From Abel Daniel Lafia
Sen. Sadiq Suleiman (APC, Kwara North) has indicated that public administrators play pivotal and a crucial role in the development of the Nigerian society.
Suleiman stated this at a two day international conference organized by the Association of Nigerian Public Administrators (APAN) held in Abuja on Tuesday.
The conference with the theme; Reinventing Public Administration for Sustainable Development in Nigeria, gave awards on Senator Suleiman and some other dignitaries as Fellows of the association in recognition of their contribution to the public service, public administration and the country in general.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen, Suleiman said the importance of public administrators in bringing about development to Nigeria is very important because policies made by government or laws passed by lawmakers that are directed towards development must be carried out or implemented by public administrators.
“Mainly the civil servants are the ones who carry out government policies. So without a robust public administrator, that is in charge of every sector in our society, how will you deliver goods or dividends of democracy? How do you bring about development?
“So public administration is at the centre of our development because all issues end up at the table of the administrator, he said.
He added that the opinion by some people that public administration is not a good career choice is due to ignorance and lack of proper enlightenment on the important role public administrators play to engender democracy in the country.
“That line of thought is an error. It is lack of knowledge, lack of education and probably lack of enough public enlightenment on what public administration entails and the important role public administrators play in the society.
“Everyone is looking at a profession that gives in immediate benefit and money. We don’t seem to look at the bigger picture of what goes on in every sector of our economy and society. People don’t really know much about it. So we need more public enlightenment,” he added.
He expressed delight over the fellowship awards bestowed on him and other recipients pledging to continue to support the association to grow.
In his speech, Prof. Kamal Bello, Chairman, Board of Trustees, ANPA expressed joy that the association has continued to grow in numbers since it’s registration on October 17, 2018 with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with registration number CAC/IT/119221.
“It is a thing of joy to inform this gathering that within a year 2021 to 2022 ANPA has moved from membership strength of 0037 to 0165 spread to all nooks and crannies and strata in Nigeria and the world and still counting. That is seven times increase,” he said.
He admitted that the increase was due to the combined efforts of members of the association’s Board of Trustees, state coordinators and members spread throughout the higher institutions in the country and the various facets of public service.