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Leaving a Blue-Chip Company to Join the Public Sector Was a Scary Proposition I Wasn't Sure I Could Manage... [interview](AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) His grey hair and beard easily stand him out in a crowd. But if you think it is a sign of his age, you have to think again. It is probably what you will remember him for, if you don't engage him. But if you do, your take away will surely be diffenrent. Gerald Ilukwe, out-going Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone Plc., is a rich reservoir of knowledge on ICT that is immediately obvious in your first contact. His eyes glint with passion and excitement as he takes you on a journey to the crucibles of IT and back again with such ease and eloquence that leaves you breathless. A certified expert, who not only talks IT, but also eats and sleeps it. Over the years, he has built a formidable career in top-notch blue chip companies, in both private and public sectors. From Nigerian Bottling Company to IBM to SAP and finally berthing at Microsoft as Country General Manager, from where he was poached to head Galaxy backbone. After eight years of steering the organisation from scratch, one can understand how he came to be so grey. But he laughs the question off, casually stating in pidgin English: Na condition make crayfish bend. However, he admitted that apart from being hereditary, it "comes with the job". He explained how he drove change in an institution that is resistant to change the world over and how he fought battles on many fronts, as service provision to unwilling customers was not easy. In this interview with Shaka Momodu and Emmanuel Bello, Ilukwe talks about his time in office, accomplishments, growing up, his relationship with his parents and more... You have done eight years as the Managing Director of Galaxy backbone, what was your biggest fear when you accept this job. And did you have that sinking feeling that the task was too enormous and expectations may be difficult to achieve? Making the transition from a blue chip multinational to the Nigerian public sector was quite a scary proposition and I wasn't sure I could manage it. However, during the final interview with some very senior public officers I bought into the vision of government and became quite excited about the job. After settling down on the job and understanding the job description and challenges of meeting targets, how did you set out to overcome those challenges and what targets and parameters did you set for yourself? Some major ICT projects were transferred to Galaxy to implement, so our first objective was the successful implementation of these projects. The second objective was to properly set up the organization by way of defining operating guideline and giving Galaxy an identity that was distinct from being another government agency or department and rather a company owned by government. One of the major challenges we faced initially was the institutional rivalry that existed among ICT agencies and companies in government. Creditably the Jonathan administration resolved this with the creation of the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology as the supervising ministry for all the agencies and companies. This is one of the many unsung achievements of this government. Take us to how it all began? I got a call from the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of science and technology. I was then the General Manager of Microsoft responsible for Nigeria and other anglo-phone countries in West Africa. He called me and said government wanted to start a company to consolidate its efforts in ICT and that they want me to come and be the person to head it. I knew him because Microsoft had just signed an agreement with government and so I built a relationship with them and they considered me worthy. Initially, I thought "oh government". Because when you have been in a private company, a multi-national that is the largest software company in the world and someone says come and take a role in government, it is like night and day; and I said this is a joke. But I said let me be polite and just attend the interview and that was how I got here. Let me fast forward to now, eight years later so much has happened. For example, one of the lingering challenges government had was resolved by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration three years ago was that despite the ICT industry achieving convergence of Information Technology and Communication government still supervised IT and Communication separately. If you recall, the Ministry of Science and Technology supervised IT agencies such as NITDA and NASRDA, while the Federal Ministry of Communications supervised NITEL, NCC, and NIPOST. In addition Galaxy was supervised by the SGF's office. So there was this clear disconnect and very unhealthy inter-agency rivalry. But a positive development is that we now have a Ministry of Communication Technology where all ICT issues are domiciled. And this has made a tremendous difference. It has removed all the rivalries between IT agencies and the ministries. The science and tech ministry and communications were at logger heads. This was costing government huge loses with duplication of projects. But by having the new ministry, this situation has almost been completely resolved. Another area I recall vividly is that before now people did not expect much from IT and how it can impact on governance and national development. It was like some high sounding idea from overseas that would never work in Nigeria and government had no clue how to translate the value of ICT in concrete terms. One of our achievements, myself and my team is that we don't have any failed projects. Every money we have been given can be accounted for. In the early days, IT was seen as a conduit pipe for money since no one knew what was been done. Now things have changed. Another major difference is that definite progress has been made in the area of public sector appreciation and acceptance of IT in public service. We met a situation where people did not even appreciate the value of email in the workplace. Today now we have a service in place we call Govmail and every federal civil servant from level 10 and above has an email account. So look at it this way: in the beginning no one used email; then they began to use their own private email which could be hacked into. But now and in conjunction with the head of service and the ministry of Comm Tech government business can be conducted through official emails. And since Dr. Mrs. Omobola Johnson came on board as the minister of com.tech, she has insisted that all mails sent to her must be from official email accounts and that she would not look at any mail from a private address. She is leading by example. What is the rate of acceptance of IT amongst