It said the two key anti-corruption agencies were performing the functions of the Nigeria Police Force.
The recommendation is contained in the report submitted on Monday by the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies. Chairman of the committee and a former head of service of the federation, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye. Oronsaye presented the report at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, saying his panel had recommended the reduction of the existing 263 government’s statutory agencies in the country to 161.
He said in all, the committee recommended the abolition of 38 agencies, merger of 52 and reversion of 14 agencies to departments in the relevant ministries.
The committee, according to him, also recommended the management audit of 89 agencies capturing biometric features of staff as well as the discontinuation of government funding of professional bodies/councils.
The Federal Governement, in statement on Monday however announced the setting up of a 10-member White Paper drafting committee on the Oransanye commitee.
The statement by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius, named the Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, as the chairman of the committee.
Feelers on Monday indicated that the Federal Government might be favourably disposed to the Orosanye committee’s recommendations.
Although Oronsaye did not outline the complete list of agencies the committee wanted scrapped, he made specific reference to the EFCC and the ICPC he said were performing the traditional functions of the Nigerian Police Force.
He also said the Federal Road Safety Corps should not be in existence in its current form.
He said although the FRSC had been quite active, the committee observed that what the body was set up to do was a replication of the mandates of two existing bodies: the Highway Department of the Ministry of Works with respect to the maintenance of safety and orderliness on highways and the role of the Nigeria Police in ensuring law and order on the roads.
In all, Oronsaye said if the committee’s report was adopted and agencies reduced in accordance with the recommendation, government would be saving over N862bn between 2012 and 2015.
The breakdown showed that about N124.8bn would be reduced from agencies proposed for abolition; about N100.6bn from agencies proposed for mergers; about N6.6bn from professional bodies; N489.9bn from universities; N50.9bn from polytechnics; N32.3bn from colleges of education and N616m from boards of federal medical centres.
Oronsaye regretted that 12 years after the White Paper on the Ahmed Joda Panel Report on the Review, Harmonisation and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Institutions and Agencies, some parastatals and agencies, which government had decided should either be scrapped, commercialised, privatised or self-funding, were still receiving full government funding, which ran into billions of naira.
He said the committee, in the course of its assignment, noted duplication and overlap in the mandates of many parastatals and agencies, adding that successive administrations established parastatals without regard to existing laws and, in some cases, outright replicating extant laws.
He said, “One case that stands out clearly in this regard is that of the Federal Road Safety Commission, which should not be in existence in its present form.
“While acknowledging that the body has been quite active, the committee observed that what the FRSC was set up to do is a replication of the mandates of two existing bodies namely: the Highway Department of the Federal Ministry of Works with respect to the maintenance of safety and orderliness on our highways and the role of the Nigeria Police Force in ensuring law and order on our roads.
“Indeed, it is a fundamental breach of acceptable practice of good public sector governance to create a new agency or institution as a response to the seeming failure or poor performance of an existing agency in order to suit political or individual interests.
“Such a practice has proved eventually to precipitate systemic conflicts, crises and even collapse at a substantial but avoidably high financial cost to government. The setting up of the FRSC to take over partially the functions already apportioned by law to the Federal Ministry of Works and the Nigeria Police Force as a result of seeming poor performance and/or to satisfy political and individual interests is a typical example of misadventure in the Public Sector at a great cost to government.
“Meanwhile, on the one hand, other bodies have their mandates intact as the relevant provisions of their enabling laws have not been repealed. On the other hand, the same provisions have been imported into the FRSC Act, making it appear as if the intention of government is to make the FRSC have the same mandate as the bodies referred to.”
On the EFCC and ICPC, Oronsaye said, “It was noted that the functions of the EFCC and the ICPC are the traditional functions of the Nigeria Police. The Committee observed that even though the two commissions were established separately to address corruption, which the Police appeared to have failed to do, successive administrations have ironically continued to appoint the Chairman of the EFCC from the Police Force, while the methodology adopted by the ICPC in conducting investigations as well as the training of its personnel in investigation procedure is carried out by the Police.
“One wonders if it was really expedient to dismember the Nigeria Police rather than allow it to evolve as a vibrant and effective agency.”
The former HOS argued that the fact that an institution was inefficient and ineffective should not be a basis for the creation of new ones. He recalled that the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force have been reputed for performing exceptionally and winning laurels while on international peacekeeping and other missions. This, he said, implied that the problems of the Nigeria Police were not incurable.
He said it was a reaction to symptoms rather than the diagnosis of the problem that had contributed significantly to the proliferation of parastatals and agencies. He urged government to focus on addressing and removing factors that militated against the effective performance of its agencies.
He also cited that the case of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, which was established as the commercial arm of the Nigerian Space Research Development Agency, with a sunset clause, but has now expanded its scope and is in rivalry with its parent body.
While recalling that the NigComSat Bill was recently passed by the House of Representatives, Oronsaye said besides duplicating the satellite development functions of NASRDA, the Bill had created further needless duplication as it veered into the statutory functions of the National Broadcasting Commission and the Nigerian Communications Commission in the area of frequency allocation.
He noted that in this austere time, Nigeria could not afford to sustain the funding of multiple space research institutes when other more technologically advanced countries of the world, where space research was a priority, had only one.
He also highlighted the case of the Nigerian broadcasting agencies (the Nigerian Television Authority, the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and the Voice of Nigeria), which he said the committee believed focus edmore on structures rather than acquisition of broadcasting software.
