By Umar Muhammad Jalo
The wisest choice following the recent appointment of Hajiya Bilkisu Shehu Maimota as the substantive Head of Civil Service (HoS) for Kano State marks a pivotal moment in the state’s administrative history.
Confirmed by the people’s governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf on April 8, 2026, her elevation from the position of Permanent Secretary (Administration and General Services) at the Cabinet Office, is designed to stabilize the state’s bureaucracy and accelerate deep-seated reforms.
She is the second female Head of Service to assume the leading role of piloting the affairs of the state service.
Hajiya Maimota (Mrs) brings with her over a decade of high-level administrative experience to the new role.
Prior to her becoming the substantive HoS, she had served as Acting Head of Service in March 2026 following the exit of Alhaji Abdullahi Musa.
As Permanent Secretary, she has specialized in Administration and General Services, a role that gave her direct oversight of the “engine room” of the state’s executive branch.
She has, for close to a decade, been on that exalted post with another experience as being the first female acting Secretary to the State Government.
The new HoS will inherit a civil service in the midst of a major transition.
Several critical hurdles will define the success of her tenure.
She needs to critically address the desirability for among other pertinent consideration:
Digital Transformation and Information Technology (IT) Capacity:
A primary objective of the current administration is the shift toward IT-driven service delivery with the goal of modernizing government processes, including the Human Resource Management Platform and further strengthening the existing Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for promotions.
Thus the quest for overcoming “analog” inertia and ensuring the thousands of civil servants across various Ministries, Developments and Agencies (MDAs) are properly trained to use these new digital tools effectively.
Payroll Integrity and Salary Issues:
Persistent complaints regarding unexplained salary deductions and payroll discrepancies have plagued the service.
Action requires implementing the findings of the investigative audit committee to ensure transparency and restore worker confidence in the payment system.
Pension and Gratuity Backlogs:
While His Excellency, the governor had continued to release tranches of payments for gratuities and death benefits to retired civil servants that were over the years being owed to them, maintaining the momentum of these payments to clear long-standing debts to retirees amidst competing fiscal priorities need to be variously and vigorously pursued.
Institutional Reform and Discipline:
Governor Yusuf has explicitly charged the new HoS with “revamping the system” to ensure it is more responsive and accountable by strengthening disciplinary protocols and institutionalizing a merit-based progression system to eliminate favoritism and “godfatherism” within the ranks and files within the service of the state.
The strategy for success must therefore take into account the requirements of ensuring that the service is generally knowledge-driven in tune with the expectations of modern management.
Following the reversal of the tenure extension policy and the approximately 4,000 civil servants retired from the civil service of the state, thus the challenge of managing the “brain drain” of senior experienced officials while simultaneously overseeing the recruitment and induction of a new generation of workers without disrupting essential services, should be set part of HoS reform agenda.
To navigate these challenges, the Office of the Head of Service is expected to focus on Human Resource Improvement and emphasizing that promotions and career progression will be strictly tied to performance and digital literacy.
The Civil Service Instruments (Scheme of Service, Civil Service Rules, Financial Instructions and Stores Regulations) that were recently reviewed, need to be brought to the front burner at processing all the requirements for achieving the principles of good governance.
We have full confidence in our new HoS.
The tasks at hand may appear quiet challenging, but giving her track records of excellence and wealth of experience, we are good to go.
Jalo is Permanent Secretary, REPA Directorate, Cabinet Office, Kano State.
