NIGERIANS NEED MINDSET RESET & ATTITUDINAL CHANGE FOR RAPID SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - PROF OJ PARA-MALLAM, mni.

NIGERIANS NEED MINDSET RESET & ATTITUDINAL CHANGE FOR RAPID SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT-PROF OJ PARA-MALLAM, mni.

By: Justin Jattim 

Prof Oluwafunmilayo Josephine Para-Mallam, mni the Director of Studies of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru-Jos , in a Media Chat with the selected Media Executives of the NewsGate Magazine, Newscrest Newspaper, Jat HotNews Newspaper, Frank News Magazine, Emerald MagazineAce News Online, News Update Online and the News Parrot Newspaper spoke on the Achievements, Challenges and the Prospects of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies since assumption of office in 2021 to date. 

The eloquent and disciplined Director of Studies spoke on the innovation brought to take the elite institute to enviable heights and to international standard.

Prof Para-Mallam insists Nigerians need a mindset reset and attitudinal change to develop as a nation in full humanity and faith for a better national outlook. 

Do enjoy the Excerpts. 

Jat HotNews: By way of introduction may we know you? 

Professor Para-Mallam: Okay. I am Professor Oluwafunmilayo Josephine Para-Mallam mni. I am the Director of Studies at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru  near Jos.I am also the National Coordinator of  Christian Women for Excellence and Empowerment in Nigeria Society. By the Grace of God Almighty, I am the Chairperson of the African Women Leaders’ Network, Nigeria Chapter, a mother of five and a grandmother. 

Jat HotNews: We would like you to list your Achievements, Challenges, and Prospects since assumption of office as the Director of Studies. 

Prof. Para-Mallam : Okay, so let's take it in that order. Yes achievements. To the Glory of God, I came in here with the desire to make a difference, especially in terms of repositioning the directorate for greater impact. You may be aware that the National Institute is the apex policy research think-thank for Nigeria and we are charged with the responsibility of training leaders at the top level of government; we are also charged with the responsibility of thinking, reflecting, and dialoguing in order to produce the best type of policy advice to help our nation. 

The Directorate of Studies is central to that mandate, because it is in this directorate that we train Senior Executives through the Senior Executive Course every year. This year, 2022, we have 90 Participants and last year, 2021 we had 87. Thus, this is a unique opportunity to produce leaders for Nigeria that are expected to go out to make a significant change. 

So immediately I took office  in February 2021, I decided to put up a proposal on repositioning the directorate, to make this course , more internationally benchmarked, in a diversity of ways. 

First, to see how we can use ICT more effectively and efficiently to create a virtual learning environment, as part of an overarching goal of creating an integrated management system that would ensure that we don't just focus on the Senior Executive Course, but we extend our reach and impact beyond this course to other lower cadre officers in the public and private sector. That includes people who need the type of policy and leadership training we offer. So, for example, we have the Policy Strategy Leadership Course(PSLC) , that was already on the stream since 2008. We have the Strategy Course for Command Responsibility Course(SCCR), that was already on the stream.We just started the Youth Transformational Leadership Course(YTLC), and our desire is to have more of such. And not just to run them in situ here at NIPSS. But, by creating a Virtual Learning Environment, people could even sign into them online. So we would have like a blended learning system. Thank God for the coming of the new Director General who just arrived here in March 2022. He has asked for that proposal and I have sent it to him. He wants to work with it. So that is  just one of the things we are trying to put in place. 

Secondly we started a system to encourage and motivate our staff. So for the first time, we instituted what we call Staff of the Month Award. Every month we select a staff who has distinguished himself or herself by working diligently and we get that person acknowledged and awarded, even if it is just a token. 

Equally, we set in place last year, a digital Resource Person Evaluation System to evaluate the performance of resource persons and faculty. That too will be more expanded so that everybody will be evaluated through a 360 degrees peer review system. 

Why do we have to do this? It is for higher performance, because when people are not been monitored or assessed, everybody can do what they want, especially in the public service. So we want a system whereby people can be recognized and motivated to perform. They are here with the responsibility to do their job. So apart from motivating them, we also want to emplace a system for proper monitoring and evaluation so that people will know that they have to perform. 

Another thing we are trying to achieve is to implement some infrastructural changes so as to  make the learning environment very conducive and pleasant. For example, we have a TV installed down there, so that once you come in here, you can see our programs and activities, past and present and upcoming. We reorganised the common room and foyer, and brought in Directing Staff pigeonholes and flowers to make the learning environment more functional and pleasant. Finally, what I would want  want to mention is that we have an open door policy.

Suffice it to say that before I came in, the staff were not having regular meetings, but now we meet every month with the directing staff. This is to keep staff abreast on what is happening in the directorate at all times. The intention is to have more responsive leadership so that everybody should be involved and abreast with  things are happening. 

Jat HotNews: What are the challenges of the Department? 

Professor Para-Mallam: Challenges. I think the number one challenge is that we need to persuade the Federal Government of the critical importance of the National Institute, so that the National Institute gets the funding it deserves; the funding it requires to perform its mandate. Thus I will say resource deficit probably, is the major challenge. In particular, we have a deficit of academic staff. I think we probably need a fuller component of Academic staff that would help us do some of the things that we were supposed to do. For example, we need to be sending more frequent policy briefs to Government. To do that, we need people who are experts in their fields, who are competent and know how to process policy briefs and policy papers. In addition, we need more specialised staffers, such as program officer cadre staff and the like to make sure we have a robust  human resource base to do the things that we need to do. We actually need human resources, funding resources and what have you. 

