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AANI/NIPSS contribution to the Nation
Being paper by Nat. M. Adeyemi, PhD, mni The National Institute was not a child of circumstance.
It was deliberately created by the Obasanjo administration in 1979 to achieve a defined set of objectives which were designed to enhance the quality of decision-making and policy execution, among other noble
expectations. Since then, the Federal Government has given so much to the institute to enable it deliver on its mandate. The adequacy or otherwise of the investments has been discussed in previous chapters, and
therefore will not bear further repetition here. The fact remains, however, that government has been investing in the institution's upkeep since its inception, and that it will continue to do so in the years to come,
and for as long as NIPSS remains relevant to the realisation of the nation's development goals. It is only natural, therefore, to discuss what the National Institute has contributed to Nigeria's development efforts in
the course of performing its contract to the nation. After all, and in the words of that old adage, to whom much is given, much is expected. In this light, it makes good sense to establish the current position of the
National Institute in the nation's march to greatness by discussing how much the country has got in return for its investments on NIPSS, and therefore, whether or not Nigeria should continue to place very high premium
on the Institute.
The need for this discussion is very compelling especially when one remembers how the generality of Nigerians perceive the Institute. As we noted in Chapter Two, some people perceive it exclusively
from the standpoint of its training functions for which they have tended to characterise it as the university of the elite. Pictured in that mould, it has been difficult for such individuals to fully understand, or even
appreciate, how meaningful the Institute is to the process of undertaking activities which are aimed at improving the quality of life of the entire citizenry. This is not a surprise because, apart from the fanfare which
usually attends the graduation and similar important functions which are held by the Institute, the ordinary Nigerian is pretty oblivious of the impact of the activities of NIPSS on his/her life. Indeed, it can be said
that the most direct impact of the Institute's presence on the standard of living of the people who reside in the villages within its geographical location is the satellite programmes which those of them who can afford
television sets receive in their homes. This access to information, education, and entertainment, over and above the regular broadcasts by the national and state television networks, provided courtesy of the Institute's
facilities, is a recent phenomenon which dates back to 1992. The only other direct benefit which the citizens in these adjoining locations derive is the employment opportunity which the institution, like any other
establishment or organisation in the country, offers the citizen.
More intriguing is the fact that even some members of the informed public which comprises the academia and opinion leaders in both the public and
private sectors of the economy also question the role of NIPSS in national development. The limited exposure exhibited by this group about the position of the Institute in the nation's development arrangement is
reminiscent of the misgivings and fears which have tended to diminish the singular honour and pride of place conferred on the individuals who are nominated to participate on the Senior Executive Course programme. These
misgivings were discussed in some detail in Chapter Two. It is not uncommon, therefore, to find some enlightened members of the Nigerian society ask their colleagues who work in NIPSS what the Institute is doing about
solving national problems. These questions come more readily especially during crisis situations. Such individuals believe that as the brain of the government, and an institution which commands the attention of
government at all times, the Institute should be in a position to tell government what to do on virtually any issue of national concern in view of its wide and all-encompassing mandate. And when things do not go
according to their expectations, such people are quick to conclude that NIPSS has failed in its role as the nation's think tank. Such contentions will be dismantled as the discussion of the relative contributions of the
Institute to government's development efforts unfolds in the rest of this chapter.
Suffice it to observe in this introductory portion of this chapter that the National Institute's contribution in support of
government's efforts to achieve a better society for all Nigerians will be discussed from two major perspectives, each of which can he described as a direct return on investment. Indeed, the two perspectives constitute
two sides of the same coin, and to that extent, they can be regarded as mutually inseparable. The first of the two perspectives stems primarily from the process of accomplishing the objectives and functions for which it
was established. The other perspective emanates from the positive influence which the highly placed men and women who have had the rate honour and privilege of benefiting from the Senior Executive Course programme, have
had, and are continuing to have on the management of the economy. This return-on-investment approach to a discussion of the Institute's role in, and therefore contribution(s) to Nigeria's drive towards achieving a
better society is a natural expectation. This is more so because it provides an unquestionable rationale, as well as an economic argument for government's continuing support for, and funding of the Institute such that
it can give of its best to the nation at all times.
The journey so far on the home front
Each year since its inception in 1979, the National Institute has graduated a set of senior Nigerians from different
sectors of the economy after a course of instructions and exposure, which are carefully packaged into the Senior Executive Course programme, which is administered by the Department of Studies. At the end of the
course, successful participants are awarded the Member of the National Institute (mni) certificate. As we noted Chapter Two, 690 such individuals have been the proud receivers of this award as and of 1995 with the
running of the seventeenth Senior Executive Course. At the end of each course, the distinguished ladies and gentlemen participant return to the various sector of the economy from which they came into the course, with
renewed intellectual and energy and self-confidence, to function once again in commanding positions as policy makers and executors. Some of them who served in such positions in the public service before, and who for
some reason have found their way into the private sector to swell the number of colleague in that sector of the economy, do so with so much value added to their performance capability. All these ladies and gentlemen
return to their respective commanding position within economy after their sojourn in Kuru fully equipped with a conceptual capacity which gives them a better and full appreciation of the country. Each one of them the
leaves the programme with new, or refreshed approaches to issues of national development. The new knowledge gained in this process is the result of the considerable time and energy spent during the course
brainstorming to develop improved perceptive to such issues different from those with which they were associated before coming to Kuru.
Indeed, with the graduation of each Senior Executive Course, the Nigerian
decision- making apparatus is enriched by a leadership corps made up of a group of individuals with a mutual understanding of, and therefore approach to national issues. Their perception of, and orientation to
socio-economic and other issues of development have been elevated to a level free from any political, ethnic, religious, social, or economic colorations and allegiances. In so far a." they are concerned, reality
and the national interest constitute the name of the game. Thus, as the graduates of each course return to their respective positions in either the public or private sector of the economy, the nation's
capacity for decision- making has been further fortified and raised to a higher plane by these individuals whose conceptual capacity for strategic thinking has been expanded by the content and quality of the course
programme. They come away from Kuru with a highly-sharpened development focus, a renewed or higher sense of development consciousness, and a reinforced capacity for result-oriented management.
