….Classical view, NDDC view, public view
In the past few years when Samuel Ogbuku has been on the driving seat as managing director (and chief executive officer) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the sing-song has been that the Commission was on a journey from transactional to transformational leadership.
This was coming soon after what looked like the biggest scandal in the Niger Delta concerning the outcome of the much-touted forensic audit of the Commission which oozed with hints that about N6trn was mismanaged and over 8,000 contracts some of which were paid for but were not executed or completed. As if loss of N6trn was not enough heartbreak to a region, the failure of the much-expected mass arrest of those indicted caused heavier earthquake and heartbreak. The masses seemed to lose hope. It began to appear that any amount could disappear and nothing would happen.
This was the atmosphere that welcomed Ogbuku. This seemed to rob the Commission and the management any expectation of good. It thus was a miracle that the young man seemed to find a way to restore some love, hope, and dignity to the NDDC. Many say it could be his background as an aluta continua of the University of Port Harcourt (with many associates and mates that wield influence in this generation). The most value seemed to be his activist career up to being a ranked ‘militant’ of intellectual blend. Many say he was in the trenches, at least metaphorically. So, he was believed to know first hand the worries of the ‘boys’ and their expectations.
The next was that he began to make pronouncements that appeared to touch hearts, and began to take steps that the people recognized.
Next, he announced that the Commission was rejecting ‘transaction’ to ‘transformation’. Many immediately understood this to mean that the NDDC was moving from corruption to honest business. This may not be what Ogbuku meant but that was what they ‘heard’, which is one of the problems of communication in the ‘sender-receiver loop’. The people or receivers are free to hear what pleased them.
Gradually, transaction leadership assumed the meaning of ‘corrupt leadership’ and ‘transformation leadership’ assumed the meaning of honest leadership. The danger this has posed so far is that any time any hint of act of corruption or mere delay in payment or suspicion of demand for ‘settlement’ is heard, many persons would get angry and accuse the ‘transformation steam’ to have stalled. This is the matter with perception management.
This has led communications experts around the Commission to begin to ask, what is transactional leadership, what is transformational leadership.
The classical view:
Transactional leadership is said to focus on short-term goals, rewards, and punishments, while transformational leadership emphasizes inspiration, vision, and the development of followers.
Transactional leadership thus focuses on task completion and maintaining the status quo. It primarily uses extrinsic rewards and penalties to motivate employees; and decisions are often based on established rules and procedures. Key characteristics are clear expectations, structured processes, and a focus on efficiency.
Nowhere here did corruption, looting of funds, diversion of or abandoning of projects were mentioned as features of transactional leadership.
Instead, it is indicated that this form of leadership can be effective in situations requiring order, structure, and short-term results. Simple: give contracts, get them executed, move to the next one. The people of the region would have jubilated. Was this what they got? Not at all. Instead they heard about a managing director burning N800m cash beside a river to invoke spiritual powers to stay on seat, splash of wealth in the faces of the poor, hints of funds flying to Abuja and beyond to non-Niger Delta ends.
NDDC view:
Whereas the masses were waiting to hear that looting, stealing, evils, etc would not happen in the NDDC anymore because of ‘transformational leadership’, what they heard was the Commission was implementing a “Triple-T” policy, which stands for “Transiting from Transaction to Transformation,” to ensure transparency and accountability in its operations. They were told the policy aimed to move away from a focus solely on transactional activities towards a more transformative approach to development. The masses waited to understand what exactly would begin to happen next under transformation.
They were told that the new policy emphasizes a shift from simply handling transactions to a more strategic and long-term approach to development. “This includes a focus on sustainable projects and programmes that address the root causes of socio-economic challenges in the Niger Delta region. It was clear the people understood the difference when they wanted to hear about money, empowerment, loans, grants, scholarship, support for burials and weddings, building palaces for monarch, etc. They would tell you they wanted ‘stomach infrastructure’.
