By Maitama Dan Mamman

In the halls of power, Honourable Aminu Muazu Maifata, is often described as the ultimate political bureaucrat. He is no longer just a ‘Mandarin’ behind a desk; he is neck deep in the political fray, wielding his institutional memory like a weapon. While others struggle with the friction of the system, Honourable Aminu Muazu Maifata moves through it with ease, using a career’s worth of insider expertise, having been a school teacher and later a local government administrator, to navigate the high-stakes world of political office. He represents a new era of leadership where the line between the neutral administrator and the partisan strategist has effectively vanished.”

Honourable Aminu Muazu Maifata, Nasarawa State Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs, is a rare breed of leaders; a technopol who bridges the gap between administrative precision and political vision. After navigating the intricate machinery of the civil service, having served in the local government level, he has transitioned into the political arena not just as an office holder, but as an architect of policy. His career is defined by an intimate knowledge of how the gears of government turn, allowing him to transform complex bureaucratic processes into tangible political results.

With thirteen local council administrators under his supervision, Honourable Maifata has proved beyond reasonable doubts that he is the master of the levers of power, who knows how to get things done. Often in a group, there are bound to be three categories; the stars who are tops, the average, who constitute the middle and the strugglers, who are down under.

The stars and the strugglers are minorities, while the average class, also called the middle class, constitutes the majority. Now since coming to office Honourable Maifata has been working with these categories of administrators. His ability to work with the “stars” at their own pace has not put at risk his working relationship with the mid class, also called the average class and the minority strugglers. A veteran of the local council administrative trenches, having served as Chairman Lafia Local Government Council, Honourable Maifata has been working tirelessly with struggling local government administrators, especially in optimally generating and optimizing their lean locally generated revenue.

As an Institutional architect, Honourable Maifata has been navigating the deep waters of local council internally generated revenues, with a view to making Nasarawa State local councils financially viable and less dependent on monies from the federal account. To achieve this, on assuming office, he defined the gap visually and verbally before all the local councils in the state. Subsequently he put in place necessary administrative mechanisms that targeted average local councils who often don’t realize they are average.

And today, the “star local councils”, the “average, middle local councils” and the “struggling local councils” have one goal; work hard, generate revenue locally for development and service delivery.

Through constant and consistent engagements, officials of local councils in Nasarawa State have opened up, optimizing their talents which hitherto were buried under paperwork, poor processes and inefficiency.

Under Honourable Maifata’s leadership and mentorship, the focus is shifting away from activities to impact. In the past, officials boosted about holding three committee meetings. Today what you will hear is I resolved three long-standing community grievances, or I am working with local farmers union on how to commence grains storage facility in the locality.

In Nasarawa State today it is no longer about the “Star local councils” managing their huge internally generated revenues by themselves, while the “Struggling local councils” are engrossed in staff salary backlog, what is in place is coordination and high hopes across the board. The goal now is to move from “average to excellent. Under Honourable Maifata, local council officials have now imbibed the “Owner Mentality”, they are encouraged to work and feel like the CEO of their councils, not just clerks, who are working for a salary.

The Result? When officials are made to work tirelessly as owners, as CEOs, who make decisions for the common good, who share the credit for the outcome? Excellence is surely the expected result; a sure recipe that will enhance local and rural development.