In short, this annual
addition to Nigeria's policy-making machinery is one unique contribution which the National Institute has continued to make to the country in the process of performing the noble objectives and functions for which it was
established, and which are clearly stipulated in Section 3 of its enabling law. There is yet another significant dimension to this contribution which must not be glossed over. It may look rather obvious, but when viewed
within the context of nation-building, it is both important and rare, In the process of the course programme, the ladies and gentlemen participants forge new bonds of friendship. They develop new, associations which cut
across all previous old boy/girl ties to the extent that the Alumni Association of the National Institute can be appropriately described as the Association of Association. When all these new friendships and associations
are coupled with the type of attitude and perspective which they share towards dealing with national problems, the country ends up with coins which cannot readily melt away in her search for nationhood and
survival. Such a contribution to national development is not only unique. It is also not easy to come by.
Another major contribution of the Institute to the nation lies in the very high quality of input, which its
graduates bring into running the economy. This contribution derives naturally from what has been stated in the foregoing paragraphs of this section. It is correct to conclude, therefore, that by virtue of the high
places which the alumni of the Institute occupy in the national scheme of things, the actual shaping of national policies is largely in their hands. This assertion should not be overstretched, misconstrued or
misinterpreted to mean that national policy formulation is the exclusive preserve of this group, or anybody associated with the Institute for that matter, as some people are inclined to argue. What is being emphasised
here is that the senior managers of the economy who have passed through NIPSS leave thc institution with a quality of mind which enables them contribute to the policy formulation and execution process inspired by a
greater appreciation of national problems which lead them, more often than not, to adopt common positions on such issues.
The significance of this qualitative contribution by the Institute to Nigeria's socio-
economic and related development, through the Senior Executive Course participants, is aptly captured by the following observation credited to retired Major-General T. B. Ogundeko, the first Director-General of the
Institute. He said that:
When you look at some of the things happening in the Babangida administration; like the formulation of transport, aviation, and health policies, I often wonder whether this is not a rub-off
on his participation at the NIPSS course because these are some of the issues they discussed thoroughly at syndicates and seminars.
Sentiments similar to the General's observation have been expressed by former
participants of the Senior Executive Course to highlight the importance of the quality of mind which graduates from the course bring to bear on their work. The following two examples are representative of the feelings
of many others. According to Mrs. Adefemi Taire, who was on the programme in 1987, and who attained the career height of Secretary to the Lagos State Government after graduating from Kuru, such is the intellectual
profit which each participant gains from the course, and which stands each one of them in a better stead for informed decision-making, that she advocated that every top-level functionary in the country should be exposed
to the NIPSS programme. Her position is expressed in these words:
As a matter of fact, I would personally say that it should be mandatory for all Nigerians in private or public attaining the top level of their
various fields of endeavour to go to NIPSS. The politicians should also have the experience. Everybody needs it to be able to function properly at such levels.
Retired Colonel Tunde Akogun who was a participant on
Senior Executive Course No. 11 in 1989, reinforced Mrs. Taire's stand when he asserted that:
Anybody who gets there will come out charged or fully e-charged to attack new assignments with vigour, a new sense of
patriotism and a broader outlook. This is because of the course content which extends one's horizon and frontiers of knowledge in such a manner that one begins to look at national and international problems
dispassionately and with patriotism.
It was with the same frame of mind that the incumbent President of the Association, Lieutenant-General J.T. Useni, in an interview published in the November 1995 issue of the
National Institute Bulletin, expressed the wish that every Nigerian was a member of NIPSS. That, according to him, would go a long way to accelerate the nation's efforts towards achieving man centred development.
This quality of intellectual input into policy formulation and execution in particular, and governance in general, which graduates of the Senior Executive Course take away with them on leaving Kuru for their respective
positions within the economy, is highly complemented by similar input emanating from other intellectual activities which take place in the Institute especially in the Departments of Research, and Studies. For example,
the policy reviews, memoranda, and other action-oriented publications which emanate from the Research Department, and which are made available to government and its agencies, contribute immensely to public policy-making
and implementation. They address such major national issues as the structural adjustment programme in all its ramifications; religious, political, socio-economic, educational, ethnic, labour, and other disturbances and
crises; revenue mobilisation; the environment; management of petroleum resources; financial matters, especially the debt crisis and the exchange rate of the naira; nature of government; the constitutional conference;
agriculture; problems of the arid zone; Nigeria's land and coastal borders; foreign policy; defence; the banking industry and similar institutions; and public utilities among others. Those of the institution's
publications which fall into the public domain are made immediately available to the general public through direct purchase. The reason for so doing is to assist in filling the knowledge gap of Nigerians in particular,
and the entire academic world in general, in the subjects under investigation. By giving such access to these publications, the Institute is making important contributions to knowledge and scholarship, and ultimately to
improvements in the nation's development.
These contributions are largely intangible. They are not seen or even noticed by the ordinary citizen; yet they are increasing with time as and when the occasion demands. In
short, they constitute a series of activities which continually engage the attention of the Institute by virtue of its mandate. These positive and relatively unparalleled contributions to the nation's decision-making
machinery are succinctly summarized by Alhaji Abubakar Umar, the first Secretary/Director of Administration and Finance, in an interview which he granted the Nigerian Economics sometime in November/December,
1987, thus:
Well articulated seminars and workshops have been organised by the Departments of Research and Studies of the National Institute to look at some important economic, social and political programmes of
government.
