"There Were Times When It Was Safe To Travel By Car At Night, & It Cost N5 To Fill Your Tank..."
After 35 years of service, Mr. Nathaniel Hayab has retired from his active duties. The immediate past Head of Civil Service of Kaduna State talks about his life, and discusses some current political and economic issues.
Early years and education
Nathaniel Hayab was born on February 19, 1955 at Kurmin Gyeda in Kachia local government area of Kaduna State. He covered the first four classes of primary school, classes one to four, in a village. He finished off primaries five and six in Yelwa, in the present-day Nasarawa State. His father was a teacher with the SIM and was transferred to Nasarawa, so the family had to move with him.
"After my primary six, we returned to Kurmin Gyeda, but there was no primary seven. We had to go to Kurmin Musa for primary seven. I attended the SIM Secondary School, now Government College Kagoro. From there, I went to the Abdullahi Bayero College of Advanced Studies of the Ahmadu Bello University
Zaria, for my A levels. Later, when I was through with that, I was accepted into the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, where I bagged a degree in Economics.
"After my youth service in Ondo State, I had three jobs waiting for me – the first was as an industrial officer with the Federal Ministry of Industry; the second was to be a lecturer with the Kaduna Polytechnic, while the third was to be a planning officer with the Kaduna State Ministry of Economic Planning – and I needed to make a choice. This was what I did: I reasoned that since the Kaduna State Scholarship Board offered me a scholarship which saw me through the university, the state has done a lot for me and would need my service. With that, I opted to serve my state. So it was that I joined the Kaduna State Civil Service as a planning officer with the Ministry of Economic Planning.
Growing up with a disciplined father
"He was not just a teacher, he was the headmaster. If anything goes wrong in a class, whether we participated in it or not, because we were his children, we were already culprits and would be punished alongside the culprits. We wondered why we were always punished for offences we knew nothing about.
"Then, there was also the farm. After school, you must get back to the farm. We considered all these things to be harsh. Every day, we had to trek seven kilometres to school and we were always the first to get to school.
"During the weekends, we had to return to Kurmi Gyeda to go to the farm. At that time, we did not like it, but I can see now that it was a worthy experience because we enjoyed it and it has paid off. We had to go back to tell him 'thank you' before he died. There was no difference between the male and female children especially when it comes to performing domestic chores.
Civil service years
"My time in the civil service was interesting, wonderful, educative and marvelous. It made me see the good, bad and ugly sides of the service. Strangely, until you experience these three phases, you cannot claim to have acquired any experience. If you see one side only, there is no experience. But then, one must prepare to face the challenges of life.
"Back then, the civil service we had was not about the money, but more of service delivery, and my greatest joy was having an idea, offering it as a suggestion ad seeing it nurtured into fruition. Most times, one didn’t even need to take credit, but knowing that it would ensure service delivery was good enough.
"The money was small, but it met my needs. During my time as a corps member, the monthly allowance was N180 and I could spend it and still have some more left with which to buy all my needs.
"In 1978, when I started work, I got a car loan of N4800 within the first month. I added N6 to it and bought my first car from Dan Hausa motors, and as much as it is difficult to believe, I drove that car until I retired from active service. Though it is not my only car, I still drive it around today.
"When I feel like remembering the old days, I get into the car. Though it cannot move the way it used to back in 1978, it can still take me to and from my village. Then, it cost N5 to fill your tank and N20 could take you to and from Katsina. One of the best times to travel then was at night, when the engine of the car was cool and there was nothing to be afraid of on the road. That was how life was.
"Back then, we used to go buy newspapers, stamps and other items from the 'common room' of the administrative block, and it were almost impossible to tell who was selling. The stamps and papers were always on display were no complaints. Sometimes, I wonder whether such a thing can happen now. But it happened right in this country and I was an active participant. If you ask many of those who passed through the college at that time, they will tell you this same story. Life was good then and life is also good now, because Nigeria is one of the best countries in the world. But there are lots of things we can do to make it better.
Heading the civil service in Kaduna State
"That experience lasted a little over a year. Normally, when you come in, you take over assets and liabilities. The assets are always good to rely on, but for the liabilities, you have to work hard to sort them out and turn them into assets. One of the problems on ground before I came into office was identifying the actual number of civil servants in the state. Efforts had been made before my coming, to this effect, but I had to analyse the raw data that had been collated to give us a system which we can maintain. When the data was captured, about 33,000 civil servants who were centrally paid by the office of the accountant general participated. They were made to provide all documents which aided in providing relevant information and they were scanned and computerised.
"One of the rules is that from the day you were born, you are allowed to work till you are 60 years old, and then leave the service. The other is that from the day of your first employment, you are expected to work for 35 years and leave the service. Anything outside that, you are not supposed to be in the service.
"It was quite a challenging thing to do; but I thank God that the system has brought out data and as we speak today, the number of people who are centrally paid by the office of the accountant-general is about 26,700.
Life lessons
"The combined experiences I gleaned while growing up, and the rest of them, prepared me for a general open-mindedness. Those farms which we tilled as children are still there this day. I believe, from the bottom of my heart, that even if nothing else remains in that village, the farms are still there, and they have the capability to sustain one. If you close your eyes to the opportunities that are around you, you find yourself doing nothing. As a civil servant, you need to ask about opportunities which exist in the rural and urban areas – they have been there and still are.
"Everybody should be able to find something to do, but you must do away with one dangerous trait – pride. If you don't, you will always feel left out and strange, and, predictably, rely on your pension alone. In my case, I thank God for leading me this far and I thank the state government for giving me the opportunity. Having come this far, I trust in God that the future is in His hands and He will direct me accordingly."
