First, this is not to attack Workers or Governor El- Rufai of Kaduna. Yes, Nigeria has become so heated that one can offend everyone at the same time. But allow me to use data, and I am quoting a statement which has not been disputed: “The public service of the [Kaduna] state with less than 100,000 employees and their families cannot be consuming more than 90% of government resources, with little left to positively impact the lives of the more than 9 million that are not political appointees or civil servants.”

The state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in April, announced the plan to disengage civil servants in the state, citing fiscal reasons.

He stated that a significant amount of the statutory federal allocations is being spent on the wages of public servants. According to him, the decision was one of the necessary moves to salvage the state’s finances.

“Therefore, the state government has no choice but to shed some weight and reduce the size of the public service. It is a painful but necessary step to take, for the sake of the majority of the people of this state,” the Monday statement partly read.

“The public service of the state with less than 100,000 employees and their families cannot be consuming more than 90% of government resources, with little left to positively impact the lives of the more than 9 million that are not political appointees or civil servants.”

“It is gross injustice for such a micro minority to consume the majority of the resources of the State,” he said.

Yes, the government of Kaduna state is making a case that it spends more than 90% of all state resources to support bureaucracy and workers in the state. Those workers and political appointees are about 100k in a state of about 9 million. So, the governor plans to reduce that bureaucracy.

On the side of the Labour Union, they are making a case that the government must not save to build infrastructure  by sacking people. So, the workers are going on strike to make sure the governor does not go ahead and sack thousands. But the governor has maintained that nothing will change his playbook, strike or no strike.

Kaduna residents are stocking food and other essential items ahead of the workers’ strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to begin on Monday.

Residents said they fear the strike may result in shops and markets not opening.

Already, the electricity distribution company has cut off supply to the Kaduna metropolis.

PREMIUM TIMES observed that many businesses were running generators for supply of electricity Sunday evening.

“For us it has begun. Supply of electricity was cut off yesterday night. This is a serious problem.” Yusuf, an electric appliances seller in the state capital, said.

This is the reality: the governor has no chance just as no federal leadership has implemented Steve Oronsaye which recommended trimming the federal civil service many years ago. The Vice President in a recent speech said: “There is no question that we are dealing with large and expensive government.” Yet, no one wants to take any action to fix that. 

Why? Everyone is a victim in Nigeria because there is no trust in the system. Why sacrifice your job to enable politicians to have more money to steal? So, workers will ensure that reduction does not happen. And the politicians will maintain that without those savings, building the infrastructure of the future will not happen.

“There is no question that we are dealing with large and expensive government, but as you know, given the current constitutional structure, those who would have to vote to reduce (the size of) government, especially to become part-time legislators, are the very legislators themselves,” Mr Osinbajo was quoted to have said.

“So, you can imagine that we may not get very much traction if they are asked to vote themselves, as it were, out of their current relatively decent circumstances.

“So, I think there is a need for a national debate on this question and there is a need for us to ensure that we are not wasting the kind of resources that we ought to use for development on overheads. At the moment, our overheads are almost 70 per cent of revenues, so there is no question at all that we must reduce the size of government.”

According to him, “the problem was a major driving factor for the government’s decision to revisit the Steve Oronsaye report on public service reforms”.

He said: “Part of what you would see in the Economic Sustainability Plan also and several of the other initiatives is trying to go, to some extent, to what was recommended in the (Steve) Oransaye Report, to collapse a few of the agencies to become a bit more efficient and make government much more efficient with whatever it has.”

This is a tough call: what can Kaduna, Nigeria do to fix this bloated bureaucratic paralysis? From my angle, I think the state and the nation must deepen productivity. If there is growth, it will become evident that the expenses may not even be too big. My suggestion would be to improve productivity so that the workers (from the governor to the least civil servant) can generate directly and indirectly more resources that would be used to pay them. Today, they do not, and that means the growth elements in the state are not working. Even if you fire thousands without fixing productivity, the root cause would not have been addressed.