Government on it own has requested the National Institute to advise it on specific problems facing it, like the vulnerability of its borders, education, health, agricultural programmes, etc. Not long
ago, the National Institute made some far-reaching recommendations to government on religious disturbances, some of which government has accepted.
There is yet another contribution which the Institute makes to the
country development process. This contribution comprises the published proceedings of the brainstorming sessions, conferences, seminars and workshops which the institution organises as occasion demands. Added to these
are the reports of the local and foreign tour undertaken by course participants, as well as the syndicate papers, and individual essay which they submit in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the mni
certificate. These documents represent an immense collection of primary source data an informed analysis on national issues. Their contents provide useful input into the process of policy formulation on the one hand,
and the development of appropriate and realistic strategies for their implementation on the other. The documents represent a unique data bank, and an assemblage of rare information which is not readily available
anywhere else in the country outside the Institute's Library. Together with other. unique collections which the Library also houses, the details of which were given in Chapter Three, the need to have access to
these documents by policy makers and executors makes Kuru an obvious intellectual Mecca and pilgrimage venue for the policy formulator, as well as for members of the larger intellectual community who are seeking for
authentic data to facilitate their individual or collective contributions to debates and discussions on matters of national development.
As the only institution of its type on the entire continent of Africa, there
is no substitute for the wealth of materials which the National Institute is in a position to offer the nation through the services provided by its Library. By the same token, the publishing activities of the
institution also provide another significant avenue through which it is making positive contributions to the nation's development efforts. Details of the Institute's potentials in this regard were highlighted and
discussed in Chapter Three. As such, no effort will be made to repeat them again here. Instead, we shall now focus attention on the relative contribution(s) of the Institute's flag bearers, especially under the umbrella
of the Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI), to the process of national development.
However, before going any further, it is apposite at this juncture to reflect government's acknowledgment of the
Institute's contributions to the nation's quest to achieve meaningful development. This recognition is succinctly captured in some of the address delivered at the graduation ceremonies of the Senior Executive Course. In
this regard, the Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters, Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon (as he then was), observed at the graduation of participants of Senior Executive Course No.6, on 27th, October 1984, that:
The Institute
has in the past lived up lived up to the great expectations which led to its establishment as a high-level centre for reflection, research and dialogue where academics of intellectual excellence, policy initiators and
executors, and other citizens of practical experience and wisdom from different sections of our national life would meet to reflect and exchange ideas on the issues of the society. The performance of a large
number of its alumni in the various roles to which they have been assigned is ample testimony that previous Senior Executive Courses have been worthwhile and rewarding.
Two of President Ibrahim Babangida's
graduation addresses at the Institute spoke in the same vein. In the first of the two addresses which was delivered at the graduation ceremony of the seventh Senior Executive Course on 26 October, 1985, the President
acknowledged institute's contributions in these words:
I would like to place on record my appreciation and that of the AFRC to the contribution made by NIPSS in such a short time since its establishment towards the
charting of new directions in policy and policy implementation, and in pointing out new perspectives and techniques in the management of the affairs of our society. I therefore assure you of our full moral and
material support for the valuable work you have been doing. I am aware that the reasons which led to your creation are as strong and as valid today as they were six years ago. They will be felt even more urgently
as the nation continues the search for new ways of fulfilling the dreams and vision contained in your motto.
Three years later, at a similar ceremony for the tenth Senior Executive Course, the President affirmed
that:
For ten years now, the National Institute has served this country in the unique capacity of being, at once, the intellectual incubator, think tank and health, farm. Gradually, the country is building up an
invaluable corps possessing a high degree of awareness of the extant circumstances of the country, a society- oriented elite corps, consisting of an increasingly healthy mix of all branches of our leadership.
These excerpts succinctly sum up the success which the Institute has achieved so far on the home front towards assisting the federal government to realise its objective of making the nation a better society for all.
It is evident from the foregoing account that the National Institute has made useful contributions to the process of national development right from its inception through its principal activities of training and
research. As a further encouragement of its efforts in this regard, and so that the nation can continue to rely on the Institute for greater successes in the performance of its noble mandate, government approved a
three-year development plan for the Institute. Details of the plan were revealed by the Director-General, Professor M. N. Alkali, during the graduation ceremony of SEC 17 (1995) thus:
...the Commander-In-Chief has
graciously approved the Phase One of the 3- year Development Plan of the National Institute. Under this phase, new chalets for participants would be constructed. Construction, rehabilitation and renovation of
administrative offices, structural restoration of the Library would be undertaken. New participant buses will be provided, additional new vehicles, repair of generating set will be undertaken. The National Institute
Liaison office in Abuja will be constructed, while ultra-modem hall and dinning facilities will also be constructed. It is expected that the Phase One of this project should be completed before the end of 1996.
This, as well as other encouragement received from government in the past, is adequate proof that the nation is deriving meaningful returns on its investment on the Institute.
Contributions of the AANI
The
Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI) was inaugurated on Saturday, 28 February, 1981, under the distinguished chairmanship of Alhaji Ahmed Talib, a key member of the very first Board of Governors. The
intention was , and still remains, to provide all former students with a formal and continuing opportunity to relate to the ideas and activities of the Institute. Ever since its inauguration, the Association holds
a meeting in Kuru once a year as a matter of tradition. The meeting is usually held on the first Saturday of March every year, barring any extenuating circumstances which may warrant a change in the date. It
provides members of the Association the opportunity for a home coming. Both old and new members are reunited in a forum where they share experiences, and discuss issues of vital significance to the nation, the
Institute, and the Association. The importance of this Association of Associations received a major boost in October 1983 when President Shehu Shagari approved its request that every incumbent President of the AANI
should sit on the Institute's Board of Governors as a member. The Association operated in six zones, namely: Kaduna, Enugu, Ibadan, Lagos, Bauchi, and Abuja. However, in order to achieve better and more effective
coordination, the zones were increased to ten. The new zones are Abuja, Bauchi, Benin, Borno, Enugu, Ibadan, Kaduna, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Sokoto. This new configuration was based on contiguity of states,
convenience of contact, and programming rather than on membership strength. Each Zone is headed by a Chairman, who is automatically a member of the National Executive. The zones engage in activities which are designed
to promote the gains of the Senior Executive Course, and the Kuru dream. The contribution of the zones to national development is through seminars, symposia, and similar activities, where issues strategic to the
nation's progress are discussed.
