#TrackNigeria – The rumblings at NIMASA have continued over alleged irregularities by incumbent Director General Dakuku Peterside. Specificially, a group has been crying loud over what it said has been the alleged marginalization of the north in recent strange promotion exercises carried out by NIMASA under the direct coordination of the DG.The results of one of the promotion exercises duly carried out by the Administrative Staff College(ASCON) were dumped by DG in favour of a fresh, questionable exercise under his direct supervision.
It is an open secret that the group championing the need for due process, Centre for National Unity and Cohesion, has already written a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari drawing his attention to the irregularities. In the petition, the Centre also called for appropriate measures to calm frayed nerves in the vital agency.
In its outcry titled : “Petition Against Corruption In Human Resources Management In The Nigeria Maritime Administration And Safety Agency, (NIMASA)” the Centre in its open letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari alluded to “the open and flagrant corrupt practices going on right now in NIMASA. This corruption as it were, may lead to total chaos and unprecedented industrial disharmony in the agency if urgent measures are not taken immediately to remedy the situation. The country’s maritime section in equally under serious threat of destabilization, which may also provide a lee-way to economic crisis, if the impending catastrophe is not nipped in the bud.”
A.S Osborne Adi jnr, Centre Coordinator and Markson Chukwume,Secretary of Centre based in Abuja proceeded to narrate in startling form how Peterside has marginalized northern and other staff in the agency.
According to them, “It all started in the last staff promotion exercise. As aptly captured by the agency’s own policy and criteria for staff promotion in chapter six(6) of its condition of service any candidate for promotion must have spent minimum number of years in a particular post/rank ranging from two, three or four years, depending on his/her grade level, vacancies, punctuality, qualification and seniority. Your Excellency, sequel to these, an assessment of the intellectual capacity of a potential candidate for promotion is also tested through examination by reputable and government approved human resources development organizations.
“Accordingly, NIMASA contracted the promotion examination for all qualifying staff to the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) and the Centre for Management Development (CMD), all of Lagos. This, they executed and the results forwarded to management for implementation.
The petition said, Peterside’s next move has left everyone puzzled . They told president Buhari that “in another twist unprecedented in the history of the agency, the Director–General/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, for reasons best known to him decided to throw into the dust bin the works of both ASCON and CMD. He proceeded to personally produce a new set of examination questionnaires and conducted the exercise himself. Information available to us indicated that Dakuku had unilaterally in the 2018 promotional examinations, lowered the cut off mark to 45 percent to accommodate staff from the South-South geopolitical region, who he publicly declared were marginalized in the agency.
“However, for him to raise the bar to 65 percent even after bench mark in the ASCON and CMB organized beats everybody’s imagination. In fact, of utmost concern to us and any discerning mind is that, he alone marked the papers and made his own scores. Therefore, no one knew the criteria he used in arriving at these scores or results. There was neither an independent or external review of how he arrived at his decision
Continuing, the petitioners said, “As a result of all these, Dr. Peterside came out of the exercise with a purely lopsided promotion that heavily tilted in favour of a particular section of staff from one region of the country against the rest. For instance, in the senior staff category, out of the 18 Grade Level 14 officers that were promoted to Assistant Directors, only three are from Northern Nigeria, with sprinkles from the South West and South– East while majority are from the South–South geo-political zone where the Director – General hails from.”
They added, “Another area of concern to discerning observers and employees alike in the massive promotion that took place in the Agency is that involving staff from Grade level 12–13. Under this category, 49 people were elevated with only six from the whole of the North. Even at the directorate level, the three Northerners recently promoted directors are already on their way to retirement. The imprecation is that in the next few months or so, the entire region will not be represented in that category. This is against the spirit and letters of the constitution.
“Your Excellency, while we are not being sentimental or deliberately attempting stoke – up any forms of division among the components of the Nigerian nation, we hasten to say that the entire process leading to the exercise is fraudulent, suspicious and full of nepotism and must be thoroughly investigated. How on earth can somebody explain how an exercise that involved 37 people only nine will be deemed desirable from one part, while more than 60 percent will go to only one section? What is happening with Federal character? Has it been expunged from the nation’s constitution? Put in another way, does it mean that other Nigerians working in NIMASA are not as brilliant as their South–South counterparts that they cannot pass the examination set up by Dr. Peterside, although being illegal? We are of the candid opinion that any mode of assessment where a single individual takes decision on the combined career future of staff as in this case without supervision or second opinion has high potential for manipulation and even possible victimization.
The petitioners urged the president to in their prayers take four urgent steps.They said “In view of the negative impact the action of Dr. Dakuku Peterside is already generating and consequent spread within and outside the agency, we sincerely and humbly invite the attention of your Excellency to the following:
“That your good office order for the recall of the original examination results organized by ASCON and CMD, who were accordingly contracted by NIMASA management to conduct the exercise in the first instance;
“A comprehensive review of the entire process to reflect international best practice as well as the application of government approved pass mark for promotions in MDAs; 3. An administrative panel should be constituted to investigated reasons for the action of the D-G, so as to forestall future occurrence;
The also want the president to “Ensure compliance with due process and implementation of quota system in order to reflect federal character which will in turn, promote national unity and cohesion among the staff of the agency
Finally, they suggested that “Appropriate sanctions be imposed on anybody or group found culpable in this illegality.”
Newsdiaryonline reports that the effects of Peterside’s move have continued to rock the agency.There is however a high expectation that the President will soon take appropriate steps to ensure due process in the agency.
