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20 June 2012
By
Abdul-Warees Solanke
On March 13th 2012, the Commander in Chief
and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr.
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan commissions Africa's largest
broadcasting infrastructure, the Voice of Nigeria's
multi-billion dollar new transmitting station in Lugbe,
Abuja, a project that its incumbent director-general,
Mallam Abubakar Jijiwa worked tirelessly to
materialize. Such a project under normal circumstances
of funding constraints in the public sector in Nigeria
could have become another white elephant were it not
for the tenacity of purpose and management sagacity
of Jijiwa in mobilizing both the internal and
external stakeholders to ensure that the transmitting
station is delivered on time in Nigeria's bid to meet
the digital switch over deadline of 2012.
With doggedness and carrying along the successive
ministers of information to whom he answered and the
national assembly too, he ensured that the Federal
Government, provided the necessary fund, put the
international contractors who handled the project on
their toes, worked ahead even of the local consultants
and experts and did not allow the project monitors and
liaison officers to have a rest until Lugbe became a
reality. The visionary in Jijiwa is the realization of
Voice of Nigeria's Transmitter Complex and Staff
Housing Estate so that Nigeria's Voice can be heard
more positively and clearly in the shaping of our
world in the digital age.
But Lugbe is not the first transmitter Jijiwa will be
delivering as a broadcast manager. Two decades ago, he
consolidated the activities of the Adamawa
Broadcasting Corporation into one house as he
superintended the construction of a new broadcasting
station and transmitter complex in Yola. Jijiwa, who
has also had the privilege of serving the Commonwealth
Broadcasting Association as its President for two
consecutive terms between 2006 and 2010 has also been
piloting the umbrella body of all broadcasting
stations in Nigeria, BON for the past eight years. The
beauty in the commissioning of Lugbe on March 13, 2012
is that it presented a unique opportunity to celebrate
the birthday anniversary of this humble and unassuming
public manager who turns 51 years on March 15, two
days after the historic unveiling the VON new
transmitting station . Only two years ago, he was
honoured with MFR award, for his unrelenting services
to the nation on the pedestal of public service
broadcasting.
I met Mallam Abubakar Jijiwa in 1990 while I was on
deployment to Gongola State as the Bureau Chief of the
defunct National Concord. What I found most profound
about him is his capacious intellect, cosmopolitan
outlook, humility and sense of direction. He was never
given to frivolity. Jijiwa at a relatively young age
of about 30 years then and being at the driver's seat
of a major public service broadcasting institution,
the GBC, I considered this as very remarkable. To me
then, he cut a perfect picture of a future leader in
Nigeria. Youthfulness was not a barrier to make a
difference in public service. But he was also not
given to partisan politics. His passion was public
service. For, he could as far back as 1995 have
ventured into politics, having served his home state
under the military regime, first as the secretary to
Fufore Local Government in 1986 and twice as
Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic
Planning. He just shielded himself from the lure of
politics despite pressure and temptations from those
who saw something in him to enter the race for
elective offices. Therefore since 1993 that he joined
Voice of Nigeria from the News Agency of Nigeria,
Jijiwa has dedicated himself to providing leadership
in public sector administration and management through
his services and engagements, locally and
internationally, in public service broadcasting.
As a student of public leadership and management, I
have closely monitored the Jijiwa style of leadership.
He fits into the transformational leadership style
grid. Public managers in their approach to management
can be scored on the parameters of effectiveness and
efficiency. The concern of those who adopt the
directive approach is effectiveness, brooding
no-nonsense, authoritarian, dictatorial, hard pushing.
Hence they often score low on efficiency, for, once
out of the scene, their followers relapse; those who
favour reactive approach score low in both
effectiveness and efficiency as they often lack vision
but are only driven by the tide; public managers who
adopt the adaptive approach, the typical Weberian
manager or administrator usually score high in
efficiency but are low in effectiveness because they
hardly think out of the box but restrict themselves to
the rule. Their concern, usually, is process while
managers who belong to the generative school score
high in both effectiveness and efficiency. They do not
think alone but inspire everybody in the team to think
and learn to provide solution. They are good at team
building and mentoring, motivating their team members
to achieve result, rewarding their performance and
investing in them.
Jijiwa is that type of manager and leader, able to
achieve result in the face of odds, able to inspire
ownership in his lieutenants, able to command the
trust and loyalty of his followers, able to actualize
a collective vision as in the delivery of the
monumental national asset of the VON transmitting
station at Lugbe, Abuja. There is no doubt Jijiwa is a
fine example in team building and talent management.