From what has been said so far, it would appear that members of the Association have contributed to national development more in their individual capacities than as a body corporate.
In this regard, apart from the annual dialogue which the body holds with incumbent Heads of State during which vital issues of national development are raised, and the occasional papers submitted to government by the
Association on such issues, what has been more obvious is the role which the individual members of the AANI have been called upon to play in national development, either in the capacity of formulating policies, or in
directing their execution at very high levels. To this end, the AANI can boast of a host of such contributions. What follows is just a sample list of its ambassadors of progress. For the moment, the Association can
boast of one President, and one Head of State under the military system of government in the' country, in the persons of Generals Ibrahim Babangida, and Sani Abacha respectively. It has also produced three Prime
Ministers under the same arrangement, namely: Major-General Tunde Idiagbon, Vice-Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, who also served as Vice-President during the Babangida era, and Lieutenant-General Oladipo Diya.
Still under
the military form of government, some members of the AANI attained the apex of their career after graduating from Kuru. They include both General Ibrahim Babangda, and General Sani Abacha, who reached the career height
of Chief of Army Staff; and General Sani Abacha, lieutenant General. Oladipo Diya, and Major-General Abdulsalam Abubakar, each of whom attained the position of Chief of Defence Staff and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
respectively. In the Navy, the AANI can boast of four Service Chiefs, in the persons of Vice-Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, Vice-Admiral Patrick Koshoni, Rear Admiral Allison Madueke, and Rear-Admiral Mike Akhigbe. In the
same vein, Air Vice -Marshall Nureini Yussuf attained the career height of Chief of Air Staff; while Alhaji M. Gambo, Aliyu Ibrahim Atta, and Ibrahim A. Coomassie became Inspectors-General of Police.
Members of the
Association have also contributed to directing national affairs as Ministers under successive military regimes, as well as under the Interim National Government. Those of them who served in this capacity under various
military governments include the following officers: M. J. Vatsa, M. Yahaya, I. A. Shekari, Sani Abacha, P. S. Koshobi, J. T. Useni, Y. Y. Kure, A. B. Mamman, I. O. S. Nwachukwu, I. Gwarzo, A Lawal, L. D. Owom, A.
Ikazaboh, M. B. Haladu, S. Momah, A. Adisa, I. Gumel, M. Gambo Jimeta, and a civilian, Mr Zakari Ibrahim. Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi served in a similar capacity under Chief Ernest Shonekan's Interim National
Government (ING). In the area of policy formulation and execution in the public service (both the federal and state), alumni of the National Institute have occupied, and still occupy very senior positions as
Directors-General, and chief executives of organisations. It is difficult to give accurate details here because of insufficient data on the positions and movements of members of the Association.
At the state level,
alumni of the Institute are known to have occupied the driving seat in the state's administrative machinery at one time or the other as Secretaries to State Governments in Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Enugu, Kano,
Kaduna, Katsina; Kebbi, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Plateau and Sokoto. The two women in this scheme deserve special mention. They are Mrs. Adefemi Taire, and Hajiya F. Muazu, who served as the secretary to the Lagos and Bauchi
State Governments respectively. There are many others who have occupied and still occupy leading positions in the public sector either as- chief executives, or as very senior managers of government agencies and
parastatals. These ladies and gentlemen are found at the federal level in such establishments as the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Nigerian Insurance Company (NICON) PIc, the defunct Centre for Democratic Studies
(CDS), National Electric Power (NEP) PIc, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON), and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Nigerian Ports PIc, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC),
Nigerian Maritime Authority (NMA), Nigerian Airports Authority (NAA), Nigerian Airways, Nigerian Security Minting and Printing, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the Federal Mass Transit, and the National Drug Law
-Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), to mention just a few. They are also found in similar agencies and parastatals which state governments have established for the purpose of achieving development.
In the judiciary,
Messrs. Ken Keazor, P. I. Amaizu, and T. C. Anomnachi were elevated to the bench as judges in their respective States. Similarly, members of the AANI have contributed creditably to the country's image abroad in
their capacity as non-career diplomats accredited to foreign countries. Those of them who were involved in the service to the nation in this regard include: Ambassadors A. Al-Gazali, Zamani Lekwot, Denis Okujagu, Ali
Gombe, H. Eghagha, S.K. Omojokun, S. A. Olajide, R. A. O. Adegbite, M.C. Abubakar, Segun Olusola, S. E. Igwe, M. L. Sambo, M.B.G. Dogonyaro, and Zakari Ibrahim. The AANI has not failed to record some contributions to
the nation in the area of executive management capacity building for leadership in the organised private sector, as well as the other private sector characterised principally by individual entrepreneurship, and managed
as a strictly personalised outfit. To this end, the body can boast of quite a number of people. They include Messrs Tani OIu, A. Achebe, Akin Ogunleye, A. Abdullahi, F. Abdullahi, T. C. Anomnachi, Soji Odunjo,
Aminu Wali, M. B. G. Dogonyaro, Rabiu U. Mohammed, T. N. George, W. O. Odudu, Joe Makoju, J. C. Aghaji, J. A. Adelusi-Adeluyi, I. A Haruna, Magaji Mu'azu. A. A. Alkali, W. O. Fagbule, B. Hassan, A. F. Kolawole, I
Mahmood, J. A Ibrahim, M. M. Bana, K. E. Obiodu, and Aliyu Nabegu.
