The Centre for Information Technology and Development CITAD organized the first edition of the Inspiring Leadership Reflection Interactive Series (ILERIS) in Jama’are. In this maiden edition  CITAD hosted His grace, Yariman Jama’are and the District Head of Jama’are (Hakimin Cikin Garin Jama’are), Alhaji Nuhu Ahmad Wabi Mni (Former Permanent Secretary Bauchi State Government) as the  Guest Speaker.

The event started at about 10:30am. In his welcoming address the Executive Director of CITAD who was represented by the Ag. Program Coordinator, Malam Isah Garba, who in his welcome address, thanked the guest speaker for honoring CITAD’s invitation to be the first guest speaker at the maiden edition of ILERIS which henceforth will be holding monthly. Malam Isah enumerated briefly the reasons why CITAD came up with the initiative which according to him started some four years back in CITAD’s  head office in Kano which later taken to  Dutse office and now Jama’are office. Thus; to avail the opportunity for youths to have one on one contact with who excelled in one area of endeavourer or the other (Royal Fathers, Academicians, Politicians, Business Personalities and Women Leaders etc) thereby bringing the youth to hear from these people how they started the travails they went, their challenges and how did they overcome the challenges and lessons to be learnt in all. Therefore, giving them a  priceless chance of being mentored non gratis; to inculcate the spirit of reading culture and values in young people which is seriously degrading and to serve as a source of inspiration for the youths as  future leaders.

In his speech, the guest speaker started by making some clarifications on the concept of leadership, administration and management and the role a  leader plays in the process as source of inspiration and one who (in the process administration) exact a great deal of influence on the his followers/fellows subordinates.

Alhaji Nuhu, then went on to share with the participants his biography. An excursion into his life’s story, narrated a journey which started at birth into the Fulbe Jama’are Royal Family. Born and brought up as a scion, will all the pleasures  of this life at his disposal, Yarima had to follow through the normal route to greatness like any other son in  Jama’are Land first by attending primary school, for his primary education. He then proceeded to then Government Secondary Schoo, Azare presently called Government College, Azare (popularly known as Kuranga College) thence, he finally navigated to the famous University of Jos for his degree program which he finished in  1984. He served under the compulsory one-year national service scheme (NYSC) in 1985 and immediately after that he joined the Bauchi state civil service from which he retired as a permanent secretary four years ago.

Yarima discussed how they were given (as students) all what it entailed and required for running an effective school system by the government of those days. He admitted that t, that the treatment they were given at primary school can be regarded as a pampering! (not exaggeration in anyway). He however admitted that ‘what we had in primary school was even doubled in secondary school’!

Discussing on leadership issue, Yarima lamented the degeneration in the quality of leadership and expressed hope that things will change, for the ‘change is inevitable’. Comparing the then civil service and the presence one, he said that those days you are given jobs and promoted because you are qualified for it. But today, in terms of jobs, the children of the poor are left with the wanted, he averred.

He also discussed on the issue of values and morals which are witnessing serious crisis of proportion and magnitude in our society. He narrated how greed robbed many of their morality and conscience, an unfortunate scenario that is abound in both private and public life (among both politicians and civil servant). He gave many anecdotes on his travail in the civil service in his attempt to control and check his and others greediness for wealth tendencies.

Ahmed  maintained throughout his years in the civil service, but an attitude which cost him frequent transfer and being at logger head with the people who are comfortable with the status quo. At the end Yarima find solace in one tactic which was his deliberate choice to be posted to the so called ‘quiet, less busy and non-lucrative MDAs’ where the possibilities of meetings such elements were quite slight. He sought to be posted to the busy but less lucrative Civil Service Commission (CSC) and at a point relocated to Sharia Commission (SC). According to him people were taken aback by this probable farce comedy, how possible a senior permanent secretary, who was just coming back from the VIP executive training at Kuru Jos will choose to work in the Sharia Commission, an institution which even the government was forced only by public pressure to establish and which since its establishment has been battling with acute underfunding problem. It is unfortunate that SC has not being given the money to implement/enforce the Sharia which is its core mandate. Yarima said that what guided his philosophy throughout his stay in the civil service was his determination to maintain his integrity, in fact, ‘my integrity was more important than the money I could gather…’ he maintained.

He also shared with the participants his experiences of working within the traditional institutions after three and half decades of working in the mainstream civil service. According to him traditional institution is different from civil service for it is less bureaucratic, there were no orders and circulars, no promotions and it is less organized.

Yarima tasked the young people to take entrepreneurial and small businesses very important for the era of waiting for government jobs is gone. So the idea that we only go to school to work in the government is a very wrong one, we go to school majorly to be able to think out of a box. Hardworking is the key to success; in fact, laziness brings poverty (Lalaci Shine Talauci) the guest speaker averred.

Yarima further maintained that he reached the highest level in the civil service not because of the fact that he was born into the royal family but the key secret of his success in life laid in hardworking and the will of God. In effect, Yarima is a typical case of a scion who decided to work as hard as the son of the poor could, he  didn’t took  the slightest of pride in being of royal blood.

It will be easy for Yarima to commit class suicide than many princes and heir apparent of his caliber. His tendency of keeping to the time is superb for he came to the venue at exactly 10:00am when majority of the participants were yet to arrive.