Efio-Ita Nyok|15 April 2016|8:30am
“It’s time for Ayade to implement the Cross River State Urban Development Strategy he inherited” —Richard Duke
In commemoration of the 50th birthday of Richard Duke (one of Cross River State’s foremost Human Resources professionals in the Diaspora), Negroid Haven met up with him for an interview which spanned across various topics of interest.
Richard is currently the CEO of Duke Consulting (UK) Ltd an HR Consulting firm supporting public and private sector clients in the UK and UAE. Richard is a Human Capital Strategist and has a B.A (Hons) degree in Public Administration from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the University of Calabar; Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management from London Metropolitan University; Masters Degree in Human Resources Management from University of Westminster; MBA degree (Human Resources Management) from the University of Wales and Psychometrics qualifications from The Psychometrics Centre, University of Cambridge.
Richard is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, Nigeria (1992) and a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, UK. Richard’s academic interest lies in Strategy, Leadership and Human Capital Development. His hobbies include Public Speaking, Mentoring, Health & Fitness, Chess, supporting Church community projects. Richard is married to his wife Praise and has three children-Destiny, Serena and Yana.
NH: Congratulations on your 50th birthday, could you kindly tell us a little about yourself?
RD: Thanks for the birthday wishes. I give God all the glory because my own father died when he was 49 years. He never lived to 50 years. I therefore don’t take this for granted. The significant thing about my 50th birthday is that I have exactly spent 25 years living in Nigeria and 25 years also living in the United Kingdom.
I was born in London, UK in 1966 when my parents came to UK to study. I schooled at the John Milton Primary School London from 1970-75. When I relocated to Nigeria in 1975 I spent the 1975-1976 academic year at the Calabar Preparatory Nursery School (Hawkins Road). I then went to the iconoclastic Hope Waddell Training Institution, Calabar from 1976-1981 before proceeding to the School of Arts and Science, Uyo, from 1981-1983 for my A ‘Levels. I had to retake my A ‘levels at the School of Basic Studies, Akamkpa from 1983-1985. My father was very strict about the need for an A’ Level education.
NH: That was a very interesting narrative, can you kindly tell us about your University experience?
RD: I went to the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and initially studied for a Law degree there from 1985-1987. Those were the days of “Ango-Must-Go” and the “Zango-Kataf riots” which affected Zaria. I left University and worked as a Journalist with the Nigerian Chronicle in 1987-1988 and then went back to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to study Public Administration from 1988-1991. I was also the Kaduna State Sports Correspondent for Nigerian Chronicle as a student and usually covered the Calabar Rovers matches between Ranchers Bees of Kaduna and Raccah Rovers of Kano. One of my highlights there was being chosen to represent ABU, Zaria at the 1986 NUGA Games at Ibadan as a Chess player.
NH: What about your work experience?
RD: Good question. After my NYSC I joined First Bank of Nigeria Plc as a Supervisor and left as a Senior Banking Officer in 2000. When I relocated to the UK I joined HSBC Bank (UK) and also worked with FBN Bank (UK) from 2002-2003 under Rev Takis Etim Caiaphas (former Commissioner for Finance) when he was the branch manager. Furthermore, I joined the UK Border Agency (UKBA) as an Immigration Officer and later qualified as an HR practitioner. I have worked for various public sector organisations as a senior HR professional including Goldsmiths University of London where I recently worked as an HR Consultant from 2012-2015. Presently, I am the CEO of my own HR Consultancy (Duke Consulting Ltd) working for clients in UK and UAE. I am also a Psychometrics Consultant and manage a portfolio of global clients for their Psychometrics solutions.
NH: Do you have any plans to return to Nigeria to contribute your expertise to the development of Cross River State?
