SINCE the inception of its political dispensation, Plateau State has experienced a lot of turbulent moments which have no doubt, blurred the focus of those in leadership positions as well as slow down its growth. The crisis in the state has been spiral in nature and it seems to have defied human solution despite the government's efforts to quell the disruptions.The first tenure of Governor Jonah Jang could not be spared from the malady of crises but with the various upheavals, he was able to record some remarkable achievements based on his administration's 10-point-agenda that was spearheaded by his anti-corruption crusade. That had injected relative sanity into the administration of the state which was alleged to be fraught with corruption before he came on board.That, perhaps, according to political critics, gave credence to why he got his second term mandate without much sweat despite opposition within and outside the state coupled with the ploy by some of his political opponents to capitalise on the crisis to truncate his second term bid. However, to further strengthen the act of governance in the state and to address some of the lingering problems bedeviling the state, with the aim of having a clear focus to pursue the mandate of moving the state forward, a retreat was recently organised by the state governor, Jonah Jang.Recently, the state government, in conjunction with the German Integration Corporation (GIZ), organised a retreat tagged, 'Strategic Thinking Retreat for Senior Executive, Legislative and Judiciary Officers', at the Obudu Cattle Ranch Resort in Cross River State.One of the unique aspects of the retreat was the coming together of the three arms of government, with the aim of fashioning out policies that would propel the growth of the state and the involvement of the civil society groups to criticise various thought provoking papers ranging from "Democracy and Governance, Trans-formational Leadership and Stewardship, Civil Service Rules and Governance, Executive 'Legislative Relations, Transparency and Accountability, Structure and Challenges of Governance", among others were presented by eminent scholars, seasoned administrators, including traditional rulers and religious leaders.In his opening remark, Governor Jang said that the retreat was aimed at sharpening the focus of the administration for the next four years and described the retreat as a spiritual mission to assess the journey of the administration so far.Contrary to the speculation that the purpose of the retreat was to discard the 10-point agenda during his first tenure, Governor Jang said that the retreat was to review his administration towards human resources development, infrastructural development and finance options.Said he, 'As we scale our priorities against what has been achieved in the first tenure, we are also expected to work out how these targets can be attained in relation to time and resources.'On the security challenges facing the state and the nation as a whole, the Gbong-Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, in a paper titled: 'The Structure and Challenges of Governance', advocated for the amendment of the constitution to address myriad of security challenges confronting the country saying security arrangement on ground was defective.According to him, the amendment became necessary to enable governors have control of security apparatus such as state police to address the insecurity in their respective states.Other resource persons, especially the top security agents, who spoke on peace and security in the state x-rayed the situation facing the state and that elicited powerful discussions and feedback from the participants. In his response, Governor Jang strongly condemned the involvement of the military in the internal security of the country, especially in arresting the myriad of crises rocking some parts of the country.He stated that if the military personnel who were being accused of taking sides, were not redeployed back to the barracks, the nation's democracy might be threatened.Before now, the military personnel used to stay in the barracks, but today, the armed forces have started taking sides in religious crisis. If they are not called to order, it may be dangerous to the country."Some of the soldiers on these peace missions often abandon their primary duty posts and instead, are seen escorting Fulani to the bush in search of cows. In the past, the military used to keep a tradition that even a dog was not allowed to be kept in the barracks,' he said.The governor said that the crises in the state and other parts of the country had forced him to have a re-think on his early position against the creation of state police, saying that such establishment became necessary to arrest the spate of uncivilised acts gradually becoming a norm in the country.'I cannot see why as a state governor, I cannot give directives to the Commissioner of Police in a critical situation and he would not carry it out but would rather seek permission from the Inspector General of Police."The senior government officials at the retreat were also tutored on prudency and accountability and the danger of corrupt practices in government.In a paper titled "Transparency and Accountability' delivered by Mr Kabiru Elelu, a Principal Legal Officer,with the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), he commended the state government for its internal war against corruption and charged the new political appointees to be upright and transparent in running governmental activities, stressing that corruption remained the bane of the growth of Nigeria.Other topical papers handled by resource persons at the retreat include: Civil Service Rules and Governance by the State Head of Service, Mr. Moses Gwom; Political Parties and Democracy: Fundamental for Public Office Holders by Dr. Haruna Dabin, PDP Chairman, Plateau State; Balancing Power with Responsibility: Reflections on Executive-Legislative Relations by the Chief of Staff Government House, Mr. Gyang Pwajok.On the economic front, Elder Bulus Dareng delivered a paper on Financing Option in Plateau State (Internal). He declared that the dwindling subvention to the state could not meet its needs considering the enormous challenges facing the state. He charged the government to look inwardly and begin to consider the possibility of generating revenue from within to complement federal government allocation to the state.Some elements of spirituality were also injected into the retreat as a renowned minister of God, Prophet Isa El-Buba of the Ebomi Ministry International spoke on the righteous governance and admonished the senior government officials present to have the fear of God in their dealings with people and in handling affairs of the state saying that as leaders they would give account of their stewardship before God.At the end of the seven days strategic thinking retreat, the government came out with 'The Obudu Re-Affirmation' with a mission statement of, 'To confidently take responsibility for better ways of doing things, laying the solid foundation for sustaining resources development, wealth creation, poverty reduction, value reorientation and emergence of stable democratic governance.'Speaking with newsmen, the state Commissioner for Information, Pastor Yiljap Abraham, with the Special Adviser (Media), Mr. Pam Ayuba and Director of Press Affairs, Mr. James Mannock, said that the retreat exposed the participants to a lot of salient issues, especially on how to move the state forward and build a team spirit with the aim of creating a synergy among the political office holders and the civil servants to move Plateau forward.Pastor Yiljap said that the retreat, no doubt, afforded the senior government officials the opportunity to learn new skills of governance, to perform better as pillars of support to the governor and other people at the top, adding that the sessions were highly interactive, eye opening and hilarious.On the structure and challenges facing governments, the Gbong-Gwom charged the new commissioners to ensure that their Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), proposed such projects that are captured in the budget so as not to raise unnecessary budgetary stress, adding that team work was equally necessary to realise the objective of the administration and implored each MDA to pick one item in the 10-Point Agenda of the present government so as to propel development.
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