He does not look at what language you speak and how
you worship your God. His concern is the stuff you can
offer. He has a virtue in discerning and discovering
raw talents and potentials, burnishing them and
releasing them to unleash their intellectual and
professional worth. He is also unobtrusive as he
allows your ideas to thrive once it could benefit the
system. As a leader, he gives roomfor the managers to
manage, while focussing on strategic issues and giving
support and encouragement. He never discounts the
input of even the cleaner in the decision making
process.
The story of the Lugbe transmitting station is also
the story of how good succession planning should be in
the public sector. It is the story of clear
articulation of vision, of right selection of hands to
actualize a vision and of mobilizing all stakeholders
to share in the vision. The immediate past
directors-general of Voice of Nigeria, Mallam Yaya
Abubakar and Aremo Taiwo Allimi did not make a mistake
in empowering Jijiwa as a worthy successor to fulfil
one of their many visions to make Nigeria's voice to
be heard more positively in the shaping of our world
through the construction of the ultra-modern,
digitally compliant transmitter complex for VON to
meet the challenge of modern digital broadcasting.
In an era of austerity, envelope budgeting, budget
review, non-release of allocations or capital votes,
it might be convenient for many a public manager to go
to bed, sleep on the vision of their predecessors or
simply bore a tiny drain duct into their lean purses
claiming, we cannot perform because we are not being
properly funded. The delivery of this transmitter
project by VON with Jijiwa as its chief superintendent
is therefore a lesson in managing in financial crunch.
The realization of Lugbe is a clear epitome of how VON
has coped over the years with visionary leaders
steering its ship since 1990 when the Corporation
became autonomous and Mallam Yaya Abubakar was
marshalled from the Nigerian Television Authority to
lead the entity. It is also a case study of how public
managers can rise above boardroom politics to key into
the same vision as Aremo Taiwo Allimi in succeeding
Yaya in 1999 embarked on a revitalizing mission for
VON to bring verve to the efforts of his predecessor
who, understandably, was constrained in the last few
years of his tenure by the military regime's lack of
attention to the demands of VON as an international
broadcaster. Lugbe, therefore, is a reflection of how
successors in public officers, should commit
themselves to the realization or actualization of the
promises of their predecessors. In executing Lugbe,
Jijiwa did not discount the contributions and
expertise of all his predecessors and colleagues in
management. For their efforts, the jijiwa led VON
management has etched the names of these men in
history, naming major landmarks of his administration
after them. Today in VON, there is Yaya Abubakar
Penthouse and Yaya Abubakar Rotatable Transmitter,
Aremo Taiwo Allimi Recording Studio and Aremo Taiwo
Allimi Antenna Farm, Stella Bassey Studio, Eno Irukwu
Studio and Engr. G C Ugwu Transmitter Hall.
While providing the inspiration and leadership to
complete the project, he also ensured the project
implementation followed the due process by submitting
regular progress reports to the Ministry and the
Presidency, getting the relevant House Committees to
see the necessity of committing themselves to ensure
the VON transmitting station is not a white elephant,
abandoned at some stage because of lack of fund.
Lugbe is today an asset for Nigeria, a pride of Africa
and a broadcasting infrastructure of global
significance. It is an explicit translation of the
transformation agenda canvassed by the president. It
is the realization of vision of Nigeria as a global
leader in broadcasting. Mallam jijiwa had demonstrated
that leadership at the level of the Commonwealth
Broadcasting Association where he served two terms as
the president between 2006 and 2010 as he has also
been piloting Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria,
BON since 2004 to the satisfaction of all public and
private broadcasters in the country.
Today, the Federal Government is proud of its
investment in Lugbe achieved with the drive and
tenacity of Jijiwa. The Federal Ministry of
information and its officials are happy that one of
its agencies and departments is delivering on the
president's transformation agenda. The past directors
general of VON are satisfied that one of their visions
has been accomplished. The Management and staff of the
Corporation are also in celebration that their team
spirit produced a world class facility that will take
broadcasting to the next level in Nigeria. It is all
in the managerial acumen provided by Mallam Jijiwa,
the vision he has, the energy and the sleepless nights
he sacrificed to ensure that Lugbe becomes a reality
for Nigeria, for Africa and for the world of digital
broadcasting.
However, Jijiwa will not be in VON forever. But under
him as VON DG, an infrastructure of everlasting legacy
has been delivered for Nigeria and Africa. How this
asset is utilized and maintained by his successors
will be another lesson in public management. However
with the monumental transmitting facility of VON in
Lugbe, Nigeria is ready, meeting the deadline for the
digital switch over.
Ends.
Abdul-Warees Solanke, Head, Voice of Nigeria Training
Centre, Broadcasting House, Ikoyi Lagos studied Mass
Communication and Public Policy and writes via
korewarith@yahoo.com |
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