the populace? We are very aspirational people. And this is both feared and admired around the world. We are very quick at adapting and accepting new ways. But what I've noticed is that people tend to use technology more in their private lives than for work. If you invite people for a meeting with a text message they might tell you that it is not the proper way of doing things. They might prefer the formal, analogue way. So there is a need for deliberate leadership that would bring about that change. The technology is actually the easiest part, but re-programming people is where the real job is. A successful project is one where the technology is being used and not a project where money has been released and equipment is delivered. So it is not enough to have the technology but is has to be used to make a positive difference. Why was Galaxy backbone established? The establishment of Galaxy was in response to the need to address the fragmented proliferation of networks in the public sector. A report by a committee on Harmonization of IT Infrastructure in government identified this trend whereby different agencies or sectors were spending large sums of money building various networks when a single platform that could possibly integrate existing infrastructure would be more efficient and sustainable. Thus, Galaxy was established as a government owned company to build and operate an ICT platform that would provide shared services to public institutions. More importantly, what would you say you have achieved in the last 8yrs that may have set the company on an irreversible course in meeting the purpose for which it was established? Today Galaxy has built and operates a pervasive and secure infrastructure platform that extends to over 400 public institutions in over 3500 locations. This is a critical foundation for e-government and several technology enabled institutions such as FRSC and NIMC are dependent on this platform. Also our colleagues in the government have come to accept Galaxy as a reality and service provider partner. Some institutions now turn to Galaxy for other professional services such as project management and technical support. Today Galaxy has rolled out and continues to expand an IP-TELEPHONY hat enables secure communication among all senior government officials. You were the country Manager of Microsoft before your appointment as Managing Director Galaxy backbone, how did the experience and knowledge you gained in Microsoft help prepare you for the challenges at galaxy? And why did you accept to even leave a multi national IT company to join a start-up like Galaxy then. I guess Microsoft instils very high standards of performance in it's employees. I also learnt to stay focused on my objective and the expected results. It's very easy to bet distracted in Nigeria, especially in the public sector. I left Microsoft for Galaxy because I felt that at Nigeria's state of technological development infrastructure was the most critical element needed and even Bill Gates had said that software would never be impactful without the undermining infrastructure. What was the experience like transitting from the private sector to the public sector company under a government parastatal? Very challenging, but one I would recommend to everyone who has gotten to senior levels of management in the private sector and vice versa. It's also necessary for mutual respect from both sides. Galaxy Back Bone was supposed to link all arms of governments, ministries, parastatals on one single platform carriage, has this been achieved? Essentially yes, today all federal ministries and key extra ministerial entities in Abuja are connected by fibre optic cable infrastructure on Galaxy's award winning One-Gov.net platform. Government data is also hosted in the government data centre with live redundancy. As I said earlier there is also a functional and reliable nationwide network serving over 3500 locations. Where are we in terms of emailing? Nigeria really lags even other African countries and this becomes embarrassing when our senior public officials attend conferences and other events abroad and hand out cards with Yahoo and Hotmail email addresses. However, with the combined leadership of the Hon. Minister of Communication Technology and the Head of Service the adoption of Govmail is finally gaining traction. Galaxy is responsible for the technical backend and all the technology and resources are ready and available to support this critical service. How successful have we been in terms of standardization of websites and what role is Galaxy supposed to play in helping this process? The Federal Ministry of Communication Technology is taking the lead on this and Galaxy is providing the technical backend services, which include secure local hosting of these websites. Under the guidance of Com Tech all ministry websites are being standardized to have the same look and feel that will project a good image for Nigeria online. We recently had a recruitment fiasco at the immigration service recently; couldn't the application of technology have made things a lot better than we demonstrated to the world? It certainly would have made a difference. Lessons have been learnt, one of which is that government ministries and agencies should always involve the relevant organizations when embarking on such engagements with external service providers. I believe that the next exercise will be much better organized and going forward technology enabled recruitment will be institutionalized in the public sector. Are workers in the Civil Service learning fast enough in terms of technology usage and application or is there a reluctance to embrace technology as a way of life that drives and defines government activities especially among government work force? Civil servants typically follow the direction set by their leaders and I am aware that the new Head of Service is determined to make a difference in this area. Change Management, Process Realignment with ownership and accountability are the critical elements required for technology adoption in the public sector. Eight years ago I took a tour of your facility and saw all the installation you were putting in place then, what has changed between that time and now? So much has changed since then. Galaxy has built out most of its infrastructure and made significant investments in information security. The focus is now on service quality and e-government services. Over this period Galaxy has been certified and recertified in ISO 27001 for Information Security and has won first prize in Africa of the very prestigious United Nations Public Service Award for 2013. We also have operational offices in Lagos, Akwa, and Kano. The National Shared Services Centre project has also commenced and is at advanced stage. What is the greatest challenge you faced in your eight years on the job? Funding remains a