By; ISRAEL BULUS
Celebrating exemplary leaders is essential, and most importantly, to reflect on it. In my career as a journalist, I’ve encountered a few individuals who held leadership titles but fell short of embodying what true leadership is all about.
My encounter with Hon. Shizzer Nasara Bada, the Commissioner for Finance, Kaduna State in her office recently, underscores the fact that titles alone don’t define leadership; it’s the actions, values, and impact that truly matter.
Beauty’s brain and her iconic voice are not all, she has a strong will, sagacity, and financial prowess that is rare to see in a woman. I am still grappling with the depth of information and experience this beauty commands.
There is no doubt Shizzer remains the chief economist of Kaduna State from the last administration till date.
Her trajectory as the Head of, the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Department, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) of the Presidency, Ag. Executive Secretary, Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency, General Manager (Finance and Administration) KADIPA, World Bank Project Accountant and the first Accountant General of Kaduna State under the Nasiru el-Rufai’s administration and now Commissioner for Finance among many other key positions in other sectors, places her in a threshold of history.
While narrating her ordeal in the North East, where she escaped attacks and where she is today could only be God’s divine favour and mercy.
She has laid a foundation that redefines true leadership and administrative work through her innovations where recognized International bodies and other states are being recommended and sent to understudy Kaduna State.
Her ministry established a new helpdesk unit, query and inquiries, where all payments and contract-related issues will be attended to. The unit is responsible for the online payment tracker of the Ministry. This is to ensure seamless, more accessible, and more efficient service delivery to the public.
Kaduna State through her ministry, was able to save monthly to clear pension arrears under the Pension Sinking Fund. A total payment of over N16 Billion from 2015 to date was made to pensioners from the State and the twenty (23) Local government areas.
Because of her financial prowess, Kaduna State was ranked first in the 2019 ICAN Accountability Index (AI Index) published in 2020. The state scored 72.7% in the assessment earning a total of three hundred (356) points from a maximum of four hundred and ninety (490) and achieved a ranking of 1st out of the thirty-seven (37) governments assessed.
The state through her financial prowess was able to introduce and implement a Funds Release Policy in the state to ensure proper control and management of scarce financial resources and provide effective control over finances and expenditures.
The ministry was able to also enact a [Tax Codification and Consolidation] law, which was reviewed and the law created the new Kaduna Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS), which centralizes the collection and accounting of all revenues in the state and prohibits cash collections, among others. It has helped the state to block leakages and as well in increase revenue generation.
Her ministry serves as the engine room for creating wealth innovation for funding projects of all the Ministries and MDAs.
Her commitment and contributions to good governance as enabled by the administration of Sen. Uba Sani are turning around thriving settings into better ones. It is evident that in no distant time, the Good works and blueprint of this administration will usher Kaduna into its next phase of development.
Shizzer, a beacon and a torch bearer of the State economy is proving otherwise in the financial sector, that governance is about the people rather than empty propaganda.
There’s a need to rally around, encourage, and support a woman who exemplifies leadership and whose life reflects a heart of commitment and service.
Israel Bulus is a Kaduna based journalist.
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