BY JOHN IDUMANGE
The Ijaw nation can only be placed on the fast lane of development if
we recognize the achievements of others, for failure to accord
recognition to achievers is the surest way
to minimize the role incumbents and by extension, it is the easiest way
to promote mediocrity and non-performance. In most organizations today,
this very vital intrinsic aspect of motivation is sorely lacking hence
management scholars often talk about work place spirituality to bridge
the chasm between the expectations of role incumbents and organizational
goals. Beyond the agitated realm of ideas lies the tranquil zone of
practical demonstration of leadership; and acknowledging the
achievements of others is one of the most significant qualities of good
leadership…….. Idumange John
The article below is culled from
an impartial analyst in the Niger Delta who made certain observations on
the Amnesty Programme.
What is Unique about the Amnesty Programme?
I was at the Omagwa International Airport Port Harcourt, waiting as
usual, to hear any announcements about either the arrival of an airplane
or delay in the arrival of a plane and maybe outright cancellation of
scheduled flights. While the waiting lasted, I overheard a couple of
people six may be seven persons discussing the peace and successful
strides the Amnesty Programme had achieved for the past one year. While
about five of them endorsed the programme as a huge success, one of them
bellowed “What is so unique about the Amnesty Programme, AP, and how is
it different from other development initiatives? One of the
discussants said since the baton of leadership changed, his initial
picture of the AP also turned from pessimism to optimism. I see the new
person as passionate and determined to improve the lot of the youths, he
said. Then the announcement came that we should proceed for boarding.
One lesson I learnt, which has remained indelible in my mind is
reaffirmation of the aphorism that everything rises and falls on
leadership. It also occurred to me that the most enduring quality of a
leader is to lead by example, which means having a feel of the people
you are leading, knowing their plight, feeling their pulse and then
understanding their psychology and instilling discipline in them. I also
pondered that if lions from the wild can be tamed and domesticated, why
not human beings – no matter the hostile. What raced through my mind
was the dexterity, the passion and the spirit of service he Hon.
Kingsley Kuku has inoculated into the youths. This is the never-give-up
spirit that will make all Niger Delta Youths acquiring skills in
Sri-Lanka, South Africa, Ghana, the Philippines, the United States of
America, Ukraine, Russia etc succeed.
Any close watcher of the
Amnesty Programme will attest to the fact that the impact of the
programme is felt even in the air. While I attribute the momentum of the
programme to robust commitment of the President Jonathan
administration, part of the success story is a function of the handlers
of the programme. I am told that no organization can be better than its
leader, and a good leader not only conceives a vision but evolves the
mission and strategy through which organizational goals are achieved.
Significantly too, the ability of the leader to develop strong
organizational culture enables people to buy into the vision and even
run with it.
Whatever gains that have been made in the Amnesty
Programme for the past couple of months should be seen as a vigorous
pursuit of the overall transformational agenda of the Federal
Government. The Federal Government has rolled out its economic agenda in
which N880 billion has been earmarked for power; N300 billion for roads
and N571 billion for investment in the oil sector. In his economic
transformation blueprint, priority attention is accorded human capacity
development; Information and Communication Technology and the
development of intermediate manpower.
I peeped into the mechanics
of the AP and identified some unique features, which are fifferent from
other programmes such as School-to-Land; National Poverty Eradication
Programme; the Graduate Employment Scheme and other failed national
programmes. The first unique feature is the emphasis on skills
acquisition. As the Chinese proverb rightly says “Tell me and I'll
forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.”
Past empowerment programmes never emphasized skills acquisition but
employment without skills and a tokenistic approach towards empowering
the youths, hence they failed and never endured. Those who conceived the
laudable programmes never considered any sustainability criteria.
The second unique element of the AP is that it is based on the
principle of peace and non-violence. The recipients received robust
tutorials on non-violence and how best to acquire skills to be relevant
the work place and the dynamics of the economy. One of the resource
persons at the Obubura Training camp Professor Uwazie, the AP is a form
of “peace education with social justice all around it” among students
in the country, promised socio-economic development and would solve
problems, added that it was also capable of inculcating leadership
skills in the Nigerian youth. Governance and leadership had been an
inherent problem among others in the Region, suggested that young
graduates should be given leadership positions at local, state, national
and international levels to display the peace knowledge they have
acquired” he said!