These people, as well as their colleagues who have completed their services in the public sector, have made and are making meaningful contributions
to leadership and decision-making in various establishments in the private sector, which provides government with valuable input for planning, as part of its effort to serve as the driving engine of the nation's
economy. By the same token, in the area of organised labour, the Association has within its fold a number of their members who have served, and are serving the nation in very high capacities in the Nigerian Labour
Congress. They include Mallam Ali Chiroma, and Mr. Paschal Bafyau who were at one time or the other President of the Congress: Other include Dr. Lasisi Osunde, and Adams Oshiomhole who attained the positions of
Secretary- General, and Vice-President respectively. Other Comrades who have passed through the Institute are also making their contributions in various leadership positions at the national level, and at the level of
their respective member unions which make up the Labour Congress.
As already stated, it is a very difficult task, at least for now, to achieve an exhaustive list of all those individuals in the AANI who have
served, or are still serving the nation in one significant capacity or the other in either the public or private sector of the nation's economy. For the moment the task of accomplishing such a comprehensive list is not
only Herculean in nature, it is almost impossible. The difficulty in the exercise lies in the fact that there is no ready source to draw on for such detailed information. The National Institute has not maintained a data
bank of the movement and changing fortunes of Senior Executive Course participants after they have graduated from Kuru as a deliberate activity. However, with the establishment of an Alumni Liaison in the office of the
Director-General, this problem will eventually become a thing of the past. On its part, the Association has also set in motion the full machinery to establish and maintain such a comprehensive data base of its members.
The body started a Newsletter in December 1988. The maiden issue of the publication carried the list, and movement of graduates of the first four Senior Executive Courses. Volume 1 No.3 of the newsletter which was
published in the first quarter of 1991 carried some news about members 9f the Association, as well as about activities in some zones. The irregularity which characterised the appearance of the newsletter made access to
new information about the AANI pretty difficult. This is in spite of the expressed intention of the Association to publish the newsletter in April, August and December of each year to cover the three major events in its
calendar. However, with the fresh initiative introduced by the AANI secretariat, and given the cooperation of-every member in promptly responding to the questionnaire circulated for the purpose, the data base initiative
will be successfully accomplished for the benefit of all concerned in the immediate future.
The AANl's determination to achieve the noble objectives for which the newsletter was established is very paramount. The
objectives were stated in the foreword to the maiden issue by the' then President of the Association, Otunba Olabiyi Durojaiye, in these words:
to keep members of the Association abreast of events.. .focus
attention on the welfare of members and keep track of their progress,... (and) contribute to the fulfillment of one of the cardinal objectives of the founding fathers of the Institute, i.e. to bridge communications gap
among top policy and decision makers of the public and private sectors of the economy.
Members of the body need to be informed about themselves, as well as about the activities of the Association as a whole.
There is also the compelling need for the body to reach out to the larger society, and inform the generality of Nigerians about what it is doing to advance the process of national development either through its
individual members, or collectively as a group. These are some of the important purposes which the Newsletter can serve, and for which reason it must be resuscitated and kept alive.
A rebirth of the Newsletter
was accomplished with the appearance of the January - June, 1995, issue which was received and greeted with great enthusiasm by members of the AANI. The bigger challenge facing the body is that of keeping the
publication alive and going without a break. This challenge can be achieved if all the hands of its members are on deck to ensure that the newsletter continues to appear as planned. In other words, it is not enough for
the Association to put an efficient editorial machinery in place. The desire to publish becomes a reality only when there is something to publish. Thus, the challenging task before the body is to make sure that the
editing team is regularly fed with the materials which it will organise for publication. To achieve this objective, every member of the Association has a role to play. More important, however, is the role of the zones
in ensuring the success of this challenge. If everyone contributes his or her own little bit to the process of nurturing the rebirth of the newsletter, then the machinery which has been put in place to ensure the
regularity of its appearance would have been worth the effort. By the same token, the educational and information dissemination roles which the organ is carved out to play has the official communication medium of the
AANI on national issues would have established their relevance to the development process.
There is one more contribution which is rather easy to gloss over. Yet, it is very important to the process on nation
building. This is the contribution by the AANI, more especially its individual members, in building very lasting bridges across families as a major step towards the building of a united and indivisible Nigeria. Indeed,
this contribution can be appropriately described as an important by-product of the Senior Executive Course programme. Each Course usually starts as an assemblage of individuals with different backgrounds. Some of them
may happen to come from the same state of the Federation, even though not from the same organisation, establishment or institution. Each person brings along with him/her certain idiosyncrasies, and values, including
family values. Their interaction at lectures, syndicate sessions, and other fori in the course of the programme serves to reinforce or modify their individual positions on issues, as well as some of the values which
they held very dearly before coming to Kuru. The barriers built around their individual selves over the years gradually get dismantled as the course progresses. By and large, they begin to work and think as a group of
individuals with like minds, imbibing common concepts, and common values, such that by the time they graduate from the Course, they leave Kuru not as the individuals they were when they first arrived some ten or so
months ago, but as members of one large family. The members of this family of families comprise the NIPSS graduate, as well as each and every member of his/her nucleus or larger family, who share in, and are therefore
affected in some measure by the gains of the Kuru philosophy of moving Nigeria towards a better society. As the membership of this large family grows with each graduating course, so is the bridge across families
extending to unite the different tribes and tongues of which the country is made into one big geographical village comprising individuals with common aspirations, value systems, and orientation, all sharing similar
perspectives on national issues.
In concluding this segment on the contribution of the AANI to national development, it is both apposite and necessary to highlight one important problem which poses a challenge
to the Association in its drive and commitment to fulfil its social responsibility to the nation. The account given in this segment of the Association's contribution thus far points glaringly to the fact that it has
succeeded very well in this respect largely through its individual members who occupy positions of authority and power where they influence the fate of the nation at their respective commanding positions in the economy.