RD: Well, I never say never. I have keenly followed the government of Prof Ben Ayade on the sidelines and as a Public Policy Analyst I have offered my perspectives on a couple of his policies to some of his Senior Special and Special Advisors whom I know. It’s a bit too early to make any conclusions until after his one year anniversary in office when we can make and analyse a balanced scorecard of his government. I don’t have to be a political office holder before I can make a meaningful contribution to the State. I know the Special Advisor to the Governor on Diaspora Affairs is making plans to encourage those in Diaspora to return home to contribute their expertise. Hopefully we in the Diaspora should be able to receive the Governor here in UK to listen to his propositions soon during one of his trips.
NH: From what you are seeing what would you have done differently as the Governor?
RD: Every Governor has their own leadership style and governance philosophy. As an expert in Transformational Leadership I would have immediately declared my assets publicly in order to show transparency. Next, I would have made public the state’s balance sheet he inherited from Senator Imoke to enable everyone know the true situation of our finances. I would have embarked on a government of austerity and make efforts to balance the books by trimming political appointees instead of having an over bloated executive arm of government of Commissioners, Senior Special Advisors, Special Advisors and Special Assistants, and all of these appointees also have their own Personal Assistants.
I would have placed more emphasis on investing in the area where we have comparative advantage and that includes Cocoa, Rubber and Palm Oil instead of Rice and Banana. Donald Duke made a similar faux pas and spent unnecessary money on Cashew Nuts and Pineapple projects which were unsustainable. I would have shown a little more humility and abandoned the siren blasting around Calabar, Wole Soyinka once said “a Tiger doesn’t have to proclaim its Tigritude, it acts”. Finally, I would have equally spread the location of industries all over the state (every local government) and decentralise them from Calabar. This is something that former Cross River Governors (late) Dr Clement Isong and Ibim Princewill did very well. Government needs to spread the wealth across the state. In this regard, I would advise Governor Ayade to take a cursory look at the Draft of the Cross River State Urban Development Strategy and seek to implement it.
NH: What personal projects are you currently working on?
RD: I am presently involved in a new start-up Psychometrics Nigeria Ltd and we intend to standardise the Psychometrics sector in Nigeria by introducing certification training for staff to qualify them to administer and interpret Psychometric assessments for recruitment and development purposes through a couple of UK based Psychometric test providers. I was also invited as a guest speaker at the African Human Capital Summit in Lagos next week on “The Future of Work” but couldn’t make the event.
As part of my social entrepreneurship drive I am also involved in community development and leadership projects in Calabar that are targeted at youths in Bayside (Calabar South Local Government Area) and in Bakassi (Bakassi Local Government Area) in collaboration with some Cross River groups in Diaspora. I would like to take this opportunity to bring to the attention of the Minister for Niger Delta, Pastor Usani Usani, the uncompleted Niger Delta Skill Acquisition Centre at Bakassi/Akpabuyo (Ikot Nakanda) which was started by his ministry in 2009. The completion of the Centre would go a long way to assist the youths of Bakassi with the relevant skill acquisition in order to improve their livelihood.
NH: As a specialist in the area of Leadership Development what would be your advice to the youths of Cross River State?
RD: Permit me to be a bit religious here. The Bible states in Proverbs 3:5-6 that “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…and he will direct your steps”. They need to put their trust in God and not put it in Politicians. The Politicians can disappoint them anytime. Therefore, the Youths need to take responsibility for their career development and strive for excellence. In order to compete at the Federal Government level they need to be highly competent, in order to compete in the private sector for jobs they will come up against other similarly competent applicants from other states. Hence they need to stop being sorry for themselves and improve their skills and competencies. Youths of nowadays can attend free course modules online offered by Harvard, Cambridge, London Business School, etc on their mobile phones through Coursera.org, there is no excuse for mediocrity these days. Youths should start to imbibe Leadership skills by volunteering in Community Development, volunteering to teach in Primary Schools to support pupils and teachers, etc. Youths that normally show potential for leadership qualities tends to replicate those traits later in life.
NH: Thanks for taking time to speak with us sir, wishing you a wonderful Golden Jubilee.
RD: Thanks for interviewing me. I just want to say that your Blog is gaining lots of credibility within social media circles for its balanced perspectives, keep up the good work