10 Reasons Why Governor Ishaku’s Rescue Watch is an Administrative Genius.

You may have heard about the Rescue Watch Program of the Governor of Taraba state but may not know much about it; its structure, functions, achievements and how it works. Read on to discover why it is an administrative genius and how every Taraban who believes in the Rescue dream can contribute to its long term success.

1. Structure: Every successful management system follows the pyramid structure. The Chief Executive at the top and the majority at the bottom. https://tarabastate.gov.ng/organogram/. The Rescue Watch has the Governor at the helm of affairs, followed by the Chief of Staff, Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants and Ward Contact Persons. This setup, also called Rescue Team, works closely with all the existing organs of government.

2, Coverage: Every part of Taraba State is adequately represented in the Rescue Watch down to the ward level. That is 168 wards from the 16 Local Government Areas and two Special Development Areas.

3. Top Down Control: From the structure created in 1 and 2 above, issues, resources, communication and other matters can easily be passed from the Governor to every ward quickly and effectively.

4. Down Up System: The Rescue Watch also makes it very easy for the average person in every ward to talk directly to the Governor. Every month, when the Rescue Team visits any particular ward, they interact with the people and capture the interactions on video in town hall meetings.

These interactions are watched by the Governor himself. He gets a chance to see what the ordinary man on the street and villages are saying.

5. Campaign Promises are Getting Fulfilled: Most Nigerians at the grassroots see Politicians only when they want their votes, once every four years. After that, they never see them again. The Rescue Watch program brings the Governor’s presence close to the people every time the Rescue teams go out for the watch. The people themselves testify that this approach has defied the things as they are. Meaning, when the time for next election comes, the governor’s campaign team will no longer be unfamiliar.

6. Lives are massively affected: Through the Rescue Watch, hospital bills of Patients in various hospitals in wards across the state have been paid, snake bite victims have been saved, disputes have been settled, minor repairs of various structures have been made, school fees of students have been paid, and bereaved families have been comforted.

Guess what? Babies have been named after the Governor whose Rescue Program saved them during delivery.

335 People pulled from 168 wards now earn between N15,000 to N100,000 every month because of the empowerment aspect of the Rescue Watch. All 335 people were trained on various skills and empowered with all the tools, materials and resources they needed to start their own businesses, most of whom are now employers of labor.

7. Full Awareness of the Problems of Taraba: Through the Rescue Watch program, Taraba Governor has the real feel of the problems of every part of the State at his fingertips. By taking his time to watch hours of video concerning the activities of the teams in every ward, he knows better than all the organs of government in the state. This helps in taking smart decisions for the benefit of all.

8. Speed in Infrastructural Developments: The Governor has commissioned projects and put government presence in remote areas where most people don’t know about. Talk of renovating hospitals, constructing new roads, culverts, drainages and acquiring farmlands for large-scale agriculture. Most of these interventions would not have been possible with the normal system of government either due to their remoteness or cost implication.

What matters most to the governor is the speed and sensitivity of the issues at hand.

9. All hands on Deck: The Governor has been criticized for having too many appointees on its payroll if only his critics know how he uses them. Through the Rescue Watch, all these appointees have more than enough work on their hands. While the Rescue Team goes to each Local Government and Ward to interface with the people, solve their problems and gather data; all the Commissioners, along with the EXCO and the Rescue Team, on the other hand, sit together at the end of every outing to rub minds concerning the issues.

With this platform, every Ministry gets handed their responsibilities where they either raise a memo, some of which gets passed to the House of Assembly or solves the problems themselves, depending on the existing machinery and infrastructure of the Ministry.

10. Rescue Watch Arrangement Accommodates All: Do you want to know the exact number of schools, teachers, hospitals, boreholes, police stations, revenue outlets, roads or even network coverage in the state? The Rescue Watch program is there again to accommodate it.

Within days, any data can comfortably be compiled. For example, there have been serious problems of everyone not getting their salaries, especially those at the local government areas due to ghost workers. The Governor tried using the existing structure of government and all kinds of solutions to no avail. As soon as the Rescue Watch team was deployed, voilà, everyone is suddenly quiet. Mission accomplished.

Conclusion: The Rescue Watch teams work closely with the ICT office of Government House to facilitate the Rescue Watch. This has enabled the ICT office to understand the inner workings of the Rescue Watch, bringing about this article.

You can contribute your ideas to this genius project by simply letting the Governor or the Chief of Staff of Government House, the efficient Rescue Watch leader know. Alternatively, get in touch with the Special Advisers or Senior Special Assistants of your local government. Your idea will fly.