Date Published: 08/04/09
NASS Bureaucracy, Nasiru Ibrahim Arab And The Challenge Of Human Resource Management And Development.
By Emeka Oraetoka
When Edwin B. Flippo defined personnel management to mean, the planning, organizing, directing and controlling of the procurement, development, compensation, integration, maintenance and separation of human resources to the end that individual, organizational, and societal objectives are accomplished; management scientists hailed his definition as the most comprehensive and accurate of all other definitions. In-fact, they referred to him as father of modern personnel management. As time went by, it was discovered that Flippo’s definition was too narrow to withstand the irreplaceable contribution of workers in organizations as human resources is seen as the most critical factor of production. Critics of personnel management based their argument on the fact that it sees workers as a cost rather than an investment. In a nutshell, tools for the accomplishment of organizational goals only. In the light of this, emphasis was shifted to Human Resource Management and Development that sees workers as significant source of advantage in an organization.
Before Alhaji Nasiru Ibrahim Arab became the clerk of the National Assembly in 2005, according to management scientists, the Assembly was personnel management driven- the workers were seen as cost rather than as investment. They [management scientists] argued that before the shift of emphasis from personnel management to human resources development and management, most government departments that are seen to be inefficient and ineffective had human resource management problems. The arising poor service delivery was also traceable to the problem of poor workers’ management. Although, the coming of democracy in 1999 after a long period of military rule, helped in the shift of focus by the executive arm of government from personnel management to human resource management. For instance, monetization programme of federal government is a product of government realization that civil servants deserve to own houses after their retirement from active service. At the National Assembly however, the issue of workers welfare and motivation received a deserved attention when Arab took over as the clerk.
Management scientists have acknowledged the efforts of Arab in the area of human resource development and management since he became the head of the National Assembly bureaucracy four [4] years ago. Information has it that staffs of NASS, irrespective of level are enjoying development training from to time. This has prepared them to fit into legislative bureaucracy in line with parliamentary best practices. It is further said that staffs are being constantly developed for operational efficiency and effectiveness. Under Arab, so many initiatives aimed at total motivation of staffs at the National Assembly had been introduced. The latest in the series of motivational initiatives is the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Owner- Occupier Housing Scheme for the staff of the National Assembly on Friday, 31 st July 2009; by the heads of the two chambers of the National Assembly, Senator David Mark and Honourable Dimeji Bankole. There is no doubt that this housing scheme will go a long way in re-assuring the staffs of NASS that when they eventually retire from active service, each and every one of them will have a house he can call his own. It could be reasonably said that this housing scheme was initiated by the leadership of NASS bureaucracy in line with the belief that in human resource management, workers are seen as an investment rather than cost.
The owner occupier housing scheme is perhaps the first real statement that human resources is a significant source of strategic advantage in any establishment. The scheme may have gone a long way in proving that gone are the days when workers contribution is limited only in the accomplishment of the objectives of the organization and does not go beyond the organization- that is, workers are seen as mere tools to be used and discarded, and here lies the shortcomings of personnel management approach.
Nasiru Ibrahim Arab has succeeded in enthroning effective and efficient Human Resource Management system at the National Assembly as a perfect replacement for the old personnel management system.
Emeka Oraetoka
Information Management Consultant & Political Researcher
Wrote in from Garki-Abuja
P O Box 18928
e-mail: oramekllis@lycos.com
