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Nigeria: Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki recently hosted an Internal Stakeholders Workshop at John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA). The event was meant for the training of the stakeholders in the Edo State Housing Policy.
During the workshop, Governor Obaseki said that one of the most important functions of government is policymaking. Obaseki commended the Edo State Housing Policy Committee, headed by Prof. P.S. Ogedegbe during the event. He applauded the effort of the committee thus far in putting together a draft of the policy.
Speaking on the importance of policymaking in governance, Obaseki said: “Most times in government, the operators of government do not seem to understand their purpose. They think that their purpose is the contracts that are awarded, the things that are built, the things you see. If you are not building roads, or building schools, or taking some specific physical actions, they think you are not doing anything.
“They do not realize that the most important function of government is thinking, setting in place a policy, a direction, a compass, on where we should be going. That is more important than anything else. It is only when you have set in place a correct policy that other actors now begin to play their own parts.”
Obaseki stressed that this important aspect of governance that deals with policy making has been diminished. He explained that many see the policy making aspect as theoretical, which then leads to disparity and lack of cohesion in the different segments of governance, because there is no common ground for actions.
“One of the things we want to be remembered for is that when we came into government, we brought the brain of government back into government, so that government can start to think again for us. It is that process of thinking that creates a plan, and creates actions by an internal executor”, he added.
Addressing the participants on the Edo State Housing Policy, the Governor charged them to own and internalize it, taking it into consideration while delivering government services to the people.
According to Obaseki, “One of the most important policies we must leave behind is this document, which summarizes and puts together how we live in our physical space.
“After now, everybody who is part of this must take ownership and contribute to it to have something final. It must be your ‘Bible’ by which everybody works. The Ministry of Roads and Bridges cannot and should not build any road without reference to this document; neither should the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Health decide to build schools or hospitals without thinking through what the housing policy is; how whatever they are doing is going to affect other peers in the ecosystem.”
“This draft you are displaying today will just be a piece of paper, another document, if it is owned, internalized, and executed. I do not want a master plan in the traditional sense of a master plan. A master plan is not a document that a consultant produces and gives to you. A master plan is your own plan that you have mastered.
“Subsequent generations will know that this is how we do things. It is part of a culture that we have lost, and it is really going to be difficult building it. That is what I want you to take away. It is not going to be easy. It is about resetting our minds”.