Now, we can understand why INEC collapsed on logistics: the man in charge of logistics (Okechukwu Ibeanu) was cut-out by INEC Chairman when he formed an ad hoc logistics committee specifically for the election, Premium Times reports. Simply, the core leadership of INEC’s logistics department was not part of the election logistics. It is shameful that INEC could have an ad hoc committee for a general election without the Director of its logistics department as a member.

Mr Ibeanu, who officially heads the INEC logistics department, was not made a member of the committee.

“Curiously, close to the election, INEC chair created an ad hoc committee on logistics for the 2019 elections which reported directly to him. Prof Ibeanu is not a member of that committee,” said our source, an INEC insider.

Another source close the INEC leadership said such committee was unprecedented in INEC’s history.

“There was nothing like that under Jega (Attahiru, immediate past INEC chairman). Nobody knows why Professor Yakubu decided to duplicate functions and hand such a crucial task (logistics) to a committee when there is a department to handle it,” the source said.

The 15-member advisory committee is headed by another national commissioner, Ahmed Mu’azu, a retired Air Vice Marshall.

Two other national commissioners of INEC – Abubakar Nahuche and Mohammed Haruna – are also members of the committee.

Handing it over to Ahmed Mu’azu, a retired Air Vice Marshall and INEC national commissioner, when Nigeria has invested on Mr. Ibeanu for years shows INEC Chairman lacks honor. For the man to think an ad hoc committee is better than a permanent department explains the paralysis he has put the nation.

Apparently, he was troubled that all the key directors on technology, logistics and voter education are from the southeast/south-south and an ad hoc committee would have been a way to cut them out! That is a huge mistake and very offensive if Nigeria wants to thrive on professionalism and excellence.

We need to get over these petty tribal stuffs and make Nigeria fly. I cannot just comprehend why a national electoral umpire for a general election will think a man whose job to run logistics cannot even be part of the very activity (yes, the election) everyone in INEC was assembled to perform. Mr. President, probe INEC urgently because this is looking like a pile of mess.

Mr Ibeanu, a professor of political science, was asked to report at the SSS office by 2:00 p.m., multiple sources close to INEC told this paper.

Apart from Mr Ibeanu, others asked to appear before the SSS include Chidi Nwafor, the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Ken Ukeagu; Osaze Uzzi, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity and Bimbo Oladunjoye, the Assistant Director of ICT.

Update: SSS has called off the summons

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the SSS summoned the head of INEC’s operations and logistics department, Okechukwu Ibeanu, and four other officials of the agency.

The others asked to appear before the SSS include Chidi Nwafor, the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Ken Ukeagu; Osaze Uzzi, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity and Bimbo Oladunjoye, the Assistant Director of ICT.

They each received a phone call from the SSS on Monday who asked them to report at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

They were also told that their summon had been discussed with the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, sources briefed by the affected officials told PREMIUM TIMES.

However, after our report and that of other media on Tuesday morning, Mr Ibeanu received another call from the SSS who told him the invitation had been cancelled. The other officials also received similar calls.

The SSS has refused to state publicly why it summoned the electoral officials, and why members of an ad-hoc committee set up by Mr Yakubu to handle logistics by INEC were not summoned.

Nigeria’s INEC Votes Incompetence

By David Alade

It was early 2018, while studying the thought process of Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe to understand what made him so outstanding, I came across the e-book The One Oasis Strategy. To be candid, I couldn’t drop it midway. I keep reading till I flipped over the last page. After that day, I clustered the strategy in my mind as a strategy best fit for a business.

Indeed, oasis is very critical and every company has oasis. Your best product is the oasis in your business. Every other product feeds on that best product. If you build your investment around that main product, you will find success, because those investments will have a clear “customer”, and that reduces market risks. In other words, if your new business investments are geared to support the best product, and the best product is doing well, it means the risks on the new investments will be easily managed. Provided the best product continues to do well, demand on the new investment is assured. That is the One Oasis Strategy.

