The House of Representatives on Thursday cautioned President Bola Tinubu against rushing to implement the 2012 Steve Oronsaye Report that recommended the merging of many federal agencies and scrapping of others.
Tinubu had, on Monday, directed the implementation of the report aimed at rationalising and restructuring federal government parastatals, commissions, departments and agencies.
The House urged the president to comprehensively review the report as well as other related reports and White Papers before full implementation.
The House’s resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Honourables Kama Nkemkanma, Olumide Osoba and Jonathan Gaza Gbefwi.
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The lawmakers said the full implementation of the report “12 years after it was first made “may be described as outdated, especially because of how dynamic the society, economy, polity, technology and all facets of our national life has been.”
The House urged Tinubu to review the Goni Aji Report which reviewed the Orosanye Report and the White Paper which was released by the President Jonathan’s administration.
It also called for review of the Ama Pepple White Paper and the Ebele Okeke White Paper “while considering implementable alternatives that are in tune with current realities with minimum unintended consequences, impacts, implications and outcomes.”
It asked the federal government to develop and implement policies that will reposition the agricultural sector, the solid mineral sector and the informal sectors which will serve as alternatives to those that may be laid off consequentially while at the same time spurring economic growth.
Nkemkanma, in his lead debate, recalled that the White Paper Committee set up by Jonathan’s administration had rejected most of the recommendations in the Oronsaye Report, “while those accepted were not implemented.”
“In November 2021, the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration inaugurated two committees; one of the committees, chaired by Goni Aji, a retired Head of Civil Service of the Federation, was to review the Orosanye Report and the second committee, chaired by Ama Pepple, also a retired Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, was constituted to review agencies created between 2014 and 2021;
He said upon the submission of the reports, Buhari’s administration, in July 2022, set up another committee chaired by Ebele Okeke, a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, to produce a White Paper on the reports.
He stated, “Contrary to the assumption that the full implementation of the report would reduce cost of governance, with the current realities, the full implementation of the report will not substantially reduce the cost of governance as it does not reflect the current situation in the public service of the federation.”
He also said the full implementation of 2012 Oronsaye report in 2024 “will certainly throw up unintended consequences, implications and outcomes.”
The motion was unanimously adopted and referred to the ad-hoc committee investigating restructuring of federal government agencies.
Don’t merge army varsity with NDA, Zulum tells president
Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum yesterday appealed to President Tinubu to reconsider the decision to merge the Army University in Biu with the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).
Zulum made the appeal during an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri while distributing food items to 100,000 households.
“If it’s possible, it should be allowed as an army university because of the importance of education in this part of the country, where Boko Haram is saying that education is forbidden.
“And l think, by allowing this Army University to be scrapped, they (Boko Haram terrorists) might have achieved one or two of their objectives.
“Therefore, we appeal to Mr President to look into this issue so that the Army University, Biu, would remain as a full- fledged university.
“If this is not possible, maybe they don’t want to create another army university, we appeal to the president to allow the Federal Ministry of Education to take over the Army University to become a conventional university. This is also something we shall plead to the FG,” he said. The governor noted that for over a decade, the state had been facing a serious crisis that denied many children access to education.
“Therefore, this university is very important to not only the people of Borno State, but our neighboring states,” he said.
Similarly, the governor made a case for the National Center for Agricultural Mechanisation, Ilorin.
Speaking further, Zulum said the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization, Ilorin, is crucial to government’s efforts towards promoting food security through sustainable agriculture.