If I am the governor, I will develop a productivity index which the labour unions will approve with me. We will benchmark all workers to make sure we can grow the local economy. But where that productivity is not working, the system will be designed to naturally phase out that government unit. Yes, the workers will see the handwriting on the wall.

In America, everything is measured. Joe Biden sent cheques to Americans, paying many more than they could be paid if they are to work. Because of that, many chose to stay home. And unemployment went up. Without that data and measurement, Washington DC would not have known that a generous welfare can dip interests to work. But with data, they now want to add a requirement that the person must be looking for a job before some of those benefits can kick in. Nigeria does not have data and we make policy on guesswork. Possibly, what took America 60 days to see a pattern would not have been detected in Nigeria as we do not measure. Mr. Vice President and Mr. Governor could design a productivity index which can help to organically mutate bloated bureaucracy.

It is key to understand that productivity is not just revenue. It could be measured in many ways depending on the government department. We will bring physics into measuring how workers do their jobs. That is what the governor needs since politically he cannot execute this retrenchment.

The Vice President’s Statement on “Large and Expensive Government” in Nigeria

It looks magical and the stage is ready at Lekki Lagos as Africa honors the best school. At Tekedia Institute, we thank our learners, faculty, scholarship donors and all stakeholders for this festival. Thank you.

They are the most amazing faculty members in the world. They come from all aspects of business and technology domains. They are icons, legends and thought-leaders. They lead firms and move market systems. They are agents who want to create a future they can predict. They are Tekedia Institute Faculty. 

Because of them, a generation of young people are understanding in a deeper way the mechanics of business systems. From strategy to innovation, business law to accounting, technology to pricing, and indeed all key domains, these experts have transformed careers and companies.

As we receive Velocity Mhagic’s $60,000 prize today, I want to thank our Faculty. Some of them are listed here and space will not permit me to tag them. But one thing is evident: all our learners and community members appreciate the excellence they have brought.

We dedicate this prize, which is committed 100% to scholarships, to all our Faculty. As the 5 TV stations cover the event in Lekki Lagos, we want you to know that without you, today might not have been possible. But with you, we will rise to the mountaintop and receive that prize for the Tekedia nation which is committed “to discover and make scholars noble, bright, and useful”.

Thank you,  the world’s finest faculty in business and management.

Good People, as Tekedia Institute receives Velocity Mhagic N25 million Prize today, we want to recognize the following companies and people for supporting this largely one year vision (we are donating 100% of the prize to fund 430 students via scholarships). Five TV stations will cover the event.

David Onaolapo – offered dozens of scholarships to Tekedia Mini-MBA

Late Most Supreme Apostle Matthew Omodayo Owotuga Foundation – endowed a yearly scholarship fund for funding dozens of students. JB Omodayo-Owotuga, FCA, CFA coordinates for the family.  

Soulmate Industries – led by industrialist Sir Ndukwe Osogho–Ajala; has sent dozens of staff in all editions.

Lily Hospitals – when 40 medical professionals and doctors joined, we celebrated a validation.  Thanks Dr. Austin Okogun who leads this institution. 

Reliance Infosystems –  When Olayemi Popoola, a technology legend veteran sent 40 staff, we knew we had a mission.

Infoprive – has sent staff to all editions of Tekedia Mini-MBA. Thanks CEO Adetokunbo Omotosho.

Fatima Ahmed & Family – for offering scholarships to dozens of  learners.

Axa Mansard – before the banks, etc started sending, this company made us believe. 

Corporate members: Tekedia has dozens of corporate members from across Africa and beyond. We thank you for the support. 

Scholarship Donors – there are dozens of you, many anonymous. We want to thank you so much.

Co-learners: you are the best, trusting us to co-share and co-learn with you. We understand the confidence when men like Emmanuel S Akintunde has prepaid 5 years ahead. I just checked dozens have paid for 3 years. We are truly thankful.

Our Faculty – we will make a separate post for THE BEST FACULTY in the world.