Museum
calamity: Tragedy long-foretold
…No going back on Nov 20 strike - Labour
By MAURICE ARCHIBONG
Prologue
I
spent several hours on Wednesday, 13 November, 2013; trying to abridge an
article to fit into available space in the Daily
Sun of Thursday, 14 November.
The
story that was finally published in my Travels
section of the newspaper had actually been submitted much earlier, but; due to
want of space, I had to revise the content.
As
many a writer would agree, it is sometimes easier to write something fresh than
to re-write a piece one had earlier worked on over and over. To make matters
worse, the task had to be completed within a short while as deadline was almost
upon the production crew.
In
any case, we managed to do the best one could under the circumstances; and, the
newspaper edition took up one full page in Daily
Sun. Very generous of The Sun Publishing Limited, owners of Daily Sun, considering the going rate
of adverts in any elite newspaper!
Below
is the full version of that report:
Planned
strike will go ahead
Amid frantic moves by forces within and
outside the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) to abort a
strike billed to commence on 20 November, executives of the Amalgamated Union
of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services
Employees (AUPCTRE); have declared the protest will go ahead.
“There’s no going back. As I speak to you,
none of our demands has been met. So, once the 21-day ultimatum expires on 19
November, the strike will commence the following day”, said Comrade Adogah
Abdullahi, Secretary of NCMM Chapter of AUPCTRE; during a telephone
conversation with mauricearchibongtravels last Tuesday.
 |
| Page 1 of the 5-page memo by AUPCTRE to then Tourism and Culture Minister Jubrin Bello Gada. |
Where AUPCTRE’s threat is carried through
and museum workers down tools from 20 November, the NCMM would have been hit by
no fewer than 10 strikes in six years. Meanwhile, information leaked
to mauricearchibongtravels indicate
overtures had been made to an NCMM management staff believed to have warm
relations with labour to “influence” some activists to back out of the proposed
industrial action.
However, the
consulted intercessor has thus far failed to deliver, despite promises to
appoint him Head-of-Station; if he succeeded in ensuring the strike was called
off. The man’s refusal to cooperate may have to do with concern for his place
in posterity. Interestingly, the same man had been allegedly by-passed unjustly
for promotion two times in recent years.
In a related
development, an sms sent to a director of the NCMM has literally gone viral,
shared by countless workers as another evidence of corruption within the
system. For clarity, Mauricearchibongtravels has taken the
liberty of editing the text message, but; what follows adumbrates the issue: “Sir,
I applied for N200,000 for the repair of cages …” (but, a boss, names withheld)
“collected N120,000 from me. Sir, I am not used to this kind of business. So,
please help me collect the N120,000 to enable me do the work (properly)”.
Interpretation: N200,000
had been approved for the repair of cages at the National Zoological Garden Jos
(NZGJ) but the welder/technician after collecting the money and endorsing
receipt of same through his signature, was asked to handover N120,000 (60 per
cent of the sum) to a big-man.
Now, if the
welder kept quiet and decided to “manage” the remaining N80,000 to do the job;
would that not be putting the lives of zoo visitors and workers at risk? Ca
c’est la vie (Such is life) at the NCMM, for you. Crises-racked NCMM is an agency of the
Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation.
Messrs Yusuf Abdallah Usman is NCMM’s
immediate-past Director General, while Oluremi Adedayo and Barth Chukwuezi are
Director of Monuments, Heritage and Sites (MHS); and, Director of Educational
Services and Training respectively.
In normal climes, any public officer linked
to any alleged serious fraud would strive to clear his/her name. To assist the
affected official, authorities sometimes relieve that person of appointment
pending the outcome of investigations. Unfortunately, countless public officers
suspected of fraud in Nigeria refuse to walk away. Even after they had actually
been indicted through independent enquiry, many have been known to dig in
rather than go away quietly.
In the case of the NCMM, where incidents of
looting are legion, with ample damning evidences; curiously, no public enquiry
had been instituted to unravel the situation. Therefore, neither Mr. Abdallah Usman
nor any of his perceived co-travellers on an alleged journey to “take the NCMM nowhere”;
had been indicted.
In this light, the only alternative left to
museum watchers seemed to be, to wait patiently for the four-year tenure
granted Usman to run out. Normally, Usman might have been handed a second
four-year term as director general of the NCMM, if he had recorded any
groundbreaking achievement.
Sadly, Usman’s leadership was not only tainted
with countless cases of alleged fraud, his performance was considered dismal.
Therefore, had he left quietly when his term expired on 4 November, 2013; Usman
would have spared himself and the nation more anguish. Instead, the man chose
to cling on. He continued to occupy office illegally after his tenure had
elapsed.
So, sordid details had to be revealed
regarding how badly Mr. Abdallah Usman ran the NCMM, over the last four years;
to buttress the submission against a second term as director general to this
man. The
catastrophy wrought on the NCMM and the nation generally by Usman’s maladministration
could have been averted, had the powers at the time listened to wise counsel.
