Remembering Abdulrrahman Howeidy 10 years after
The concrete administrative foundation on which the Kano State Civil Service at its infancy was placed was the handiwork of Alhaji Howeidy as the team leader, along with his other seasoned technocrats. The State administration was smoothly conducted to the admiration of other States. Alhaji Howeidy’s vigorous energy and commitment to Civil Service was unprecedented. […]
The concrete administrative foundation on which the Kano State Civil Service at its infancy was placed was the handiwork of Alhaji Howeidy as the team leader, along with his other seasoned technocrats. The State administration was smoothly conducted to the admiration of other States. Alhaji Howeidy’s vigorous energy and commitment to Civil Service was unprecedented. Kano State under Governor Audu Bako’s administration attained maximum development initiative in various sectors particularly agriculture, health and education. His development legacies are still very visible. He was solidly supported by an efficient Executive Council, loyal and dedicated Civil Service headed by a competent and meticulous advisor in the person of Alhaji Howeidy. He was very conversant with the demands, duties, responsibilities and requirements of his office. He had five secretaries who were always busy taking dictations in turn in treating the Cabinet Office heavy work load.
It was to be expected that misunderstandings and conflicts were bound to occur from time to time in human organizations either due to differences of opinion, envy or some other reasons. Unfortunately, such predictability of human behavior occurred when a sudden fallout between the Governor and his SMG at the tail end of their administration unavoidably paralyzed their hitherto smooth working relationship.
The SMG reacted emotionally to a publication in the New Nigerian which reported that N3m contract was awarded by the Governor on the previous day to the late Pius Okigbo’s consultancy firm which was to undertake a feasibility study on the potential of underground water resources in Kano. Alhaji Howeidy was not aware of the decision which he thought ought to be endorsed by the Executive Council after a formal memorandum was presented for consideration. He was also of the view that the State’s Water Resources Engineering Construction Agency could competently handle the investigation. I was thinking that he was to call on the Governor to sort out the matter but quite unlike him, he acted beyond his mandate by instructing the Permanent Secretaries, Ministries of Finance and Works to suspend action in the processing of the contract awarded by the Governor until the correct procedure in discussing the matter in Council was followed. The Governor was furious when he learnt of the SMG’s instruction to the Permanent Secretaries of Finance and Works. He convened a meeting of the Executive Council at which the SMG was compulsorily retired from service. Alhaji Howeidy instantly appealed to the Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon through the Secretary to the Federal Military Government, Mr. Lawson who supported Howeidy’s defence that the awarded contract was not incorporated in the coordinated Third National Development Plan and was bound to create distortion that would adversely affect the success of the plan. General Gowon sent Mr. Ukpabi Asika to Kano as his emissary to mediate and reconcile the Governor and his SMG as well as to discard the premature retirement invoked. Governor Bako could not yield to the rapprochement. He was reported to have mobilized the support of some of his colleagues who prevailed on General Gowon to allow the Governor’s decision stand. General Gowon succumbed to the pressure which paved the way for Howeidy to proceed on compulsory retirement. This rupture of relations was not unfortunately mended up to the demise of the Governor ten years after the sad incident. When the news of Governor Bako’s death reached Howeidy, he involuntarily shed tears and prayed for the repose of his soul.
Another episode that threatened the stability of Governor Bako’s regime which the late SMG neutralized by applying his administrative skills and maturity, was the challenge of certain allowances payment to the Governor which the Permanent Secretary Finance thought to be inappropriate. In the discharge of his functions, late Ambassador Sani came across payment vouchers on entertainment and traditional gift allowances to the tune of ₤125 (N250) and ₤50 (N100) respectively paid to Governor Bako on monthly basis from the inception of the State. At that time ₤5000 (N10000) was always afloat as imprest for the upkeep of Government House out of which Ambassador Sani thought such entertainment expenses could be met. He summoned courage, wrote to the SMG and advised that such claims for entertainment and traditional gift were contrary to the provisions of General Orders and Financial Instructions, and should therefore be refunded. He threatened to surcharge the officer controlling the vote i.e. the SMG if the refund was not made against a deadline. The SMG was out of station at the time the letter reached his office. The Permanent Secretary sitting in for him drew the Governors attention to the contents of the letter and without hesitation convened Exco special meeting.