The wide scope of the training components is
also unique. The entire gamut of skills acquired by the recipients
range from Ocean diving in Sri-Lanka; under-water welding in Ghana; Boat
building and seafaring in the Philippines and piloting South Africa.
Some Niger Delta youths are undergoing their postgraduate courses in
Russia, Ukraine and the United States of America. A sizeable number of
youths have been sent to South Africa. A substantial number of youths
were also sent to Israel for agricultural training, India for ICT and to
Poland, for crane operation and pipeline welding. These are skills that
are of strategic economic interest, which the oil-rich region buoyed.
The fact that oil production has risen to 2.8 billion barrels per day is
an eloquent testimony that peace has returned to the hitherto
beleaguered Region.
On a conservative estimate, a total of 20, 163
ex-militants in the Niger Delta region have been trained at the
Post-Amnesty Training Camp and sent for skills acquisition. The training
package is holistic in that it provided recreational facilities for the
trainees, in addition to the existing ones.
More importantly,
of all the critical success factors, the human element appears to be
more pre-potent. The human element referred to here is the leadership
traits of the Hon. Kingsley Kuku. The Amnesty Chief performs four key
roles. Granted that his schedule of coordination and Monitoring is very
demanding, he forges the interpersonal relationship and ensures that
decisional premises are communicated to role incumbents across the
hierarchy of the organogram. This logically leads to the creation and
maintenance of interpersonal networks that facilitate the accomplishment
of goals. Hon Kingsley Kuku’s dexterity is such that he knows every
trainee in any country by his or her first name. This way, he builds a
very strong organizational culture, which serves as a linchpin for
building trust and growth.
Similarly, the Amnesty Chief dissociates
himself from minor functions except they are related to planning,
organizing leading and controlling. He is like Marx Weber of sort who
holds tenaciously to the tenets of impartiality. He does not interfere
with the functions of subordinates. Kuku has developed an uncanny
ability to understand and manage emotions in interpersonal relationship.
This of ossifies the bonds of trust and confidence among the workers
across hierarchy. In addition, the Amnesty Chief is imbued with high
analytical ability to solve complex problems. When this is added to his
emotional intelligence of cementing relationships, it logically follows
that he does self audit, self appraisal blended with superb
communication skills.
While I am not in the least ready to eulogize
Kingsley Kuku’s administrative abilities, there are some personal
qualities that make him these personal qualities are underpinned by
sound ethos. That is why the reward system is based on productivity,
performance rating and other competencies. I have understudied him and
my conclusion is that while his position as a former Law Maker provides a
very sound basis for his leadership role, he is also driven by an inner
passion- a passion to burst the performance ceiling irrespective of the
odds facing his projects. Career choice is also another gift. He does
not allow only the experts to do the selection; he gets himself involved
in choosing what is best for the recipients.
Perhaps the most
unique thing about the Amnesty Programme is that the helmsman runs an
open system, which provides a synch between the environment ala the
output, the process and the output. At the input end, the Amnesty
programme manages people money, materials and technology; these are fed
into the organization, the result is a work flow that, which is the
transformational process. The output we are expecting are the skilled
pipe-line welders, seafarers, marine engineers, boat builders, the ICT
experts, pilots and other skilled workers capable of manipulating
economic processes.
In summation, the Kingsley Kuku led amnesty
programme has rebuilt confidence in both oil-bearing communities and the
MNCs and this has redefined community development and governance. The
PAP has reduced vandalization of oil facilities and this has brought
about enduring peace in the oil-rich Region. The prevailing peace has
led to a steady increase in the Nigeria’s quota of oil production and
the culmination is the robust foreign exchange profile of the nation.
Investors are now comfortable of investment security and this will boost
FDI in the Region. The youth empowerment component of the PAP is
monumental.
In a dynamic global economy, I think and strongly so
that the Amnesty Programme constitutes a comprehensive model for skills
acquisition and capacity building in the West African sub-region, which
economies are lagging. Ultimately, the Amnesty Programme operators will
constitute the engine room for building skills and capacities. These are
the programmes and methodologies that make the Amnesty programme
UNIQUE. With the sustainability indicia ingrained in it, the Nigerian
Amnesty Programme shall be a toolkit for skills development programme in
continental Africa.
