The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has said it is moving beyond certification to make international management standards part of how the institution is led, how decisions are taken and how development programmes are delivered.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Commission, Mohamed Alkali, made this known at a opening of a three-day ISO (International Organization for Standardization), Executive Retreat for senior management of the agency on levels14 to 17.

The MD noted that “Certification was an important milestone (for the Commission ), but it was not the destination because the real test is whether these standards are reflected in how we lead, how we make decisions and how we deliver.”

He stated that retreat is tied to the North-East Master Plan, which sets out what the NEDC must deliver, while its management systems determine how effectively it delivers through planning, accountability, risk management, coordination and performance monitoring.

“The Master Plan tells us what we must deliver for the North-East. Our leadership, our systems and our collective discipline will determine how successfully we deliver it,” Alkali said.

He explained further that interventions such as roads, schools, health facilities, water, livelihoods, mobility and energy depend not only on investment but on the systems through which they are planned, managed, monitored and sustained.

Better management, according to him, should ultimately mean better outcomes for people across the North-East.

Alkali said that the aim of the Commission is problem-solving and continuous improvement, not fault finding.

According to him, the commission is certified to five ISO management system standards including quality management, environmental management, occupational health and safety, anti-bribery management, and sustainable development in communities.

The retreat follows the NEDC Excellence Forum held in Maiduguri from September 14 to 16, which focused on how staff on Levels 6 to 13 apply the standards in their daily work. The Abuja session places responsibility with senior management, covering governance, risk, accountability and sustainable programme delivery.

Central to the programme is a Management Challenge, in which participants will work on real commission investments in electric mobility and renewable energy.

Priority area for participants are They is to produce practical recommendations on governance, coordination, risk, sustainability and delivery as well as the Personal Clinic session where, units examine areas needing improvement and agree corrective actions.

Earlier, the NEDC Acting Head, Governance and Compliance Service Reforms, Fatima Dalhatu urged senior management to move beyond viewing ISO standards as mere certifications and instead integrate them into their daily operations.

Dalhatu explained that while the commission’s master plan provides direction, the Integrated Management System (IMS) instils the discipline needed to achieve those goals.

She sai”ISO is not only the responsibility of GCS, it is all our responsibility

“GCS can coordinate, but senior management has to own the system. Without ownership, we’ll just have certificates on the wall.”

Dalhatu adds that the ultimate goal is a workplace culture defined by quality, accountability, integrity, safety, and sustainability.

The agency said that recommendations and commitments from the retreat will be consolidated, assigned and followed through its management and governance structures stressing that certification does not mean its systems are perfect but that review and corrective action remain continuing responsibilities.