The Permanent Secretary was asked to expatiate on the reasons for such a somewhat rude letter but declined, and insisted that as the letter was addressed to the SMG not the Council, he was under no obligation to offer any explanation. Members of the Council prevailed on the Governor to allow the SMG and the Permanent Secretary sort out the matter upon the former’s return from official trip to Kaduna. Upon Howeidy’s return, Sani’s correspondence was drawn to his attention and surprisingly he agreed in principle with Sani after going through the relevant provisions of the GOs and FIs. He thought however, rightly or wrongly, that the Governor should continue to enjoy the allowances presumably in an effort to save his exalted office and person from disrepute and ridicule. A memorandum to the Council on the ratification of the allowances was presented and approved with retrospective effect from the date he assumed duty as Governor. The Council conclusions were circulated to all Ministries and when the Permanent Secretary Finance read his copy, he wrote back to the SMG suggesting that since the Governor would continue to enjoy the allowances in the same vein with personal emoluments, he should pay tax. SMG’s reaction was to endorse the observations to the Commissioner of Revenue for comments. The Commissioner’s verdict after a week of research into personal income tax laws at Kaduna Archives was that any payment labeled as allowance was not taxable. Howeidy immediately endorsed the Commissioner of Revenue’s comments to Sani and wondered as to what might have prompted him to think that the Governor’s allowances should be subjected to tax. Howeidy indeed succeeded in puncturing Sani’s balloon as he could not counteract the professional advice rendered by the Commissioner of Revenue who happened to be under his direct supervision as Permanent Secretary Finance. If Sani had initially bothered to sound the opinion of the Commissioner of Revenue, he would have avoided the embarrassment of the Commissioner’s verdict which was contrary to the opinion he held. Howeidy schemingly exploited the situation by sending reminders to Sani every two weeks on three occasions to which he did not respond. He was subsequently asked to handover his duties to his Deputy and proceed to Federal Service on desecondment.
Sani’s astounding reaction to this bewildering situation was to mobilize the support of some of his colleagues, Permanent Secretaries as well as the Chairman of the Public Service Commission, who expressed regret on the impasse. He pointed out that secondments and transfers were matters falling within the Commission’s jurisdiction but as Sani’s desecondment was decided without involving the Commission there was nothing he could do. Resorting to the saving grace of the Permanent Secretaries, a meeting in Sani’s house was held. The consensus was for him to write a petition to General Gowon to narrate the peculiar circumstances surrounding his desecondment to Federal Service and to cast a shadow on the stability and viability of Kano State, if a Governor could just decide to dispense with the services of a top civil servant, notwithstanding ICSA’s blue prints which stressed that Governors should not interfere in civil service matters except to approve recommendations made to them in appropriate cases.
Towards the end of his life, Howeidy enjoyed the goodwill and patronage of some of the Civil Servants who worked under him and admired his style of administration. He was highly respected for his open door policy, his friendship with his peers and subordinates alike and liberal attitude in mingling and interacting with people. Banking facilities were made available by well wishers and benefited him greatly in the running of his Fertile Acres agricultural business. He secured a land title in Abuja through the kind assistance of Alhaji Wada Aliyu then Permanent Secretary, FCT. He disposed of the land at N80 million and was able to settle all his debts, purchased three bungalows at Gwarinpa in Abuja and was utilizing some cash as working capital. He was indeed on top of the world when he suddenly fell ill. It was a liver ailment which needed delicate treatment with strong antibiotics. He endured excruciating pains leading to his death while asleep. Howeidy’s family and friends highly appreciated the assistance rendered by the Kano State Governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso for the settlement of hospital fees including charges for drugs on the recommendation of Alhaji Ado Gwaram, then Secretary to the State Government. Alhaji Howeidy died credit worthy and dignified. I lost a mentor, guardian and father figure. I always remember him for his strong commitment to the tenets, growth and development of the Kano State Civil Service. A firm and fair gentleman who was very kind to loyal subordinates. May his soul continue to rest in peace. Amen.
It is enlightening to bear in mind that Public Service should always be concerned with public interest which includes accountability in the management of public funds.
Ambassador B.M Sani, mni, wrote this piece from Sharada in Kano. He can be reached at [email protected]