Yes, the tragedy
was long-foretold. In a memo dated
11 November, 2009; entitled Re: Appointment of Yusuf Abdallah Usuman As
Director General, National Commission for Museum (NCMM); the Amalgamated
Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services
Employees (AUPCTRE); labour balked at the appointment of Mr. Abdallah Usman;
thus: “We write to express our concern over the recent appointment of Yusuf
Abdallah Usuman, as Director General, National Commission for Museum and
Monuments …”.
Going by this memo, reference
AUP/FCT/23/III/09/195, which was signed by Comrade David Decker, then AUPCTRE
Federal Zonal Secretary; and, sent to the then Minister of Tourism, Culture and
National Orientation, Senator Jubrin Bello Gada; labour stated: “Much as this
Union acknowledges the prerogatives of Mr. President to make such appointments,
we are not against the personality of the officer so Appointed”.
Nonetheless, AUPCTRE went on to add: “We
are compelled to make the following observations: Yusuf Abdallah Usman is BSc holder
from ABU (Ahmadu Bello University) Zaria 1983, and was employed in 1991 by the
NCMM as a Chief Researcher on GL 14.
“It may interest you to note that he did
not transfer his service(s) from any establishment. That is to say that, he was
appointed as a fresher; He obtained an MSc from BUK (Bayero University Kano) in
2000, and attended Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies (IAMS) Jos; with
a dismal record of performance after the 9-month programme;
“From the records, Yusuf Abdallah is the
most Junior Director in the NCMM and the process of his appointment as Director
General runs contrary to the provisions of the guidelines for such appointments
as contained in the Federal Government Circular Ref. No. SGF/OP/I/S.3/T.1 of 14
August, 2009; Paragraph (II):
“Such appointments which should be without
prejudice to eligible serving officers competing for those positions must be
based on strict adherence to the principle of Justice, equity and fairplay”.
AUPCTRE was not through: “It will not be
out of place to categorically say that Yusuf Abdallah Usuman was most favoured
by your office as the Hon. Minister, as recommended by the immediate-past
Director General to cover some of his questionable acts that culminated into
his failure, some of which we wish to highlight:
“Diversions of N15 million funds meant for
the rehabilitation of Museum of Traditional Natural Architecture (MOTNA) Jos,
which was directly under the supervision of Yusuf Abdallah Usuman, Director
Heritage;
“Diversions of N20 million funds meant for
Oke Idanre (Ondo State) World Heritage site; Diversion of N23 million funds
meant for Koko Museums (Delta State) appropriated in 2007 Budget; Duplication
of Koko Museums project appropriated in 2007 budgetry provisions and replicated
in one of the projects to be executed with Presidential Intervention Funds
(PIF) notwithstanding the fact that it was not part of the initial projects to
be coverd by PIF;
“Questionable inculcation of Sokoto Museums
amongst the PIF projects, knowing fully well that the PIF does not cover Sokoto
Museums; The questionable leasing of National War Museums Guest House, Umuahia
(Abia State) for the period of 10 years at the cost of N8 million without due
regard and recourse to the Federal
Government policy of due Process and the consent of the Bureau of Public
Enterprise (BPE) the sole authority vested with such powers;
“Hon Minister, we are compelled to believe
that Yusuf Abdallah Usuman was planted to cover-up the immediate past Director
General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, because on
assumption of office, he has set in motion moves to remove some principal
officers of the NCMM considered as clog (sic) in the wheel of executing the
scripts written for him by his mentors”; the labour scribe charged.
For the record,
Mr. Abdallah Usman, a wild-card literally, was forced on the nation as NCMM DG,
during the tenure of Senator Jubrin Bello Gada as Minister of Tourism and
Culture. In his memo, which
has now proven prophetic, Decker implored: “The appointment of Yusuf Abdallah
Usuman as the Director General, NCMM should be put on hold or cancelled on the
grounds that it was done in utter disregard with (sic) the extant rules and
without recourse to the Rule of Law, Natural Justice, Equity and Fairplay
(considering that) the most junior Director was recommended for appointment,
leaving out his seniors for no just cause”.
Concluding, Decker stated; “We humbly
request to meet with your management on Monday, 23 November, 2009 at 10 am at
your office”. It remains unclear what transpired at that meeting, if at all it
took place. But, barely three months later, Comrade Decker was reported dead.
He was said to have died from an accident along the Abuja-Jos route.
Interestingly, Mr. Samuel Sabo Bature, an accountant
that was once put in charge of the graft-ridden National Zoological Garden Jos
(NZGJ), has also died. Only recently, the Manager of NZGJ, Mr. John Aruwa, came
under a hail of bullets as he was returning to the Plateau State capital on 25
September, 2013.
It is worth noting that by 11 November, one
week since the four-year tenure granted Usman came to an end, no memo had been
issued appointing an acting DG for the NCMM. This explains why Usman continued
to show up in office.
In healthy climes, such a memo is merely
routine bureaucratic exercise. Curiously, something that should be simple
administrative practice requires threat of strike and public outcry to implement.
Such is the situation in Nigeria …