He said all over the globe, countries had made concerted efforts to manage the agencies responsible for their mass media communication by establishing and taking advantage of a single coordinating point. Such reforms in the media sector, he added, had been underpinned by the efficient use of resources and collaboration in order to have synergy amongst the operators.
In the environment sector, Oronsaye said the committee observed that the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency was created to perform a function already assigned by law to the Department of Petroleum Resources.
He said besides being a clear case of “latter-day overlapping functions” of agencies, the continued existence of NOSDRA was tantamount to paying huge salaries to persons “who do nothing but wait for spills to occur.”
This, he observed, was despite the fact that there was a standard operating procedure for oil companies in Nigeria to clean up oil spill whenever it occursed
Oronsaye further said the committee noted that the education sector in Nigeria was in a state of crisis arising from inefficient utilisation of resources, poor monitoring, falling standards and poor service delivery. He said the problems with the sector were traceable to the neglect of the first nine years of a child’s educational experience.
These, according to him, include poor leadership, lack of appropriate and adequate infrastructure and poor teacher quality.
He said, “The consequential issues of low pupil enrolment and retention of pupils in school have further aggravated the degree of decay. There is also an absence of a strong disciplinary process of sanctions and rewards which has resulted in the decline of integrity and discipline in our educational system.
“There are several cases of proved unwholesome practices by some principals of some Unity Schools; yet such principals have remained in post.”
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They created the EFCC and ICPC because the police had gone comatose, failed in thier responsibility and are virtally not alive at all.
ReplyDeleteAt least the EFCC and ICPC are better than the police force in thier present states of autonomy. If you take them back into the police, what happens to good apples when you put them with bad apples will be the outcome.
Through my entire life as a Nigerian, I have never heard of a more compelling argument as this one. I think this deserves a national vote. I'd vote an "Ai" to Oronsaye's argument. Read again, you will find that redundancy has been the name of the game and it is costing the nation a lot.
ReplyDeleteWe are talking of unemployment in this country, I Hope this will not increase unemployment again.
ReplyDeleteThis is an elaborate report.This man is correct.What the police force need now is a reform and competency to tackle corruption.Creating several departments in the Nigeria Police so that this work could be done every locality in Nigeria.Empoly more specialist as police men and police post needed in every locality.Good report
ReplyDeleteMr.Stephen Oronsaye, Though a seasoned citizen and well schooled, but was bereft of some knowledge and information that amongst the Anti-Corruption Agencies including the Police (as it ought to be), the ICPC Act is distinct from others and its Mandate made it unique in the following ways:
ReplyDelete1)To investigate and prosecute corruption cases.
2)To carry out systems study and review of MDAs and other bodies and advise on the ways of eliminating/minimising corruption.
3)To educate the public on and against bribery, corruption and other related offences. This is the public enlightlement mandate.
Through the second mandate above, the ICPC has over the years recovered plenty of money back into the Govt coffers. Recently the Commission is carrying out System study on Personnel cost of MDAs for 2011 year, so much has been recovered for the Govt. No other Govt agency can do this, except ICPC.
Mr. Orosonye has done an excellent job. Only few Nigerians of his type can come out to tell the real truth. Dupplications of job functions is the order of the day. People creates agencies blindly to settle their political supporters without recourse to the interest of the nation whether or not such job functions already exist as clearly spelt out by his report. Thanks to our vibrant president who is upto the task of taking a decissive action on this wonderful recommendations in order to safe cost of governance.
ReplyDeletePlease o let them leave them because if the remove them retrenchment will start again and the people in their employ may lose their jobs
ReplyDeleteThis is an accurate description the overlaps in Public service in Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteHonestly i believe Nigeria Police are capable of good works but for curruption. The Police has an ANTI-FRAUD Department, that deals with financial crime, what happened to it? Motor Traffic Department (MTD)of the Nigeria Police reduced to yellow fever while statuory mandate assigned to them are left undone, VIO Ministry of works reduced to vehicle fitness unit. The above mentioned are not viable because they are bedeviled with corruption! Nigeria can institute communication under National Broadcasting and Communication Corporation, to encompass print, radio, television, telecom and digital communication, and many other. Power and Energy should also come as departments under one unbrella. All the paramilitary i,e. Nigerian Police, Nigeria Prison Service, FRSC, should fuse as one parastatal but different departments under the Ministry of internal affairs as per initial. Beside all paramilitary service units such as Police, customs, immigration, FRSC, NSCDA etc should also be made to understand such as that their assignment is largely CIVIL and not FORCE as they see themselves.
Come to think of it, WILL Oronsaye's panel report see to systemic correction and implimentation? Nigeria and politics; don't be surprise at the resultant calculated political moves that will push it aside.
Yes,they will say that because they don't want to be probe by EFCC AND ICPC,guilty conscience_____________
ReplyDeleteIf tomorrow Nigeria decided to have States Police then there is a neccesity for the creation of FRSC. The situation now does not allow for duplication of duties among the police and the FRSC. The creation of State Police force would allow the FRSC to report directly to the Federal Authority. The sitation in the USA is laudable and recommended for operation in Nigeria. States do have their own police while the Fedeeral Highways are controlled by the Fedeeral Highway Control. The merger of other institution would have been commendable, but the fact remains that the Nigerian Police Force needs better reorganization and control. The high level of corruption should be totally removed and sanity rule supreme in the force.
ReplyDelete