The House of Representatives, on Thursday, described the 2012 Steve Oronsaye Report as outdated and called on  President Bola Tinubu to thoroughly review it before going ahead to implement the same.

The House, therefore, raised a 23-man committee chaired by House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, to recommend appropriate measures to mitigate the likely fallout of the Oronsaye Report review.

The Federal Government had on Monday announced plans to implement the Oronsaye report, which proposes the merger of ministries, departments and agencies, as a measure to cut the cost of governance.

Presidential Goodluck Jonathan had in 2012 set up the Presidential Committee on Rationalisation and Restructuring of the Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies.

The committee headed by former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Steve Oronsaye, recommended the scrapping and merging of 220 out of the then existing 541 government agencies.

Moving a motion of urgent public importance on the floor of the House of Representatives on Thursday, the trio of Kama Nkemkanma, Olumide Osoba and Gaza Gbefi noted that the Oronsonye Report “Recommended the reduction of statutory agencies from 263 to 161, the abolition of 38 agencies, and the reversion of 14 agencies to departments in ministries and the management audit of 89 agencies capturing biometric features of staff as well as the discontinuation of government funding of professional bodies/councils.”

The lawmakers said if implemented, the government would be saving over N862bn between 2012 and 2015 with a breakdown which 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.”

They argued however that the White Paper Committee set up by Jonathan’s administration rejected most of the recommendations, while those accepted were not implemented.

“The House notes that in November 2021, the President Muhammadu Buhari 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.

“The House also notes that upon submission of their reports, the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government 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.”

The lawmakers said implementing the Oronsaye Report 12 years after it was made without first reviewing it might not be in the best interest of the nation because by now, the report “ordinarily may be described as outdated, especially because of how dynamic the society, economy, polity, technology and all facets of our national life has been.”

“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,” the lawmakers said, stressing that a full implementation “Will certainly throw up unintended consequences, implications and outcomes.”

Following the adoption of the motion, the House urged President Tinubu to “comprehensively review the 2012 Orosanye Report, the Goni Aji Report which reviewed Orosanye Report, the White Paper released by the President Jonathan administration, the Ama Pepple White Paper and the Ebele Okeke White Paper in line with current realities, while considering implementable alternatives that are in tune with current realities, and which at the same time would have minimum unintended consequences, impacts, implications and outcomes.”

The House also urged 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.”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, who presided over plenary on Thursday inaugurated a 23-man committee chaired by House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, to recommend appropriate measures to mitigate the likely fallout of the review exercise.

“The committee is to study the recommendation of the executive arm of government and advise the House on likely impacts of this restructuring exercise,” the Speaker said.

[Punch]

The British Council in Nigeria has increased the fee for the academic international English language testing system (IELTS) examinations.

This is the second time the council will be hiking the examination fee this year.

Last month, the price was increased by 29 percent from the N107,500 that was being paid for the test.

IELTS on computer academic and general training modules was set at N139,000; IELTS on paper academic and general training modules was pegged at N134,000; the UK visas and immigration (UKVI) was increased to N149,000; Life skills: N130,000; and one skill retake (O.S.R): N87,570.

In an update on its website cited on Thursday, the council said it had reviewed the fees.

The new fee for IELTS on computer academic and general training modules is now N266,000; IELTS on paper academic and general training modules: N256,500; UKVI: N285,500; and life skills: N249,000.

“The above fees will be subject to review based on the prevailing market dynamics,” the council said.

“The change in fees is due to the evolving market dynamics and increased costs in the delivery of our exams.”

The council added that the updated prices for the IELTS range of tests will take effect from March 1.

In September 2023, the British Council increased the cost of IELTS from about N90,000 to N107,500.

At the time, the council said the new prices were necessary to sustain the high quality of standards for the testing experience.

[TheCable]

A former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, said the Oronsaye Report is outdated and needs to be updated before implementation.

Sani stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

Recall that the Oronsaye Report was commissioned in 2012 with the goal of rationalising and restructuring federal government parastatals, commissions, departments and agencies.

But, Sani said the report has become obsolete due to the proliferation of new agencies and commissions since its inception.

He said that legislators’ performance was often measured by the number of bills they sponsored or the creation of federal agencies and commissions resulting from their initiatives, thereby leading to a high number of federal agencies and commissions in the country.

Sani noted that the approach did not align with the country’s economic realities.

He said, “Most of these commissions were created by the National Assembly. When you are elected into office as a senator or as a member of the House of Representatives, one of the factors that they use to gauge your performance or stewardship in office is the number of bills you are able to sponsor, or the number of federal agencies that came out of your bills.

“And as such, you see every year, legislators come out with all sorts of ideas about commissions and agencies and boards and bureaus. But we don’t take cognizance of the fact that we are a poor country. A nation of 224 million people with such little resources.

“Some of the agencies that we created in this country are so irrelevant and useless. And it’s time that we implemented this report.

“But Oronsaye Report could have been updated. The President could have invited Oronsaye and his committee and said, ‘Update your report based on the new commissions and agencies that have been created after your report.’ Because as it’s now, the report is outdated.

“If you live in Abuja today, there’s hardly any street you will move without seeing an agency you never knew before. It’s either one commission on this or an agency on that.

“Now, look at the number of the agencies that came after Oronsaye Report. So if you look at what’s being done now, it’s simply ‘Let’s implement this without thinking that it has gone out of date.’

“So, the best thing now is to invite Oronsaye and ask him to update his report and then the government can implement it,” he said.

The Oronsaye Report was formulated in 2011 by the then-President Goodluck Jonathan under the Presidential Committee on the Rationalization and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies.

The report aimed to streamline governance, reduce costs, and enhance efficiency.

[Vanguard]

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, has asked professionals not to leave Nigeria in the hands of politicians.

He stated this in Abeokuta, Ogun state, while delivering a lecture titled: “Town Planners, Sustainable Development and Nation Building” at the 10th Waheed Kadiri Lecture Series. 

The annual lecture is organised by the Ogun State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners in honour of the former President of NITP, Waheed Kadiri.

Delivering his lecture, Egbewole, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), insisted that professionals and not only politicians must build Nigeria.

He expressed danger in leaving politicians solely in charge developing Nigeria, saying “to a large extent, our decision-makers are planning illiterate”.

He said, “It is now more imperative to allow professionals build our nation than succumb to the manipulations of the few and octopus called government as represented by few misguided public officials.”

The Vice Chancellor charged town planners “to promote lively and self-sustaining communities, town planning propositions must be ingenious to foster mix of residential, commercial and recreational land uses and enforce zoning restrictions that allow for mixed-use projects, building a feeling of community and reducing commuting lengths, as far as practicable.

“Every plan should be people-centered. As a process, planning must follow the dictates of Peoples Leading in Addressing their Needs (PLAN) that allows the targeted beneficiaries to take leading roles in conception and settings.

“Town planners must prioritise and plan for efficient and well-maintained infrastructure, including transportation, utilities and public services that meet future requirements and provide fair access to essential services.”

In his remark, Kadiri called for strict implementation of government policies and plans on urban regeneration to prevent natural disasters.

[DailyTrust]