BY GODWIN IJEDIOGOR
THERE are fears of job losses and further hardships among federal government workers over the sudden decision of the President Bola Tinubu administration to implement the Oronsaye panel report, which recommended the scrapping or harmonisation of some federal government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Such decision, coming less than a year after the same government had increased the number of federal ministries, has made critics wonder the real intention of the action, although government officials cite the challenging economic climate and the need to cut the cost of governance.
According to a statement from the Presidency, some MDAs would be scrapped, merged, subsumed or relocated, following the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its last meeting on February 26, last year.
The agencies to be scrapped include Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, whose functions are to be transferred to the Federal Ministry of Finance and the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), whose functions are to be transferred to the Department of Basic and Secondary Education in Federal Ministry of Education.
Those to be merged are the National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA) with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Federal Ministry of Health; National Emergency Agency (NEMA) with National Commission Refugee, Migration and Internally Displaced Persons; Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA) with Directorate of Technical Aid Corps (DTAC) to function as a department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) with Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) and Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) with Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
Others include National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) with National Centre for Agriculture Mechanisation (NCAM) and Project Development Institute (PRODA); National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) with National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB); National Institute for Leather Science Technology (NILEST) with National Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT); Nomadic Education Commission (NEC) with National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult Education and Non Formal Education; Federal Radio Corporation (FRCN) with Voice of Nigeria (VON); National Commission for Museums and Monuments with National Gallery of Arts; National Theatre with National Troupe of Nigeria; National Metallurgical Development Centre (NMDC) with National Metallurgical Training Institute (NMTI) and Nigerian Army University (NAUB) and Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) with Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).
Among those to be subsumed are Service Compact with all Nigerians (SERVICOM) to function as a department under Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR); Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) to function as a department under the National Boundary Commission (NBC); National Salaries, Income and Wages Commissioned (NSIWC) as part of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMAFC) and Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution to be subsumed under Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).
The rest include Public Complaints Commission (PCC) to be subsumed under National Human Rights Commission (NHRC); Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis (NITR) to be subsumed into Institute of Veterinary Research (VOM); Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) to be subsumed under the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD); National Intelligence Agency Pension Commission to be subsumed under the Nigerian Pension Commission (PenCom) and Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) to be subsumed as a department in the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy.
Those to be relocated are Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDHC) to Ministry of Power; National Agricultural Land Development Agency (NALDA) to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security; National Blood Service Commission to be converted into an Agency and relocated to the Federal Ministry of Health and Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) to be converted into an Agency and transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
