Attributes of Public officeholder should include honesty, courage, dedication, intelligence, foresight, maturity and compassion among others.
Well-positioned and revered seasoned public officers are assessed by their moral conducts and characteristics. It is a fact that the nation’s public service sector had suffered a lot because of bureaucratic redtapism.
Nevertheless, there are some officers who are gradually changing the tides through diligence, professionalism, accountability, due process and patriotism.
It may surprise many Nigerian to realise that the new Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance (Special Duties), Dr. Muhammad Kyari Dikwa is instrumental to the successful implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) which is yielding very positive results o the economy.
As Director Special Projects and Secretary Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), he detected and deleted over 50,000 ‘ghost’ workers from the payroll of the Federal Government, while 400 others, who were also discovered to be collecting double salaries were sanctioned.
Since then Dr. Dikwa has exhibited sterling leadership qualities through his ability to think and act strategically in difficult situations that require swift response for problem solving.
The records of his accomplishments especially in the national economy is unparallel. Born on January 3, 1960 in Dikwa town of Borno State, Dr. Dikwa had his primary education at Dikwa Central Primary School from 1970 to 1977.
He attended Science Secondary School Gashua and Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri where he obtained a WAEC and a Diploma (Accounting) from 1982 and 1985 respectively. He obtained a BSc in Accountancy and Masters Degree in Finance.
Dikwa has Doctorate Degree in Accounting and Finance. He had attended the Senior Executive Course 34 in 2012 at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru.
He is a professional accountant and member of many professional bodies, including a Fellow Certified National Accountant, an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, a fellow of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants, a life member of the Nigeria Economic Society, a member of the Institute of Administration of Nigeria, a member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, United Kingdom, and a council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria, among others. His working career started with the Borno State Civil Service in August, 1985 and served in various ministries, departments and agencies.
He was appointed as State Accountant-General in May, 1999 and Permanent Secretary in February, 2002. In September 2004, he joined the Federal Civil Service as Director under the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
He served on the boards of many Federal Government companies and agencies, few to mention include, Transcorp Hilton, the Bank of Industry, the Defence Industry Corporation, Mtel, Nitel, and the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme, and the Bank of Agriculture among others.
He was the director in-charge of revenue and investment, and the director of funds under the office of the Accountant General of the Federation before his elevation to the position of Permanent Secretary.
Dr. Dikwa acted on various occasions as the Accountant-General of the Federation including the last Acting – appointment by the President Muhammadu Buhari on June 12, 2015.
Before his elevation to the rank of Permanent Secretary, Dr. Dikwa was Director Special Projects and Secretary Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) under the Office of the Honourable Minister of Finance. He is indeed a role model for public officials to emulate and he is good in creating excellent public service, good ethic among civil servants is seen as the fundamental pre-requisite.
He has gifted ability to solve complex public service problems at the snap of a finger. His selfless qualities, which radiate confidence and experience, saw him into several public offices. He is a meticulous person, articulate with vision, a goal getter with exceptional organizational and managerial ability of human resources.
It is therefore not surprising when Dr. Dikwa was recently bestowed with the Nelson Mandela Award for Public Service in recognition of his selfless service, compassion, professionalism, excellence and patriotism in his service to the fatherland.
* Dukawa can be reached at abumahmud@gmail.com
*Photo: Dr Dikwa being sworn in as Fed. Permanent Secretary by President Muhammadu Buhari