EDITORIAL: Curtailing the irrational proliferation of federal agencies

Since 2011, efforts of successive governments to hit the bull’s eye in the implementation of the Steve Oronsaye-led panel report on the rationalisation of 541 Federal Government agencies have hit a brick wall. Each regime has been entangled with the proliferation of ministries, departments and agencies without any consideration of their utilitarian and cost imperatives.

Now, in the twilight of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, tentative steps have been taken to enforce the recommendation of the panel with the forwarding of Government’s White Paper report to the National Assembly for legislative action. This is coming five years after the regime had reconstituted a White Paper Implementation Committee chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. As was usual with the Goodluck Jonathan administration on policy issues, it shied away from carrying the implementation through. Again, the contradictory impulses of Buhari’s government on the…