However, the .Association has not achieved much in the arena of collective leadership which a body corporate of its stature and significance should be offering the nation as a matter of cause by offering collective
viewpoints on issues affecting the nation. This role of serving as active opinion leaders should be seen as a natural continuation of the culture of open and frank discussion imbibed during the SEC programme, where
issues of national significance were discussed with candour and unqualified objectivity, and at which the interest of the nation was placed above all others. The necessity for the AANI to demonstrate collective
leadership as a clear manifestation of the Association's determination and resolve to fulfil its social responsibility to the nation was brought into sharp focus by the Head of State, General Sani Abacha in his address
at the 1995 annual dinner of the Association when he said:
Our dear and great nation, Nigeria, is experiencing critical times socially, politically, and economically. Now is the time for all good friends of the
nation to rally round and assist in moving the nation forward. Members of the Alumni Association of the National Institute are uniquely placed to playa critical role in our development.. .AANI definitely constitutes a
veritable think-tank on which the government can rely for advice and leadership in our effort to ensure a better society. My government recognises the critical role AANI can play in this connection...I urge you jointly
and severally to ensure that the Alumni Association remains relevant and helpful-to the nation...I hope that [the] Association will...not hesitate to advise government on varied issues, including democracy in Nigeria,
eradication of drug trafficking, crime wave, security consciousness, political parties, youth and women development and Nigeria's external relations, to mention a few. Fresh ideas would be particularly welcome on core
issues like political stability, efficient public services, and rule of law in order to ensure the framework for a good society. We must, together, work out a national agenda for Nigeria in the twenty-first century and
beyond.
The challenge which the AANI faces as a body, therefore, is how to achieve collective leadership, and by so doing translate itself into an entity which seeks to advance the cause of national development
in all its ramifications under a purposeful collective leadership, rather than as an Association which only lends its image to uplift the fortunes of individual members. This challenge addresses the crucial and
all-important task of how members of the Association can translate the intellectual fortification and improvement which the SEC programme has brought to its individual members into a collective force for achieving
national well-being and revitalisation as a closely-kit group with an esprit de corps anchored strongly on the noble principle of putting the nation first. This is no mean task. It is a serious challenge. It is a sacred
task. It is a task which the Association must achieve if it must operate collectively in its resolve to assist the nation achieve development in the spirit of the motto of the Institute. Some suggestions for achieving
this task will be made evident in due course.
The years ahead
The preceding sections of this chapter highlighted the relative contributions which the National Institute and its Alumni Association have made
to the nation's efforts to achieve development. The remainder of the chapter will dwell on some other possible areas in which the institution, and more especially, the Alumni Association can further the country':
continuing search for a better society through people-centred development. At the level of the Institute,' there are areas in its programmes where it can make additional contributions. Here are two such areas. One
programme which the Institute had on its agenda right from inception was the running of some courses whose duration will be shorter than the Senior Executive Course. However, the implementation of this idea was shelved
in order to give the Senior Executive Course programme all the attention it required for a proper take off. The programme has been executed successfully for sixteen years with the graduation of the seventeenth Senior
Executive Course in November 1995. It can be safely concluded, therefore, that the programme has achieved both stability and fame. The time is very thus ripe for the Institute to consider some courses of shorter
duration using the original ideas behind the implementation of such courses, as well as the recommendations of the Appraisal Committee set up by the Board as part of the input for their planning. By running such
courses, the Institute has another opportunity to further demonstrate its impact on the Nigerian public, as well as its input into the government's development efforts.
Similarly, the National Institute does not
offer consultancy services as a direct activity at the moment. The provision of such services by the institution, given its stature and the quality of its research endowments, will serve to achieve two major goals.
First, it will serve as a direct revenue yielding mechanism for the Institute. Second, and more importantly, it will assist in releasing the creative intellectual energies of the research staff into producing reports,
and making recommendations, which can be of immense use to the development process. There is no doubt, whatsoever, that such services will find ready and willing clients in government and its agencies at both the
federal arid state levels. Some private sector organisations will equally find such a service useful too. However, it stands to reason that for the Institute to be able to perform these and its other functions without
let or hinderance, government must deliver on its financial obligations to the institution promptly and adequately. Government must also constantly seek to fortify the human, material, equipment and other resources
which will enable the Institute perform optimally. These points were mentioned in an earlier chapter where the financial position of the Institute was discussed in some detail.
On its part, the Institute must strive
to meet its side of the bargain in a concerted effort to ensure a sound financial base to enable it make additional contributions to national progress through the two avenues mentioned in the preceding paragraphs of
this section, and other such avenues which will be identified from time to time. In this regard, it is instructive to re-emphasise the need for the institution to go all out on an aggressive revenue generation drive by
fully exploiting the powers conferred on it by its enabling law for this purpose. In the process, it must sell itself more effectively to the Nigerian public through its activities.
By so doing, it will establish
its relevance to the Nigerian society beyond every iota of doubt. What is being emphasised here is that the Institute needs to sell itself to the country in such a way as to command continuous attention, respect
and support of the Nigerian public. This kind of publicity is action-based. It is best done by the institution itself. In other words, it is the quality of its contributions to, and the extent to which such
contributions have positive on the process of governance that will earn NIPSS the recognition, respect and support it deserves from the nation. To achieve this may require some reprogramming of its activities, and/or
reordering of some of its priorities in order to achieve greater reach and therefore effect.
