By Marie-Therese Nanlong

Jos – The Director General of the National Institute of Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Professor Ayo Omotayo has expressed displeasure over the visa ban by the United Arab Emirates UAE on Nigerians seeking to visit Dubai and said Nigerians should shun Dubai and ban themselves from going there for whatever reason, stressing leaders should reposition the country so that Nigerians are not pushed around due to the wrongdoing of a few.

This is even as the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment decries the existing gaps in knowledge that could propel public servants to deliver quality services and achieve the National Development Plan 2022-2025.

Speaking on Monday at NIPSS, situated at Kuru, Plateau State during the opening ceremony of the Leadership and Management retreat for the officials of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, the DG said the country is in the era of disruptive leadership and those who wish to be leaders must change the way things are done and ensure a new Nigeria where new solutions are proffered to solve problems.

On the visa ban, he added, “If the elites can’t solve our problems, what is our education for? The era of making speeches have gone, we have to be at the forefront of change, and we must reflect on the state of things in our nation… As a people with self-pride, we should ban ourselves from going to Dubai. Nigeria may not be the country it ought to be but it should not be a doormat of any country.

“We have what it takes to be better than Dubai. I don’t see why Nigeria should allow itself to be pushed around, Nigerians should ban themselves from going to Dubai let us see what we are going to lose. We take our money to spend in the place and we are being pushed around. I don’t think any right-thinking Nigerian should take this. I am not saying we are all doing what is right but the people who do wrong should face the music, not every Nigerian. As leaders here, we must do the right thing so that our country can be respected.”

He tasked the participants not to go back the way they came but to recharge and bring out new ways of solving the nation’s problems.

However, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Daju Kachollom on behalf of the Minister, Dr. Chris Ngige noted the retreat provides a platform to discuss extensively and reposition the Ministry for better service delivery.

Daju stated, “Following interactions with a few directorate-level staff, the need for capacity building in different aspects of our work was quite evident. I discovered gaps in knowledge and awareness about administrative procedures, ongoing civil service reforms, strategic thinking and government policies, especially on the need to have relevant data to carry out our mandate to achieve the National Development Plan 2021-2025.

“There were also yawning gaps in communication and administrative procedure between the Ministry’s headquarters and its Parastatals. These gaps contributed to the hindered quality of delivery of the Ministry’s mandates… Everyone must be brought on board to contribute meaningfully, to become more efficient and productive, every hand must be on deck…”

The Ministry’s Director of Human Resources Management, Dr. Hussain AbdallahRahman tasked participants to “discuss, brainstorm, digest, think, rethink, unite by avoiding working in silos, prepare to make policies that would drive the Labour sector concept, enhance labour sector economy that will impact on the nation at large.”