Great leaders are disruptive, but the good ones play by the rules. Great leaders break existing rules and set new ones. Leaders move from being good to becoming great when they depart from the norm to chart a new path. Leaders are primarily called to do one of two things; either lead their organization, state or nation out of difficulty into stability or lead it to greater prosperity in times of stability. Doing either requires the disruption of the norm. It requires breaking existing rules and setting new ones. Maintaining status quo is not the calling of leaders because status quo speaks of stagnation and limitation. Keeping the status quo means doing the familiar, it means going around in circles. Unless new things are done, new results cannot be achieved. Unless new things are done, new dawns do not break. Until new things are done, new eras are not unfolded. Leadership is about effecting changes and this begins with knocking the bottom off practices and beliefs that limit growth and expansion.
Rules set boundaries. Rules define the permissible. Chaos becomes inevitable without guiding rules. Hence, societies and organizations have sanctions for infractions. However, the downside of rules is that they place a bar on what is achievable. Those who follow set rules are contained and confined by them. They can’t operate outside the set rules without consequences. Great leaders don’t break rules out of disrespect or conceit; they do so to get better results. When great leaders break existing rules they do so to take the people they lead on a journey which they had hitherto not experienced. When leaders break rules, they set people free. When leaders break rules, they bring the impossible within reach. When leaders break rules, they set others’ imagination afire.
Leaders often have to choose between maintaining the status quo and charting new paths. Those who prefer conformance to disruption choose to maintain the status quo and end up being good while those who chart new paths become great. The unfortunate thing, however, is that more often than not, good leaders are forgotten as soon as they leave office. Why? While everyone loves conformists, no one really holds them in high esteem because they never make any real mark. Only those who break rules exceed boundaries and make lasting marks.
Governor ‘Seyi Makinde of Oyo State recently broke the rules and set new ones with the appointment of 45 permanent secretaries in one fell swoop for the state’s main civil service and other sectors of the civil service .
For many years, many civil servants, especially those outside the mainstream, had ended their career journey on a sad note as their aspiration of getting to the pinnacle of their career could not be realised for a number of factors. One, there were restrictions on the number of permanent secretaries that could be appointed. Then, when it came to the appointment of permanent secretaries, those in the mainstream civil service always had an edge over others in the teaching service, the health sector and the local government service. Consequently, many civil servants in these other sectors, despite their adroitness and astuteness, often ended their careers feeling shortchanged by the system they had devoted their most productive years to building. So, they go into retirement nursing regrets over a dream that was aborted by the power play of extraneous forces.
The frustration occasioned by an unfulfilled dream is only equaled by the despondency birthed by a still birth. The pains are excruciating; the pangs are piercing; the agony is unrelenting and the feeling of incompleteness is perpetual. Unfulfilled dreams diminutise the human spirit, distress the mind and enervate the body. The sorrow of unrealised expectations hardly evanesces; it stays glued to the victim as tick sticks to a dog. This often subjects the victim to an unending season of gloom and doom. For those harbouring unfulfilled dreams, nothing but the desired can be compensatory.
To liberate generations of civil servants from the ills of unfulfilled career dreams, Governor Seyi Makinde broke the rule that placed a limitation on the number of permanent secretaries that could be appointed and charted a new path for career fulfillment for Oyo State civil servants. The governor, in an unprecedented manner, appointed 45 new permanent secretaries from different sectors of the civil service at once. But he did not resort to whims and caprices to appoint the permanent secretaries; he democratised the process by instituting a system which allowed about 800 directors to write an examination. Those who scaled the hurdle moved to the next stage of oral interview before the final selection was made.
At the end of the process, 45 new permanent secretaries emerged. The number is made up of 15 from the mainstream civil service; 15 from the Education Sector comprising Inspectors-General of Education and Tutors-General; six from the Health Sector, seven from the Local Government Sector, a Permanent Secretary/Clerk for the House of Assembly as well as the Surveyor-General of the state.
Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony penultimate Monday, Governor Makinde said that the appointment of that number of permanent secretaries was for the good of the state because it was neither fair nor right to shortchange those working hard for the state.
He said, “History is being made today, because appointing 45 permanent secretaries is no joke but those are vacancies that have to be filled. We didn’t play politics with it. We did not create those positions, as they have been in existence. It’s just that over time, we have had mostly coordinating directors but now, we have appointed permanent secretaries.
“If you remember, when this administration came in, what we met on ground was a situation where the appointment of permanent secretaries was discretionary. But we started a new culture when we came in. We had the exam and we were picking from the list.”
Giving the rationale behind the decision to appoint Inspectors-General and Tutors-General in the education sector, the governor said, “You will notice that in the education sector, we took time to appoint Inspectors-General and Tutors-General. Our future is about how we are able to educate our children because they are the future. So, if you have people that are contributing to building our future, how do you encourage them? That is why we opened up that space so as to institutionalise the process whereby teachers and people in the education sector can also be compensated.”
He added, “The same obtains for those in the local government sector. At the local government level, we felt that you have people also toiling day and night because it’s the closest government to the people. But every time I look through the record, I see that it is always a token for the local governments. We are trying to redress that so that we can encourage the people working at that level to be at the peak of their career as well.”
While charging the newly appointed permanent secretaries to justify their elevation, Makinde said, “When you work hard, the reward is more work. So, I want to say to you that this is just the beginning. You have to put in your best to justify the appointment.
“Also, you need to know that you swore to an oath to be fair to everybody. So, don’t forget the oath when you are taking decisions and writing memos.”
The joy of the new permanent secretaries knew no bound as they all praised Governor Makinde for daring to do what many had considered impossible.
Expressing his elation, one of the new permanent secretaries, Mr Rotimi Babalola, said he burst into tears when he got to know of his promotion.
He said, “I was one of those who participated in the examination for permanent secretaries during the first term of our amiable Governor and I got to the final stage. However, I was not picked. So, when I learnt about the test in Omituntun 2.0, I was apprehensive because I was not sure I would make it. I went for the examination and the interview and I got to the final stage. I deliberately did not put my mind to it, though I knew that I had put in my best. So, when someone called to inform me that my name was on the list of new permanent secretaries, I burst into tears, but it was tears of joy.”
According to Babalola, who started his career as an Information Officer, before his elevation, only two Information Officers; Mr A.A. Ladiran and Mrs Grace Dahunsi, had ever made it to the permanent secretary cadre.
“The last time an Information Officer was appointed a permanent secretary was during the era of Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala. Since then, our ogas had been retiring as Directors. So, that fear was there. But I am glad I made it. And I know that my elevation will be an encouragement to other Information Officers that if Babalola could become a permanent secretary in Oyo State Civil Service, there is nothing stopping them from also aspiring to that office.”
As it is with Information Officers, so it is with teachers, local government workers, health workers and other category of workers in Oyo State Civil Service. By opening up the space, Governor Makinde has removed the barrier to self actualization and career fulfillment for Oyo State workers.
With the creation of the Inspector-General of Education and Tutor-General cadres, teachers can set a higher career goal for themselves. Rather than working to become a head teacher or a school principal, they can aspire to become a Tutor-General or an Inspector General of Education. In the same vein, a local government employee can aspire to become a permanent secretary and not retire as a Head of Local Government Administration (HLGA).
So, by opening up the space and democratising the process of appointing permanent secretaries, not only has Governor Makinde facilitated the realization of the beneficiaries’ career goals, he has also institutionalised a system that will throw up the best of the civil service as the administrative heads of critical government ministries, department and agencies. In addition, the governor has emplaced a system which would ensure that no civil servant needs any godfather to get to the acme of his career.
Dr. Olanrewaju is the Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor
