This government needs strong economic management team – NIM president

Jubril Munzali is the president of 55 year- old Nigerian Institute of Management, NIM. He told Daniel Obi in this interview that military incursion in to politics was the beginning of economic and political problems of Nigeria but believes in resource control and devolution of powers to states for efficient management of the economy. The Professor Emeritus demands that the Buhari government should set up a strong economic management team that would produce a blue print, which should be followed religiously.  Government should also reflate the economy to get things working. He also advocated for strong institutions. Excerpts
Being a management expert, how would you describe management?
Management is how to harness human and material resources to achieve organisational goal in a way that is efficient and effective and also bring satisfaction to all stakeholders.
Then, would you say that management skills are innate or acquired?
There are certain aspects that have to do with the innate qualities of an individual. For example, the genes inherited from your parents will determine whether you are a compassionate person or not. From genes inherited, some people would like to see other people suffer because they may have had a tough live. That one is innate and people can also be trained to be good managers. So, management skills are combination of the two. The way you see things has to do with your personality.
Then, what would you ascribe to the management challenges in Nigeria both corporate and national?
Some of the explanations would go the foundations of our culture.  The culture does not mean our traditional culture. What has come to be recognised as Nigerian culture because in the last 60 years, there have been a lot of changes in the way Nigerians behave.  In the first republic, the standards of accountability were much higher than now because there was no immunity in the Constitution for anybody and whoever embezzles government funds could be jailed and people were more careful. The attitude of our leaders and irresponsibility to accountability now has become part of the Nigerian culture.
What has suddenly happened and when did we get it wrong?
I think from the incursion of the military in to politics. It is very interesting that military itself was more accountable during the first republic. It was the same code of conduct that governed the civil service that also governed the military. So they were afraid of embezzling government money. But when they came in to politics and there was no power above them, they became a law on to themselves.  This made the military governor to see himself as be-all and end- all. This made him to deal with government property as he wished. And this trickled down. Unfortunately, they have left but they have left their mark on the polity because there is evidence now that even civilian leaders who never had anything to do with the military have imbibed the military style of leadership where the executive governor thinks there is no power above him.  This has painted a scenario where the state assembly asks for accountability and the next thing is move to impeach the speaker.
Does this mean that we have lacked leaders and good managers who could show the direction on how to manage the economy?
For instance, Shagari was accountable in government but you could not say so for his ministers and he did not control them. The distortion of the economy started during that time.  For instance, the Import Licence saga, which some ministers issued frequently against our foreign reserve. This led to austerity measures in his last years in government. The Constitution of 1979 gave executive powers to the President and to the governors and that was when corruption was let lose. After the second military incursion and we returned to Democracy in 1999, people have been out in the cold for too long and when there was opportunity to have some shelter, they just went haywire. The assembly at both the national and state levels that were supposed to check the executive became partners in crime. The chairman of committee in the House will be competing with his minister. That is why we have the padding thing and the politics in the Assembly.
Looking at the whole challenges of leadership and management issues, how do we then grow good leaders henceforth?
What surprises me is that those management experts and good leaders are there in the country; we have them all over but because of the nature of our politics that is too rough and too dirty for a lot of decent people. But if they are being invited, that will be good. Fortunately, we run a system where they can participate in governance without being politicians. If we work hard, we can identify them to participate in politics or governance and they will deliver.  But the problem is that before somebody reaches certain height in politics, he has acquired some IOUs. When he therefore emerges as governor, he has to settle the IOUs at the expense of appointing people on true merit.  In a situation we are in, we need technocrats and those with proven track record of integrity and competence who are not politicians. Our theme of NIM this year conference holding in Abuja this month, and revelations have emerged, indicating that Nigeria is in deep trouble.  We have not changed the system, arresting people and putting them through trials will not endure. Today, there is one man whose charisma is leading the crusade against corruption, what happens when he is not there? We need to change the ground rules, change the system so that people cannot get away with stealing. We need to build institutions and build a new Nigeria.
Would you therefore advocate for a national school where our leaders should go for training on management?
It may help but don’t forget that we have National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS. It was set up for exactly the same objective but I know a number of people who have been to NIPSS who are now behind bars. Nigerian character is funny but more importantly, the system allows you to get away with mismanagement.  Unless you step on big toes, build institutions, we may not achieve much. Now some people say that the President has stepped on too many toes, and that is why he is in trouble.  The economy has become really bad in the last one year. For instance, the Niger Delta Avengers acted with precision. Today we are losing some percentage of crude oil sales. Again, the forex crisis has led to super hyper-inflation. There is no Nigerian that is happy. The Niger Delta Avengers, IPOB and Boko Haram are all manifestations of mismanagement and corruption and it is because corruption is fighting back.
Talking about management, people may have been frustrated partly because government is not showing direction where it is going, what do you think?
I believe that this government weak link is the management of the economy. An economist observed that there are about 18 lawyers in this government.  Even people who should be managing the economy are not lawyers or other professions but economists. Added to that, there is no chief economic adviser or a strong economic management team led by an economist and that is where our problem is. Also there are a lot of vacancies that have not been filled.  If we are talking about saving money, how much is total package of a minister in a year compared to lost opportunities? Government can increase the size of the cabinet and bring outsiders to manage the economy. In as much as the government is fighting corruption, it should equally have economic team to manage the economy.
People are proffering restructuring as a solution to managing the economy, what is your view?
Restructuring means different things to different people. When Niger Delta people are talking about restructuring, they mean that mineral resources belong to the areas they are found and federal government would only collect royalty on them. This is resource control. But when people from the South West talk about restructuring, they want to operate, possibly with parts of Kwara and Kogi as one unit. This is okay for them because they are a homogenous group. This is similar to the South East.

The picture you painted is restructuring on the political side, what of restructuring on the economic side?
The incursion of military in to politics is the main part of our problems because their command structure is highly centralised. All powers emanate from the Supreme Commander and it trickles down and the people below have no initiative of their own.  Up to now, we have not come out of that structure. The polity has been militarised and centralised and the federal government has acquired too many powers. In fiscal federalism, they are getting lion share.  I am all for devolution of powers and in support for resource control. There was a report in Abacha time headed by late Abdulraman Okene, called the devolution of power committee; there were similar reports in the regimes of Obasanjo and Jonathan. We can now see how we can re-configure the federation to reduce the powers of the central government and devote more resource and political powers to the states.