When we told people that of the three major contestants for the presidential ticket in the 2023 elections, only Tinubu had the testicular fortitude to make unpopular but right decisions for the country, few believed us.
A good number may have begun to see with us when the two others prevaricated on the issue of currency swap at the cusp of the election but Tinubu stood firm against that policy then, not minding that it was by his party, the APC.
Many more Nigerians who didn’t know this aspect of Tinubu’s strength began to know it when he acceded to the removal of fuel subsidy, a policy reached by previous administrations but not implemented by them, right at his inaugural speech at Eagle’s Square.
Late Monday, the 26th February, 2024, the earth under the feet of the D and As in MDAs quaked as President Tinubu gave accent to Steve Oronsaye’s Committee Jonathan commissioned in 2012 and Buhari’s 2022 amended white paper on subsuming, merging, and scraping some federal agencies and parastatals to cut down government expenditures, drive efficiency to re-engineer efforts towards curbing financial wastages and increasing revenue generation instead.
Some agencies affected by this Tinubu’s presidential accent didn’t see it coming.
In June last year, only a month after Tinubu’s presidency began, a circular had gone out to some agencies and parastatals to prepare for self-funding and sufficiency by the 1st of January 2024. Some of those affected by Monday’s announcement were not on that June list.
The affected agencies are:
SCRAPPED
- Pension Transition Arrangement Directorate (PTAD)
- National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC).
MERGED
- National Agency for Control of Aids (NACA) to be merged under the Centre for Disease Control in Federal Ministry of Health.
- National Emergency Agency (NEMA) to be merged with National Commission for Refugees, Migration and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI)
- Directorate of Technical Cooperation in African (DTCA) to be merged with Directorate of Technical Aid (DTCA) and to function as a department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to be merged with Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE).
- Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) to be merged with Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) .
- National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) to be merged with National Centre for Agriculture Mechanization (NCAM) and Project Development Institute (PRODA).
- National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) to be merged with National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB).
- National Institute for Leather Science Technology (NILEST) to be merged with National Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT).
- The Nomadic Education Commission (NEC) to be merged with National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult Education and Non Formal Education.
- Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) to be merged with Voice of Nigeria (VON)
- The National Commission for Museums and Monuments to be merged with National Gallery of Arts.
- The National Theatre to be merged with National Troup of Nigeria.
- The National Metallurgical Development Centre (NMDC) to be merged with National Metallurgical Training Institute (NMTI).
- Nigerian Army University (NAUB) to be merged with Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA)
SUBSUMED:
- Service Compact with all Nigerians (SERVICOM) to be subsumed to function as a department under Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR).
- Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) to be subsumed to function as a department under the National Boundary Commission. (NBC)
- National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) to be subsumed into Revenue Mobilization & Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMAFC).
- Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution to be subsumed under Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA)
- Public Complains Commission (PCC) to be subsumed under Nigeria Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
- Nigerian Institute for Trypanosorniasis (NITR) to be subsumed into Institute of Veterinary Research (VON).
- 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 Administration of Nigerian Pension Commission (PenCom).
- The Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) to be subsumed as a department in the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy.
RELOCATED
- Niger Delta Powerholding Company (NDHC) to be relocated to Ministry of Power.
- National Agricultural Land Development Agency (NALDA) to be relocated to the Federal Ministry of Agricultrue and Food Security
- National Blood Service Commission to be converted into an Agency and relocated to the Federal Ministry of Health.
- Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) to be converted into an Agency and transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The need to rejig the size, structure, and operations of the government and bureaucracy to drive efficiency has been the stringent call from many well-meaning Nigerians for many years.
In election to walk through fields that even the brave tiptoed, Tinubu, again, has shown willingness and commitment to listening to the people and fearlessly taking steps that are designed for the betterment of all as a good leader and guide should.
When we campaigned, we urged that what Nigerians needed to do for Tinubu was simply to identify projects and ideas that were geared towards yielding the best benefits to most if not all Nigerians and making these known to him as president. If he bought into those ideas, consider them done.
One of the examples we cited then, was Nwankwo Kanu’s Heart Foundation.
No governor, including governors of the South-Eastern States, then, saw the potentials in the proposal nor considered it worthwhile. Until Kanu managed to bring it to the attention of Tinubu, the then governor of Lagos State, that is.
Governance is labor-divided.
By Monday’s action, President Tinubu has played his part.
All MDAs need to play theirs, taking a cue from the president’s bold and beneficial-minded leadership and guidance so that we may all breathe as Tinubu breathes.
Dili Ezughah, Executive Secretary/CEO, of the Nigerian Press Council, was the Secretary of the Strategic Communications Directorate, APC/Tinubu/Shetima PCC.
