‘Government to rationalise agencies in 10-year reform plan’

The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) in the Presidency has said there would be new reforms leading to reduction or merging of government agencies and parastatals.

Director-General of the BPSR, Dr. Joe Abah disclosed in Abuja yesterday that the decision was reached after the National Economic Council headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo listed a 10-year reform plan that would lead to the rationalisation of agencies and parastatals.

According to Abah, “We have a 10-year reform plan. However, as with every plan, the sequence and prioritisation ranges.

He said: “From 2017 government would be focusing on making it easier to do business in Nigeria. And this is why the bureau has commissioned a number of studies to look at the bottlenecks to service delivery. We are looking at those things that affect the ordinary Nigerian directly.

“For instance, the processes for getting a passport, the processes for getting a driver’s licence, the process for getting a tax clearance and the process for seeing a doctor in a government hospital; and the gap between when you retire and when you actually start to get your pension. We have instances where people have retired and for one year they haven’t got any pension,” he noted.

The BPSR boss added: “These are some of the topical issues we would be looking at to see where the bottlenecks are and what we can do to ease the process. We are also optimistic that our report on restructuring of the merged ministry will go to council very early in the New Year, with a recommendation that we do the same for all the other ministries.”

Abah also emphasised the need to break the communication gap between the government and the citizenry as it relates to how government works.
He disclosed that the bureau would commission a policy paper essentially to address the gaps in January 2017.

He said government was worried over the high rate of unemployment in the country. He said the bureau would be engaging with the youth ministry and stakeholders in line with this, adding that the bureau was working towards a coordinated approach on the problems of unemployment.

The ministry of youths and sports, we understand is doing something on youth unemployment. So also is that of women affairs, labour and employment.