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Director General of Bureau of Public Procurement [BPP], Dr Adebowale Adedokun said without strategists working closely with procurement specialists, Nigeria might not be able to tame the monster of financial leakages that had led to the decline in the nation’s resources.

Adebowale spoke extempore on Thursday in Port Harcourt in a goodwill message he delivered at the 2025 Annual Conference of the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria [Chartered], with the theme: “Strategic leadership in a disruptive economy: Driving sustainable national development.”

He said there was an urgent need to reduce the fleece of national resources and maximise the resources in the interest of national development.

According to him: “Without proper strategists working closely with procurement specialists, we may not be able to conquer the big monster that affects our nation. That monster, it is very clear, requires that we reduce the fleece of our resources and maximise our resources for the interest of our nation.”

Adedokun stated that BPP was driving a series of reforms by the federal government to make procurement transformational and not transactional.

He said: “The procurement reforms we are driving have disrupted ‘the regime of business as usual’, thus paving the way for a new era in robust service delivery, provision of good accommodation, good educational system, good hospitals, and good financial sector….”

The DG assured the institute that the BPP would work closely with it to deliver improved capacity of officers in the public sector, declaring that “we will collaborate with you to remove quacks who are undermining the progress of our great nation.”

He added: “I will like on this note to say that it is obvious that we misunderstood the Renewed Hope Agenda, which implementation, to me, clearly lies with the strategists. The Renewed Hope Agenda is a vision, and strategists should implement the vision.”

Adebowale urged members of the Institute to rise together with BPP to translate this vision into reality “by everybody playing their role in a constructive and progressive manner. I assure you that the BPP will provide you with all the information regarding procurement activities in this country.”

He continued: “Perhaps, this is the most critical time in our history as a nation where this institute has to play more strategic role.

“This is the critical milestone where Nigerians are yearning for values, for deliverables, for transformations rather than transactions, accountability, and transparency as opposed to what we see currently.

“My appeal this morning is that no nation thrives without strategists; no nation can conquer, obviously, challenges such as provision of electricity, housing, values for money. No nation thrives when there are challenges of insecurity except the strategists become strategic.”

Meanwhile, in a prepared speech which he later availed the institute, Adedokun had said that the theme of the confab resonated deeply with the BPP’s own mission — “to promote a procurement system that supports national growth, fiscal discipline, and inclusive development.”

He said that the theme reflected a call for rethinking how leadership, innovation, and governance should be exercised amid economic shocks, global uncertainty, and increasing demand for better public service delivery.

Adedokun took the opportunity to explain that procurement was more than just a tool for acquiring goods and services, describing public procurement as one of the most powerful enablers of development in any modern economy.

He said: “In Nigeria, it accounts for over 60% of the national and sub-national government budgets, covering capital projects, infrastructure, defence, healthcare, education, and essential services.

“When properly managed, procurement serves as a conduit for infrastructure development, enabling roads, railways, schools, and hospitals to be built efficiently and transparently; industrialisation, by supporting local manufacturers and service providers; job creation, especially when local content is prioritised; social inclusion, by enabling women, youth, and SMEs to participate in public contracting; and economic stimulus, particularly during downturns.

“Conversely, inefficient procurement breeds corruption, project failures, waste of public resources, and loss of citizen confidence in governance. That is why we must reposition procurement as a strategic driver of economic sustainability, not just an administrative function.”

Quoting Peter Drucker’s “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things,” Adedokun said that “in a disruptive economy like ours, strategic procurement leadership is about doing the right things — with courage, innovation, and integrity — to uplift our nation and improve the lives of our people.

“Let us remember: every naira spent on procurement is the people’s money. It must deliver value, create jobs, build infrastructure, and inspire hope. It must not be wasted. It must not be stolen.

“Let this conference mark a renewed commitment by all of us — policymakers, professionals, academics, and citizens — to transform procurement into a genuine engine of sustainable national development.”