Their beloved son the MD said wait, he would enthrone transparency and accountability, whereby the NDDC would be committed to being more transparent and accountable in its operations, including the use of public funds. “This is achieved through measures like strengthening internal controls, engaging reputable consulting firms (like KPMG) to review governance systems, and establishing clear performance metrics.”
They were told about youth empowerment where the NDDC would be actively working to empower the youth in the Niger Delta through programmes like the HOPE initiative, which aims to build a comprehensive database of the youth population. This database will help the commission tailor its youth development programs and initiatives to meet the specific needs of the region’s youth.
There would be sustainable development with a policy that would emphasize the importance of sustainable development, including addressing environmental concerns and adopting renewable energy approaches.
Read also: NDDC at 25: Strategic steps from transaction to transformation
There would be partnerships whereby the Commission would seek partnerships with various stakeholders, including the United Nations, to accelerate development in the region and address issues like food security, job creation, education, and renewable energy.
There would be community involvement in such a way that the NDDC would focus on community involvement in project selection, design, implementation, and monitoring to ensure that projects align with the needs and aspirations of the local communities. Then, digital transformation such that the NDDC is to embrace digital transformation in its governance and operations, using technology to improve efficiency and transparency.
What did the people understand from above? The only thing they seemed to hold strongly to is that they can trust the MD (Ogbuku) and that he feels what they feel and must be better.
Ordinary people view:
If the concepts and grammar are too big to comprehend, what the ordinary people have been saying at various fora and engagements is for the NDDC to end operate with zero corruption, if they cannot catch those who looted the N6trn, at least.
If transactional leadership is about creating changes internally to carry out functions well by making some changes in some units of the organization and by using rewards and punishments to get things going, what was a crime in that? If transformational leadership means re-ordering the approaches of the organization and getting its followers to have a different expectation which creates harmony between the organization and the public, what is it that the ordinary will look up to?
What the ordinary people want to hear, if not public flogging of those who looted the N6trn, at least that method of appointment of CEOs has changed to picking technocrats and not seasoned politicians who only see the next election. That could be why they seemed comfortable with their son the activist as MD for now. Yet, some stir.
The people want tenure stability so an MD and Board can start things and see them through. More importantly, for the few that understand about budgeting, they want better budgeting system that allocated funds in such a way that no project lasts for more than three years instead of the ‘envelop’ system of giving little to too numerous projects that may never get executed.
The people want efficient reporting line where an NDDC CEO controlling about N400bn per year before and now N1.9trn would report to a minister controlling a mere N18bn capital vote through a director that is not known to the NDDC ACT. Bureaucracy would kill the little work that could have been done.
The people do not want the NDDC to be reporting to lords in other faraway regions and thus be rushing to Abuja every now and then. They think that subserviency would make their sons and daughters heading the place to be crouching at the feet of strangers in Abuja to get things done in the oil region. This was annoying the people. They wanted it to stop. It is important to explain of transformational has healed this.
They think that bad tenure system and bad reporting line by NDDC to many masters caused looting in the commission because of going for ‘budget defence’ that is understood as going to share out projects to lords in Abuja that would have to give the budget a nod.
Now, the people seem to see many projects being executed. For the first time, the Commission has N1.9trn. This is because the president sourced a loan of N1trn for the Commission. What the people use to hear in the past was that the FG was owning the NDDC and was not remitting the correct amount.
The people now see landmark projects inaugurated in Delta, Rivers, Imo and Abia States such as the Abraka-Oben Road in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State and the Obunku-Umuosi Road in Oyibo Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Others are the 7.8-km Eziama-Abba-Owerre Nkworji Road, which links Isiala Mbano Local Government Area to Nwangele Local Government Area of Imo State, and the reconstructed Isi-Court Olokoro-Amaoba Oboro Road in Umuahia South LGA of Abia State.
It now means that the FG is bringing, not taking, or withholding. It may mean that their son is striving to use the funds well by executing many projects in every place plus free healthcare, solar street light system, transparent overseas scholarships, mega projects such as the Okitipupa power system, Ogbia-Nembe Road, and many more.
If this is transformational music, they say, let it continue.
