What Gets Measured, Gets Done: NPP In Crisis Under The Current General Secretary – Alhassan Abdul Ganiyu

The sudden change of the electoral calendar of the party’s Constituency elections is a clear indication that the CEO of the great elephant party is either sleeping on the job or is complacent due to the perceived so-called experience. Experience they say is the best teacher, however, it can also be disastrous because it can breed complacency, arrogance, pride, diminishing returns, counter productivity, reckless decision making, self-aggrandizement and the like

Logically, an event of such huge significance to a leading political party as internal elections ahead of General Elections, can only be put on hold for some intractable emergencies such as disasters and other natural occurrences, outbreak of a pandemic, state of emergencies, etc.
How could an annual ritual of a religious duty on the Islamic Calendar be legitimate rationale behind the postponement of a scheduled event of a party? Were we not aware of this annual important Islamic holy event? This, obviously, is a flagrant display of incompetence and lack of foresight that is least expected of an administrator, a CEO who is so touted as having so much experience and thus, vying for the retention of his position as the administrator of this great party.

He has demonstrated complete naivety of the elemental principles of management and administration. No wonder, the direction of the party is indeterminable.
Will it not be such an infelicitous and a pathetic occurrence for a major political party like the NPP to so abruptly, abort a scheduled constitutional event on such grounds as would not fundamentally affect the process? This, clearly, raises the question of competence and pro-activeness.
“Leaders are, because they see into tomorrow’s eventualities, and secure their contingencies in their foreplaning.” When did the party lack the men of vision to propel it to its deserving pedestal? This is a saddening development!

The conduct of this year’s internal elections has exposed a plethora of lapses which put the NPP in a state of bleakness, two years into General Elections. Irrefutably, these developments only confirm the unpreparedness on the part of a leader who claims to be working in earnest for another electoral victory for the party in 2024.

Indeed, Management is to forecast, plan, organize, lead, coordinate and control an activity to achieve the intended objective.

Luther Gullick gives the catchword POSDCORD where P = Planning,
O = Organizing,
S = Staffing
D = Directing
CO = Co-ordinating
R = Reporting
B = Budgeting, as the main functions of Management. And any worthy Manager of any enterprise must be able to apply these in their day-to-day function. Maybe some tutorials in basic Management, without necessarily taking the functions one by one, is necessary to awaken the current administrator of our party from his slumber.

Successful managers deal with unforeseen problems whilst others struggle with unforeseen circumstances. The difference lies in PLANNING. Every organization, irrespective of its nature and purpose, must place heavy emphasis on planning in order to survive and grow. All other functions of Management mentioned above are undertaken after proper planning.

Planning deals with chalking out a future course of action and deciding in advance what to do, where, when and how to do it, to achieve predetermined goals. Planning bridges the gap between where we are and where we want to be.
Planning is pervasive and an intellectual activity that helps to resolve confusion, chaos, uncertainties, risks, wastes, among others.

The future is always full of uncertainties created by changes. It is planning that foresees the future and makes the necessary provisions for it.
One would admit without doubt from the foregoing that if the CEO of NPP able to administer the tenets of these basic Managerial Skills as mentioned above, organizing internal elections would not be as chaotic and as atrocious as we are currently experiencing at all levels within our party.

How do we proceed to measure our gains in such a haphazard manner?
Let it be emphatically stated, herein, that the decision of the General Secretary, if it is so established, is an orchestration in pursuit of an individualistic agenda, and this has the tendency to damage our party’s electoral fortunes in the next general elections.

It is in this light that it must be condemned forcefully and unreservedly! What is currently missing in NPP is a General Secretary who leads from the front. Such leaders do not speak about themselves; their work speaks on their behalf. They have internal locus of control where they control situations, and situations do not control them.

The position of the General Secretary requires razor-sharp competence, foresight and ability to confront challenges created by change.
As a matter of fact, I sincerely sympathize with our hardworking candidates who have invested so much into this internal exercise and are about to get the rudest shock of their lives.

The earlier something more decisive is done about this quandary the better for all stakeholders of the internal elections as well as the integrity and reputation of the NPP.

To be able to break the 8 year Jinx, we need to embrace Gullick’s catchword POSDCORD.
WHAT GETS MEASURED, GETS DONE- Planning is the KEY to break the 8

A new face, a new Hope