Thus, while government must continue to take issues relating to the survival of NIPSS with the desired seriousness,
in view of the circumstances leading to its establishment, and also in view of the successes which it has recorded thus far, it is equally important that the Institute should strive to justify its continued existence
and relevance by injecting new ideas into its programmes. The programmes should move with the times. They must be subjected to constant review and rejuvenation so that they reflect the aspirations of a Nigerian society
changing whose changing fortunes are subjected to the dynamics of change in a constantly changing world. In short, the institution's positive contribution to the Nigerian economy will be judged by its ability to forge
ideas which will enable government solve today's problems using today's strategies, while at the same time preparing her to face the challenges of tomorrow with great determination and assured success. In this regard,
the Institute must identify itself with the country's aspirations at all times. In return, the nation must give of its best to ensure that the institution can meaningfully deliver on its contract with Nigeria. The role
of the Alumni Association of the National Institute is paramount in a discussion such as this. This is so for two major reasons. First and foremost, as graduates of successive Senior Executive Courses, and automatic
members of the AANI, holders of the mni certificate are the flag bearers of the Institute. Their position as the institution's torch bearers thrusts on each and every one of them the responsibility to propagate the Kuru
philosophy of moving Nigeria towards a better tomorrow in everything they do and say. By the same token, and as the fruits by which the Institute is known to Nigerians, and indeed to the rest of the world, the future
contributions of Kuru graduates to the process of national development lie in their continued commitment to assist government accomplish the onerous but necessary task of achieving a better life for all. This awareness
of, and belief in the importance of the individual (and collective) contribution of NIPSS alumni to the nation's development process must have informed Brigadier Idiagbon's charge to the graduating participants of SEC 6
(1984) when he said that:
It 'is very likely that you will find the old structures into which you will soon return unwilling to welcome innovation for obvious reasons. The intellectual pursuits in which you have
been engaged during this course, and the new management methods which you have tried out at seminars and group discussions will be of no lasting value to the nation unless you endeavour in the fate of resistance, to
devise strategies and modalities which will enable you to introduce appropriate changes in your respective organisations. The Institute's motto: "Towards a better society" should be a constant reminder that
you can serve as a catalyst for that change in all its ramifications, which is so necessary for the regeneration of our people.
The challenge embodied in this statement should be seen as a sacred call to an unending
national service on the part of members of the AANI. It requires every graduate of the Institute, irrespective of whichever sector of the nation's economy they operate in, the duty to:
contribute useful ideas with
which government can formulate and implement policies for achieving the goal of better life for all;
contribute meaningfully to the process of creating a safe and secure economic environment to enable everybody
within Nigeria participate as active partners In progress;
assist to create and sustain a political environment which engenders trust and stability, and which are crucial to economic growth and development, as well
as for evolving and propagating a truly Nigerian culture; and
live according to the tenets which they imbibed in Kuru, that is, to lead by example, and not like the proverbial preacher who admonishes members of the
congregation to live according to what he/she says, rather the what he/she does. Nigeria needs exemplary leadership to pilot her towards the better society envisaged in the motto of NIPSS.
This sacred mission can be
achieved if graduates of Kuru move to occupy and stay in the vanguard of the difficult but mandatory process to rid the country of those elements which negate the efforts of government to achieve meaningful development.
The legacy which their sacrifice will bestow on the nation will be acknowledged by generations yet unborn if they succeed in initiating and sustaining the process of stemming the tide of corruption, ethnicity, religious
fanaticism, tribalism and all other negative allegiances which obstruct the pursuit of national interest with dedicated resolve. The trickle-down effect of their action will percolate the nation's psyche with the
passage of time, and like the little drops of water which make a mighty ocean, it will restore the nation's sanity, and set it on the path to true greatness. Indeed, by committing themselves each and severally to this
everlasting national call to duty, they would have succeeded in constituting themselves into the corner stone of the national elite whose distinguishing characteristics and attributes General Ibrahim Babangida
identified in these words:
The national elite of our expectation is an elite whose identification is with the Nigerian nation rather than a religious or ethnic group. Its members must possess a common vocabulary for
addressing national issues and are to communicate across ethnic lines and professional barriers. The national elite must have common perception of the place of Nigeria and its aspirations.
Perceptions and
aspirations which should be devoid of religious or ethnic bias or prejudices, and would be truly and wholly Nigerian, subordinated to national interest and will. The mission of the national elite cannot therefore be
personal aggrandisement or the perpetuation of elitists structures of privileges, and material comfort in blind disdain of the poor. It must be for authentic national development and unity. Consequently, we shall be
right to expect the national elite to possess certain attributes which I believe should include:
a clear capacity to professional government in spite of their individual professional roles, and their dominant
economic and political roles;
a scrupulous avoidance of the tendency to exploit the cleavages inherent in our plural society for selfish, ethnic or religious ends;
an ability to communicate policy
direction by personal example and integrity rather than rhetoric and conspicuous consumption. This is the effective way for the elite to redeem its loss of credibility before the masses and minimise public alienation;
a heightened consciousness of national interests and an impeccable commitment to their pursuit; and
an ability, to manage institutions as systems rather than as personal empires. What is involved is the
avoidance of an egoistic approach to the management of institutions.
Secondly, and deriving naturally from what has been stated above, the activities, of the AANI, which represent the collective efforts of all
its members, is a significant litmus test for judging the overall contributions of the Institute to national development. To this extent, the activities of the Association reflect the institution's impact on national
life, and mirror it to the general public. Some of the contributions which the AANI has made to the nation were discussed in the course of this chapter. These contributions were acknowledged by Zayyad in the lecture he
delivered at the Association's January 7, 1995 annual dinner in Kaduna when he stated that:
There is no doubt that, through its Alumni, NIPSS has been able to indirectly contribute towards public policy
fomlulation and execution in this country. During the last 15 years, the ex-students of the Institute have held positions of responsibility in the highest places of authority in both the public and private sectors of
this country. I believe that the ideas and experiences that were acquired by such ex-students during their course of studies have been useful in policies they fomlulated or executed while in such positions of authority.
