Ten years after the submission of the ‘Oronsaye Report’ on restructuring of government agencies, the Nigerian Government is yet to implement its recommendations. In 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan set up a Committee headed by former Head of Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye to restructure and rationalise government parastatals, agencies and commissions (PACs), which recommended the merging, conversion and scrapping of about 102 agencies in its 2012 report. This was with a view to empowering Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to be more effective with less cost implications. It will be recalled that in April 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the implementation of the recommendations of this report.
On 25th August 2022, another Committee constituted to produce a White Paper on the review of new government PACs created since 2012, as well as the Oronsaye Report, urged the Federal Government to liaise with the National Assembly to address the creation of new agencies. While presenting its Draft White Paper, Chairperson of the Committee, Ebele Okeke, a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, stated that it was imperative to streamline the creation of new agencies, as many of the agencies in question were established by Acts of the National Assembly.
The Nigerian civil service is bloated with a huge portion of government revenue going into payment of salaries and other overhead costs for the plethora of government MDAs. The high cost of governance has always been a concern and even more so at this time of increasing economic challenges. These MDAs can hardly be described as exhibiting efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery, causing the resources spent on them to be considered wastage by several observers.
It will be recalled that in 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) listed certain conditions for Nigeria to meet in order to access one of its loans. These conditions include the downsizing of the civil service, removal of petrol subsidy and unification of foreign exchange rates. There is no gainsaying that each of these measures is critical to salvaging Nigeria’s economy which is now in a critical state. Notwithstanding, none has been implemented. However, in the light of the high cost of governance, piling debts, depleting government revenue, and the multiplicity of organs and functions within the civil service, the rationalisation of government agencies may prove beneficial to managing resources at the government’s disposal and making the civil service system more effective.