience? Are they rendering the same quality of service to the people? There are issues of salaries. But the government should learn to dialogue with labour and should not be confrontational.
Looking at what is happening in my own state in Kogi, I have counsel for three levels of people; for the government, it should continue to dialogue with the labour; the union people should also realise that the resources of the state are no longer what they used to be and that is why they must have to show some understanding.
Those in government should not regard every criticism as being against them. In fact, if you are in leadership and nobody criticises you, you cannot make progress. When you are in leadership, you need to humble yourself.