Fast forward to late 2018, after a careful study of the process that is shaping who I am, I coined the phrase ‘Success Leverage’ which means moving from where I am, to where I want to be, by leveraging what I have, to my advantage today.

Recently, I had some sort of spark and an eureka moment when I noticed a strong correlation between what Prof. Ekekwe calls the One Oasis Strategy and what I called Success Leverage.

What inspired the spark?

I like you to pay attention to what I call ‘The Story of How I/You Got Here’. It was at this moment that I saw a lot of doors opening up for me because I was successful in one thing already. I realized that a shut door was simply an indication that I had to develop my capabilities in that area. Once I did, that door and other doors also opened. Ultimately, doing this helped me break the cluster I had earlier created and helped me realize that One Oasis is unbounded and unconstrained in its applications as long as one can connect the dots.

Not one to horde knowledge, I really hope that this article will show you the dots on One Oasis and how to connect them to other focus points in your life.

Just for recollection, we will redefine oasis.

In geography, an oasis is an isolated area in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source, such as a pond or small lake. Oases also provide habitat for animals and even humans if the area is big enough. The location of oases has been of critical importance for trade and transportation routes in desert areas; caravans must travel via oases so that their water and food supply can be replenished. Thus, political or military control of an oasis has in many cases meant control of trade on a particular route. (Wikipedia)

In our life, forces must come together to form a shape before we attain a goal, just as forces of demand and supply must interplay in business. This forces on a personal level are always anchored on one or more few things that can be seen as a strength in personal analysis. The anchor’s behaviour is such that when properly understood and harnessed, it will be the driver of other breakthroughs in our personal life.

Ndubuisi noted, “The best product in a firm anchors its survival, just as oasis does in a desert. And every business must discover its oasis, if it hopes to thrive.” In similar way, an individual who hopes to thrive must know “product” of her/his anchor per time.

One Oasis Strategy, as Ndubuisi explained, “Is the proposition that if the best product drives key investments in a firm, it has the capacity to help other products in the business. Other products would feed from the best product, and on overall, the company would flourish.”

Refining that definition to fit our subject matter will be:

One Oasis Strategy is the proposition that if your greatest success per time drives the opportunity you aim for, the likelihood of attaining or utilizing such opportunities will be great. Those opportunities will form another source of your value proposition which when accumulated can drive another level of success.

A quick example, I started with the narrative of how a spark caused the breaking of the cluster I created. Here’s the detail of the spark, recently I messaged a distant connection to give me the opportunity to speak at one of his events. Without much questioning, he granted me the opportunity. Why? he checked my profile and saw where I work (current oasis) and for him, that was credible enough. Without that oasis, I don’t think that I would have scored that speaking engagement.

Why do I need the speaking engagement? For exposure! This, I believe, will cumulatively form another oasis that can be leveraged upon. Simply put, an oasis and its accompanying value can open up more oasis.

Another example is from a distant fellow, he planned on returning to an organization where he had previously worked. Though he had accumulated skills in other areas, he leveraged on his experience of working with the organization. There were many feet he could have put forward, but he chose this one because it was simply the right one. The result? He got the job.

How can you apply the One Oasis Strategy in your life?

Per time and per opportunity,

1. Sit down to consider what is really required to get this job done, to get this opportunity, or to get this platform.
2. Look within and ask, do my current abilities measure up to at least 50% of what is required to get what I want?
3. Leverage your abilities when speaking or writing to apply or make requests.
4. The likelihood of you getting what you want is on the high side if you follow through on the three steps above.

N.B. Another approach I use is to start from the inside out. It is all about considering what my oases are in line with whether or not to pursue an opportunity. This has helped me to experience less failures and more successes as I keep trailing more opportunities.

What you also need to note is that if this strategy must work for you, you will need to master the art of building relationships and your capabilities. Capabilities like communication skills will top my list and relationships cultivated when not needed is always effective.