major challenge because there's still so much to do and Galaxy is a service provider that will always have significant operating costs. This funding challenge is exacerbated by the stubborn culture of siloed budgeting in government. Ignorance and apathy towards ICT as a tool for the delivery of public services remains high. What is next for Galaxy backbone at this point? Galaxy will consolidate on it's achievements in the area of infrastructure and now have a greater focus on e-government services. I believe that providing support for workforce modernization and the government's Transformation Agenda is very high on my successor's priority list. What will it need to drive it to that next level? The recognition by government of the central and critical role of ICT and by extension Galaxy in modernization of governance and national development. What is next for you personally since you are leaving the company having put in eight years as Managing Director of the company? I need to rest, pay more attention to my family, and then look for new ways to reinvent myself. What is your motivation in life? I don't do anything I can't be passionate about. I also believe there's always room for improvement in every sphere of human endeavour and that drives me to demand more from myself and others. What drives Gerald Ilukwe and what is your greatest fear ? I like to make impact and a positive difference everywhere I go. My greatest fear is the fear of being helpless. What are you going to miss most in the company since you are leaving? My colleagues and being in the forefront of the battle to drive the transformation of government and enhance public service delivery through IT and IT-enabled services. Any advise for your successor? We've worked together for eight years and I know he is very smart and capable. Do you feel you have done enough in the last eight years to meet those expectations for which the company was established, if no what hindered you? There's still quite a bit to do and I will leave that for my successor. The process by which ICT projects are initiated can be improved upon. The whole planning and budgeting can be significantly improved. There are several ongoing contradictions in this area. How was growing up for you like? Great fun. I had a great childhood, growing up in Railway Compound, Lagos. As the first of three children, with two sisters I was outdoors a lot. Railway Compound was a huge secluded community where everyone knew each other and we played together riding our bikes, playing football or climbing trees. I was also very active in secondary school, St. Finbarr's College, Akoka, and represented the school in several quizzes and debating. Getting into Information Technology was it out of passion or it was something that happened by accident? It was a bit of an accident. After Youth Service I took the first job that came my way and a few IT jobs later I realized I quite enjoyed the Information side of Information Technology. I decided to focus my career on IT and IT enabled development and services in all spheres. Give us an insight of what your parents were like; were they the strict disciplinary type or liberal? My parents were wonderful. Of course I didn't always think so. My mum is a retired teacher and as such was quite strict, while my dad tended to pamper us a bit. He usually had a very high degree of us trust and confidence in us except when we really messed up and then we would see his tough side. I got what was sometimes an embarrassing amount of attention from my parents. My dad gave me close marking even up to his dying days. What would you say shaped your growing up and your adult life that have come to define you as a person? My dad was probably the greatest influence in my life and I got most of my values from him. He was a clear thinker and a realist who made sure we never deluded ourselves. Also, he made us set high standards for ourselves with the constant quest to always improve. His family was his foremost priority and it was very evident. What is the most pivotal moment for in Galaxy Backbone? There have been a few pivotal moments. I believe the first was the government-wide circularisation of the company's mandate, the second was winning the UN Public Service Award first prize for Whole of Government Approach in ICT for Africa. This was the most credible vindication and validation of the approach we had adopted from none other than the United Nations. It was a welcome development in the midst of ignorance and opposition from within the public sector and contractors with special interests other than the national interest to protect. Do you think government really appreciates the importance of IT, and its uses to drive business and also as a major revenue earner that can contribute significantly to the country's GDP? There's a lot of room for improvement in this area. Among public institutions a lot of money is still being expended without commensurate value. Public institutions still guard their IT budgets jealously to the detriment of the country and refuse to collaborate with each other. 2015 elections are round the corner and once again INEC will spend a ton of money on equipment and services that can be better handled by other organizations such as MIMC and Galaxy. Government needs to be more strategic, efficient, and holistic in the area of expenditure on ICT. Regarding the contribution of ICT to GDP I think the Hon. Minister of Com Tech is doing a fantastic job in refocusing this conversation and expanding the frontiers beyond the GSM telecommunications segment. Why are you so grey now? Na condition make crayfish bend. Seriously, apart from being hereditary it comes with the job. In Galaxy we were driving change in an institution that is resistant to change the world over and fighting battles on many fronts. Service provision to unwilling customers is not easy. Who are your heroes? I admire Thabo Mbeki a lot. He actually achieved more for South Africa and Africa than he ever got credit for. He also believes in the African Renaissance and that the black man Isis good as anyone else. Most of our leaders still look for validation and acknowledgment from the white man. As President of South Africa he was a statesman, visionary and a doer. That's a very rare combination. As President of South Africa he found tome to meet with his ICT Advisory team every quarter. He was a very hands on leader. I admire Jim Ovia, I think I like his style. He comes across as strategic and committed to excellence in all he does. He should actually share himself more with the country. I always respected my dad, but that grew even more after he died and I thought about his life and all he achieved for himself and the family. Jesus Christ who taught us the true meaning and essence of life is much more than a hero. Copyright This Day. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |