By Felix Durumbah, Abuja
Executive Secretary (ES) of Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Bishop (Prof) Stephen Adegbite, has recounted some accomplishments made by the body in his two years in office, adding that more is being done.
In an exclusive interview with the commission’s in-house publication, The Nigerian Pilgrim Magazine, a copy of which was sighted by People&Politics, Bishop Adegbite said a lot has been done to upwardly transform the previous processes of service delivery in the organization, with shining results.
He was responding to a question on what he has done differently since assuming office.
Bishop Adegbite was appointed on 4 January, 2024, and formally assumed office on 5 February, 2024.
Taking some of the achievements one after the other, Bishop Adegbite said he has ensured that the Procurement Act is no longer violated.
According to him, previous officials of the commission allegedly carried on as they wanted over procurement matters, suggesting that the sensitive statute, which seeks to ensure strict accountability and transparency in public finance and material processing/handling, was not fully abided by.
The ES said: “The people who were here before now, were doing things the way the wanted without proper planning and implementation in accordance with extant rules of government.
“We have effectively stopped that and introduced a transparent and accountable system that has brought sanity to the entire process of pilgrimage and given us the credibility we need as a vital agency of government saddled with the responsibility of taking people on international Christian journeys year by year.”
The ES, who is the first Bishop to occupy the seat and the commission’s fourth substantive holder of the position, also pointed out that on assumption of office, he brought matters of Godliness to the fore in running the agency, saying the move has triggered high dividends.
“I came into this office during Lent. I’m a bishop, the first to occupy this seat. That is why we started with God and we depend on Him for His guidance and direction daily as Christians apart from the vision we have. We are happy for the kind of support we also get from the government that sent us here.
“When Mr President provided support for the Hajj Commission, we also wrote and our request was granted. So, that became a relief for us,” he said.
Bishop Adegbite also listed the elevation of NCPC staff members’ morale as another uptick in his achievements box so far.
He recalled that on taking office, he discovered that employee confidence was at a low ebb.
So, he set about lifting it through work incentives – which was like a shot in the arm – positively firing up the capacity, motivation, resourcefulness, drive and zeal of the workforce to high levels.
His words: “When I came, the morale of the staff was very low due to many factors and I have been able to change all of that for their benefit and they are very happy and motivated to put in their best.
“Before I became the ES of NCPC, staff members were not allowed to go on pilgrimage and when they go at all, they were not paid their entitlements in addition to other injustice done to them by the previous system.
“Others were victimized over sundry issues, but I have been able to resolve all of the staff matters and give them their due and they are happy with what we are doing and are now very supportive.”
The ES also emphasized that his administration has made it a policy to pay persons and organizations that provide one service or the other to NCPC, stressing that the move has become “a major breakthrough” in terms of pilgrimage timely service delivery.
“Important too, we make it a policy not to owe any of our service providers. This has become a major breakthrough for us,” he noted.
Dwelling particularly on the matter, Bishop Adegbite said the importance of the step could be better appreciated against the backdrop that he met a debt of N3.8 billion to service providers who perform vital time-bound tasks related to the pilgrimage process.
“I am happy to say that as of today, we do not owe anyone a kobo by the special grace of God and we will not want to owe anyone anymore,” he said.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Bishop Adegbite.
