It wasn't just with the Secretary to Katsina State Government I had altercations during my tenure as the General Manager (GM), Katsina State Television (KTTV). I also had quite a few with other senior civil servants of lesser calibre.
There were some senior civil servants who thought they could pull rank on me and tried to browbeat me simply because they were older in the service or by age. Others attempted to wave commissioners and permanent secretaries in my face in trying to achieve their selfish interests. They all met a brick wall.
When I assumed duty, I found out that the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) had engaged one of his friends as an artiste in the drama group and was paying him allowances far above the usual artiste fee the others were being paid. It was even higher than the salaries of some senior staff. I didn't know this until I started receiving complaints from both the artistes and even some members of our staff. I promptly stopped it. The former CEO came and told me that it was the commissioner of information that okayed it, but I stamped my feet and refused to budge. I went straight to the commissioner, who said he wasn't even aware of the arrangement.
Another drama unfolded when ministries in Katsina were asked to relocate to the newly completed State Secretariat Complex. The Ministry of Information, our mother ministry, was not left behind. The Commissioner, a very kind soul, told us to go and pick their generator, which they won't need at the secretariat. He knew that we needed another standby generator. One of the directors was instructed to convey the message to us. And he decided to cash in on the situation. After conveying the message to me he added that the commissioner said we had to give Fifty Thousand Naira before we took possession of the generator, in addition to paying for its movement. I flatly refused. I said he should go back and tell the commissioner that I didn't want the generator if I had to pay for it. After all I never begged them for it.
Still not satisfied, I called the commissioner and told him that we didn't want the generator if we had to pay for it. He expressed surprise when I told him that the director said you sent him to collect the money.
There and then, he said we shouldn't pay a kobo for the generator. He expressed disgust at what the director did.
And yet another incident happened during staff promotion exercise. There was no Board at the time and The Ministry of Information was fully involved in our staff promotion and that of Radio.
A date was set for the exercise and we were told to go to the ministry together with our staff who were eligible for the promotion.
One of the directors from the ministry came to my office before the date and said the permanent secretary had sent him to collect money for entertainment during the exercise. I told him flatly I wasn't paying for entertainment of a function that was being hosted outside my organisation. I called the GM Radio and told him and he agreed with me. I also called the permanent secretary, who denied sending the director to collect the money. He said I did the right thing by refusing to give the money.