Jat HotNews: What are the prospects of the Directorate in the institute? 

Professor Para-Mallam: the prospects are enormous I will say. As the Apex Policy Research Institute for the nation, we the ear of the Presidency to some extent because every year we have an audience with Mr President. This institute is directly under the Presidency, supervised by the office of the Vice President. So, that is an enormous platform for engagement you know, at the highest level of governance. 

There are many prospects for us to be able to make policy impact. But I also think that there are prospects for us to expand our training reach, so that more people can benefit from the kind of knowledge and expertise and training resource we offer at the National Institute. Indeed there are great prospects.

Jat HotNews: What is your advice to women that are in career service like you? 

Professor Para-Mallam : I think the number one advice I will give to women is to believe in themselves. Believe in their capacities, and not to look down on themselves. They should always support other women who are also in career service and mentor younger women who are coming up. 

 I would also advise that they find a way to improve themselves. Self improvement is very important. Don't ever believe that just because you have a degree, you have a masters or whatever that you are done learning. 

You should have an attitude of constant learning, a life-long learning attitude, because learning is something that we should do everyday. So we should never get tired of learning, improving ourselves, training and improving our skills. Don't ever sit and be satisfied with the skills you have. Keep reaching for something else and better. 

There is a tendency for career women to sometimes be intimidated, or made to feel they don't deserve certain positions. For example, when I applied for this position, I had a lot of opposition. Some people were saying it was arrogant of me as a woman to think that I should be able to occupy this position and why did I think I deserved to be in this office? A lot of women come up against  such attitude. They ask: why are you competing with men? But they forget that first of all, we are all human beings and we are all here to contribute our maximum quota to our society. Men do not have the monopoly of knowledge, they do not have the monopoly of competence. God created all of us and gave us something that we can bring to the development to our nation. 

So I will tell women: don't look down on yourself. Don't even listen to the contrary messages to make you feel that you are “just a woman”.  Don’t pay heed to any societal messaging that will make you feel that you are less than a man. Look up to God for your identity, look up to God for your sense of worth and do what you know God has made you competent to do, and apply yourself to it.

Jat HotNews: Ma'am, how do you feel to occupy this office and what will you like to be remembered for at the end of your tenure? 

Professor Para-Mallam : Wow, how it feels? I feel totally honored.I feel profoundly honored by God. Most days if I come into this office, the first thing I do is to kneel down and give God the glory and praise. Because I recognize that I am only here by his grace. So, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude to God and I know the battle that God fought on my behalf to take me here. 

For me, I see it as a sacred trust, I see it as an opportunity to serve God despite all opposition. So that's how I will say it feels. 

And for what I would like to be remembered for? I hope that I will be remembered for having done the best that I could do within the powers that God has given me. And that my tenure here should mark a radical departure from what was wrong with the past. And that it should mark a transformational change for better, that I should leave a mark of having helped  to take the National Institute to a higher level. That's what I hope to be remembered for. 

Jat HotNews: Prof, what are the criteria for admission into this institute and how do you rate the participants? 

Professor Para-Mallam: If it comes to the Senior Executive Course, that is by nomination and there are certain bodies that have the statutory right and responsibility to nominate which are, the Federal Government through the Office of the Head of Civil Service, the Uniformed Services and the State Governments  Every year 12 of all the 36 states nominate one person and some institutions from the private sector like the NBA, NMA and the Nigerian Society of Women Affairs have a slot each. So there are statutory bodies that have a slot for nomination, once candidates are nominated, their names are sent to the  National Institute and they are screened to ascertain their suitability and eligibility for the course. Once they are screened and they are deemed okay, they are admitted, but that's only for the Senior Executive Course. 

For the PLSC, people are free to apply to come for that; it is a four week course. People from the private sector, from the public sector from the voluntary sector of  medium cadre to top-level can equally apply.  

Jat HotNews: Do you have any other issue that bothers you and you feel it needs to be addressed either nationally or internationally? 

Professor Para-Mallam: Yes definitely, because I think all of us are concerned over the issue of the insecurity facing this country. We are deeply concerned about the level of poverty, unemployment and almost hopelessness among our young people in the country. I think most Nigerians are probably groaning and sighing with great concern over what is happening in this country. 

I have been thinking a lot about how our country can get better and currently in the Senior Executive Course we are looking into strengthening local governance in Nigeria, challenges, opportunities and options. 

Two things are coming out very clearly which are, first, as Nigerians, whether we are leaders or we are led. We need a mindset reset. There is need for attitudinal change among all Nigerians. It is typical of us to always point accusing fingers at our leaders, but unfortunately many of us when we get to that position, we find ourselves doing even worse than what we were pointing out against our leaders.So unless we have an attitudinal change, to see ourselves first as people who are answerable to God, things won’t change. Secondly, as members of one humanity, we need to look out for each other. We are Nigerians before we belong to any ethnic group. Our country will not be better and we may not have rapid socioeconomic development as at when due if we don’t see ourselves as all part of one human family and as Nigerians who need to put our collective good above other interests.