I understand that the ideas that made for such government programmes as the National Directorate of Employment, the Directorate of Food, Roads, and RuraI Infrastructure, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, MAMSER, and
so on, were conceived at NIPSS. These ideas were later made into government policies, which were implemented by ex-students of NIPS in positions of authority during the last decade. The impact of such programmes in the
transformation of our rural communities, on job creation, on entrepreneurial development and public awareness are too well known to warrant further elaboration... The credit for such policies or programmes as the NDE,
DFRRI, MAMSER and so on, can be given to NIPSS...
Indeed, so valuable are these contributions to government that successive Presidents or Heads of State since the Shagari administration have given the AANI due
regard and attention. As a matter of fact, President Babangida often tasked the body to prepare position papers for him on issues of national importance, quite apart from those which the body puts together for
discussion during the annual dialogue which it holds with the incumbent head of government. In preparing such documents, members of the Association have often come back home to Kuru to avail themselves of the resources
of the Institute's Library, in addition to holding consultation with members of staff to generate information relevant to the task in hand.
Greater challenges lie ahead of the Association as a body corporate
with regard to its role in, and contributions to national affairs. It is easy to get these challenges obfuscated in some melodramatic and sentimental presentation of its contributions thus far to Nigeria's search for a
better society. To do so is to defy the wisdom and reality of the fact that development is a continuous process. Certainly, the Association and its members will continue to pay their debt of gratitude to the nation by
making sure that they nurture, and cultivate the noble ideas of development and nationalism which the Senior Executive Course planted in them, They also owe it to the nation to keep the torch of NIPSS burning by making
the Alumni Secretariat a beehive of activities directed towards realising the Kuru dream. By so doing, their contributions to the nation, as well as their continued relevance to the process of national development will
remain firmly entrenched.
In the pursuit of this objective, the AANI will profit from adding a few more activities to its current repertoire. It could, for example, consider these ones among a host of others:
holding regular sessions at the Alumni House/Centre on issues of the day, by way of lectures, seminars, conferences, and dialogue sessions involving opinion leaders and accomplished specialists leading to the
submission of the Association's position to government for its use;
organising regular hearings on national issues to feel the pulse of the nation on such issues with a view to generating some valuable information
which may. assist government to arrive at some positive and practical decisions on such issues;
setting up ad hoc task forces on matters of national importance, and submitting the findings of such exercises to
government for consideration and use; and
establishing and organising on an annual basis a Patron's Week which will culminate in a presentation on the state of the nation by the incumbent Head of State.
Proceedings of these various activities should be published and made available to the wider academic and development community for information and education. The general public will be too glad to pay for this important
service. The sum total of what is being advocated here is that as the Association of Associations, and the torch bearer of NIPSS, the AANI cannot, and should not shy away from taking a leadership position in the
intellectual debates and other such activities which aim at improving the quality of governance in Nigeria. Whatever it does in this regard, will go a long way to complement the Institute's efforts ,on the home front.
The pride of position which members of the body enjoy in the society must be used to the nation's advantage.
Summing up
Input into the development planning process is not the sole prerogative of any
single institution in the country. It is a shared responsibility 'where the relative role(s) assigned to particular establishments involved in the process is/are duly recognised and adequately supported in order to
guarantee meaningful performance. The reality for this assertion provides the rationale for the establishment of such government institutions and agencies like the NIIA, NISER, and a host of other institutions including
the defunct NCIR and CDS, whose activities support government's decision-making machinery in one way or the other. In this light, it is wise to concede the argument, howbeit in part; that NIPSS does not hold the key to
the solution of the nation's socio-economic and related developmental problems. However, while subscribing fully to the proposition that answers to questions on the nation's development, can and do come from other
sectors, it must be equally recognised and admitted that the establishment of the Institute was a conscious and deliberate act of government. In other words, the establishment of NIPSS was not an accident. It was
created to serve as a melting pot of ideas for Nigeria's development by providing an environment and atmosphere for coordinating input from all other policy-oriented research establishments for use by the government.
The leadership role which the National Institute was established by law to accomplish is explicitly stated in Section 2 (e) of the institution's enabling decree in the following words:
to organise and carry
out, on an inter-disciplinary basis, in support of those charged with making and implementing policy for Nigeria, research in-depth into the social, economic, political, security, scientific, cultural and other problems
facing the country, and to formulate and present, in usable form, the available options for their solution.
This unique role is akin to that which is played by institutions similar to NIPSS the world over
which are established to inter alia provide safe and unobtrusive environments for the kind of strategic training and research functions which characterise their establishment and operations, and differentiate them from
other institutions within their respective economies. In the area of research for national development the programmes of such institutions concentrate attention on the study of:
national and international
landscape for a detailed knowledge of what is going on in the respective area. of their mandates;
identifying and determining the extent to which the experiences elsewhere can be adopted or adapted for the purposes
of national development; and based on these,
proposing policy options and/or approaches to their implementation.
These, in short, summarise the mandate of NIPSS, and its contract with the nation. They are
the component elements of strategic studies within the framework of national development. The provision in the Institute's Decree which is quoted in the preceding paragraph, establishes the position of the institution
in the forefront of the nation's policy- making machinery. That provision makes it the primus inter pares among all other policy research institutions in the country, and therefore, the obvious meeting point and melting
pot of all such organisations.
This work has considered how much NIPSS has succeeded in performing its contract with Nigeria since its inception in 1979. How much more it can do in support of the nation's
development efforts will depend on a number of issues some of which were raised and discussed in the course of this book. Suffice it to conclude by observing rather emphatically that Nigeria needs the National Institute
for Policy and Strategic Studies for idea-based development. The nation equally needs the Institute for building and sustaining a leadership corps which is nationalistic in perception and action, and dedicated in
orientation to the national cause. In short, Nigeria needs the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in her continuing search for a better organised, peaceful, and stable society which is committed to
meaningful self-sustaining development.
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