H. Pierson Urges Ministers, Governors to Deploy Professional Plans

H. Pierson Urges Ministers, Governors to Deploy Professional Plans

Experts at H. Pierson Associates, a leading strategy consulting firm, have emphasised the need for the newly sworn-in ministers as well as the state governors that were elected few months ago to priorities the deployment of professionally articulated medium-term plans.
The Head Public Governance Advisory at H. Pierson Associates, Val Onyeakazi, stated this in a report obtained at the weekend.

This, he said was badly needed considering the shape of the national economy.
“May 29th 2019 saw the swearing-in of new state governors. Last week August 21, also saw the inauguration of new ministers taking on their portfolios. Both governors and ministers will meet their States and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in different states of progress, drift or inertia.

“With the economy in its current weak state as evidenced in a low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate below the population growth rate, high unemployment and high poverty levels, expectations are very high, more so as the APC itself has this time come to power on a promise of taking Nigeria to the ‘Next level,” Onyeakazi explained.

Continuing, he said, “from our experience over the years working with states and parastatals to succeed, nothing guarantees success more for a governor than being guided by a developmental master plan that is meticulously executed using strong public and private sector collaborative monitoring and evaluation frameworks.”

According to him, “execution is even trickier and that is where we put in much more professional support as the forces against execution, especially in the public sector, are unimaginably huge in our environment.”

He pointed out that public sector leadership in the country falls into three categories – those that hope to succeed using no structured plans, those who develop well-articulated strategic plans but are unable to effectively execute them, and then those who have clear plans and deploy very strict monitoring and evaluation frameworks to ensure that the set initiatives are duly executed and the desired outcomes and impact are closely tracked and achieved.

“We definitely need to see much more of the third category if we must transform from our still largely backward state of development.

“While some states such as Lagos State have blazed the trail, a few others have sought to bring in this desirable levels of methodical planning, execution and professionalism, in ensuring their public sector entities truly deliver superior value to their citizenry and stakeholders. The entire nation will be much better off if most states follow this path,” he added.

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