President Goodluck Jonathan appointed two new Special Advisers last week. They are Professor Sylvester Monye, the Special Adviser on Monitoring and Evaluation and Dr. Nwanze Okidegbe, the Chief Economic Adviser. During their swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Villa, the President made a telling statement.

He had chosen tried and tested people to assist him in building a new Nigeria that all of us will be proud of. He had settled for advisers who will actually do the job of advising him, not people out of their wits that will simply sit around and be taking counsel from the boss.

These two positions are at the centre of governance; they are critical for the overall success of the President’s transformation agenda. It is all too obvious that, for the President to succeed, his economic policy must be sound. It is equally clear that success will remain a mirage unless set down policies are implemented.

The office of the Special Adviser on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation is the barometer for gauging the failure–success index of governmental operations. This is where the appointment of Professor Monye is poignant. Previously, the problem had to do with many a government project coming to grief because of the absence of instruments for monitoring performance.

Not anymore.   Today, things are clearly spelt out. Professor Monye will be monitoring on the direct command of the President.

Put differently, the one doing the monitoring is the Number One citizen of the country. His Special Adviser Performance Monitoring and Evaluation is to be seen and understood by all as the vehicle by which the precise and specific plans and policies of government are given overall benefit and value. This is so, given the omnibus nature of the assignment. The Special Adviser on Monitoring and Evaluation monitors and evaluates deliverables of the various ministries, departments and agencies of government.

It is obvious that the assignment is one that is very dear to the heart of the President. It is no ordinary task to be carried out by someone whose credentials amount to the ownership of political party card or connections in high places. It is a highly complex assignment that calls for the services of a technocrat.

That is why Sylvester Monye’s appointment is a case of a square peg in a square hole.  He has taken up this job from his previous position of Executive Secretary, National Planning Commission. Yet, his other antecedents are deserving of underlining.

Born on March 4, 1959, Monye, who hails from  Onicha Ugbo in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State was educated at the Universities of London, Strathclyde in Glasgow and South Bank in London. He holds an MBA in Management, an M.Sc in Marketing Management and a Ph.D in International Business, which he completed in 1988. He is a fellow of a number of professional bodies, including the Academy of International Business and the Academy of Marketing Science.

He began his teaching career in 1986 at the University of Strathclyde, and subsequently moved to the South Bank University, London in 1989. He rose through the ranks and was appointed Professor of International Business in 1999 at the University of Applied Science, Bremen, Germany. Before then, he was Visiting Professor of International Business at Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand (1997-1999). In 2000, he returned to Nigeria to take up appointment as Special Assistant to the Presidential Advisor on Conflict Resolution in Africa.

A year later, he was appointed Director of Marketing and Promotion at the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, a position he occupied for four years.

In 2005, Professor Monye was deployed to Federal Ministry of Finance as Director of International Economic Relations. In this position, he was responsible for the coordination of Nigeria’s economic relations with multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the African Development Bank. Also in 2005, he joined the Board of OPEC Fund for International Development, Vienna Austria, as Alternate Governor for Nigeria.

He was also a Board Director of the Bank of Industry; member, National Hospital Management Board; member, Governing Council of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council; Board Director, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and Alternate Director for Nigeria on the Board of AFRIXIMBANK, Cairo Egypt.

In November 2006, Professor Monye was appointed to the position of Secretary to the National Planning Commission, where he was in charge of the day-to-day administration of the Commission, with oversight responsibility for the Centre for Management Development (CMD), Lagos, the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan; and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Abuja. By virtue of this appointment, he served as the Secretary of the National Economic Council.

He has also served on a number of important Ad-Hoc Government Committees such as the Committee on Management of the Excess Crude Account; Committee on the Niger Delta; the Steering Committee of Vision 20:2020; and the National Steering Council on the National Integrated Power Project, NIPP.

Professor Monye has an extensive list of publications, including three internationally acclaimed books and numerous professional works in reputable international journals. He is a frequent speaker at international conferences and meetings. He has, since 2005, been a guest lecturer at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru Jos.

It was in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of Nigeria, that he was honoured in December 2008, with the Membership of Order of the Federal Republic (MFR).

Professor Sylvester Monye sees his new appointment purely as a further call to national service. “I believe in President Goodluck Jonathan”, he said after his swearing–in. “I believe that Nigeria deserves to take its place as a success story in the global village. With the presidential team, and the support of the masses of our people, we should succeed.”

Mr Chuks Iloegbunam is a former Chief of Staff to Gov. Peter Obi of Anambra State