At last, the National Assembly Service Commission, NASC, on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 confirmed Sani Magaji Tambuwal as the substantive Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), thus setting the stage for the consummation of a new epoch in the leadership of the administrative wing of the National Assembly.
Against the backdrop of his predecessor’s cocktail of administrative gaffes, and mismanagement of issues of workers’ welfare and expectations, Tambuwal is expected to be intentional or deliberate in reinventing the wheel and deploying the tone of his leadership to define his eon in the saddle, while moving swiftly to rebuild workplace confidence in the staff members.
In fact, consequent upon his appointment as the acting CNA, Tambuwal had in the last six months quietly laid out the administrative architecture that would feed into the disciplined implementation of his mandate deliverables. The flashes of his episodic interventions in those six months of co-existing with his predecessor, Architect Amos Olatunde Ojo, who disrupted the process by refusing to proceed on his obligatory three-month pre-retirement leave, clearly pointed in the direction of pro-worker welfare leadership.
That clear trajectory and his writ-large focus on issues that resonate well with staff members have become apropos in building a robust management-staff members’ relationship as well as providing the necessary leadership gravitas to consolidate on the same. Tambuwal must necessarily keep fidelity to the ideas and ideals that have made the workers to “canonize” him as one who would put a smile on their face(s) in the contemplation of management-staff members’ mandate deliverables. It is expected that both parties would double down for a more efficient and effective NASS bureaucracy.
Significantly, Sani Magaji Tambuwal is surefooted in his leadership strides. Amid initial doubts about his ability to perform creditably as CNA, he has evidently shattered the fear and surpassed the expectations of even his critics. He has demonstrated uncommon proficiencies in the implementation of his policies and programmes that straddle the entire ecosystem of NASS bureaucracy.
Remarkably, the Sokoto state-born technocrat and administrator par excellence continues to combine his unassuming mien with the solemnity of his office in the pursuit of some redemptive efforts to rewrite certain narratives that have assailed the image of the National Assembly management. He is, to put it differently, on a mission to rescue the image of the national assembly that had been battered and almost shattered under his immediate predecessor.
In clearer and more specific terms, Tambuwal, according to a grapevine, has committed himself to the pursuit of peace to create a conducive atmosphere that engenders productivity in a utilitarian modus. This neo-leadership approach has upended suspicion and bad faith in the workplace. Unlike his immediate predecessor, Tambuwal is a peace maker. His peace mission, as argued, was premised on the imperative of addressing “marginalization” and reaching out to the aggrieved to ensure that everyone is brought on board to work for the rebuilding and rebranding of the NASS bureaucracy.
Close watchers of the Tambuwal leadership who crave the building of legacies, have continued to assert that Tambuwal wears equity as his second garb and remains his guide in all he does while he is also committed to exorcise ethnicity and religion in the contemplation of both rewards and sanctions. In the corollary, he keeps strictly within the circumference of competence, seniority, and federal character in the workplace, the trinity that bolsters the work ethic in service.
Apparently versed and vast in the domains of finance and accounts of the national assembly, Magaji has brought to bear his experience and expertise in the administration of public finance in the national assembly by appropriately applying scarce resources in accordance with the budget.
It then goes without saying that as a prudent administrator, Sani Magaji Tambuwal believes in monitoring and evaluation of developments, programmes and policies in the national assembly through a mechanism which guarantees prompt service delivery of every work or project embarked upon. He is reported to have appreciated the need for everyone in the national assembly to be resourceful and efficient by bringing workable ideas and solutions to the table. Hence, he introduced a process where each directorate runs its affairs without any form influence whatsoever. He expects all Secretaries to the Directorates to provide a robust leadership that engenders taking responsibility for decisions and actions by the Directorates. This laissez-faire leadership is unprecedented in the context of very recent experiences.
Now, consider this move that has got the ecosystem of NASS bureaucracy excited: upon his assumption of office as acting CNA, he had taken significant steps towards clearing up some backlogs of allowances owed staff members by his predecessors. He ensured and has continued in that trajectory, that every kobo that belonged to staff members gets to them without delay. He is also making frantic moves to change the narrative by making sure that certain special entitlements of staff members are paid. In fact, his assertion, according to a grapevine, is commendable: he was quoted to have said that what was available was “not enough for the greed of a few but for the good of all.”
Apart from matters financial, the CNA has also made himself and his office open, yes, easily accessible for all, so as to be to get firsthand information and situation reports on some issues and development outside of the routinised official reporting lines. His relationship with the Parliamentary Staff Association, PASAN, receives a robust anchorage in this area. The interface between them has been quite salutary. There are cordiality and respect in their relationship. According to reports, he attends to them and tries to address their plights within the available means and resources.
A grapevine also recently hinted that the CNA has not discriminated against anyone, as yet, and that rather, he has tried as much as possible to carry everyone along, especially all his top management staff members and colleagues through constant consultations, dialogues and delegation of some kind of duties or responsibilities. This unique approach has helped to drastically reduce suspicions among them, hence creating harmony between and among management staff members and their subordinates.
In rounding off, with the inauguration of the 10th national assembly underway, Sani Magaji Tambuwal, has set up a team of seasoned bureaucrats to oversee the process, including induction activities, with a charge to them to ensure a hugely successful ceremony. And as the 10th National Assembly comes on board in June, Sani Magaji Tambuwal is poised to make sure that legislators enjoy unparalleled, effective, and efficient staff members and conducive environment to carry out their lawmaking function.
Without a doubt, Sani Magaji Tambuwal has his job cut out. Combining the legerdemain of an experienced administrator in the national assembly with the sharp focus, discipline, resourcefulness, diligence and pragmatism of a substantive CNA, who is in a hurry to write his name in gold and leaves his significant imprimaturs in the history of NASS evolution, he stands surefooted to fulfil his dreams. The CNA is certainly at the cusp of history.
▪Ojeifo contributed this piece from Abuja via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com
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