Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN) Professor Mohammed Aliyu, has called for structured and professionally managed procurement system in Nigeria, emphasising the importance of procurement and supply chain management to national development.
Speaking ahead of the Institute’s induction ceremony tomorrow, he said that procurement roles should be reserved for qualified professionals who have undergone specialised training rather than individuals without formal expertise in the field.
He decried the poor recognition and treatment of procurement experts, particularly in the public sector, despite the importance of procurement professionals all over the world.
He said a lot of policymakers fail to give procurement officers the attention and support they need, making it difficult for them to contribute meaningfully to national development.
He expressed concern that procurement and supply chain management tasks were often handled by individuals without formal training or professional expertise, stressing that all corruption cases that had been seen these days were through procurement because those who were doing the job were not professionals.
“That is why you see, all the nefarious activities, all corruption we are seeing today, is through procurement, because those who are doing the job, are not professional. They thought that being in that sector, you are to make fortune for yourself, not knowing that you are eating the future of the nation, the future of the citizens since corruption affects development.”
He pointed out that a lot of people who carry out procurement are not professionals which is what led the country to its present problem.
“I classify those people as mid-career crisis professionals because when you are leaving your own profession, and you are going to do somebody’s job, it is very unethical in all professions. That is why you see everybody, they will tell you they are businessmen whereas they are eating the country badly,” he said.
He, however, pointed out that some members of the profession were being subjected to a kind of humiliation by powerful people in the government whenever they are doing their job the way it is supposed to be done.
“The next thing they do is that they transfer that person to another section and bring quack who is not a professional to manage such a function,” he said.
He also said there is a punishment for any erring member that betrays the ethics of the profession and that any member who fails to follow the due process would be sanctioned and his or her certificate withdrawn.
He called on the federal and the state governments to ensure that procurement experts were given their rightful place for the betterment of the country.