Oronsaye Report: Anxiety Builds Amidst Job Loss Threat As Tinubu Govt Begins Implementation

It is no longer news that President Bola Tinubu on Monday ordered the full implementation of the report of the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies, headed by retired accountant, Stephen Oronsaye.

Osun Defender reports that the long-anticipated decision has instilled fear of unemployment, leaving thousands of federal government employees anxious about the possibility of being laid off.

Amidst severe economic challenges and hardship, the order’s arrival suggests that organized labor is likely to strongly oppose its execution.

On Monday, the Tinubu administration announced its decision to implement the Oronsaye report, aiming to streamline the government by consolidating certain agencies and abolishing others.

President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who disclosed the development in a post on his X handle, said many agencies would be scrapped and others merged to pave the way for a leaner government.

He explained that the development was part of the far-reaching decisions taken at the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, chaired by the President.

“Twelve years after the Steve Oronsaye panel submitted its report on restructuring and rationalizing federal government parastatals and agencies and a white paper issued two years later, President Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council today decided to implement the report.

“Many agencies will be scrapped and many others will be merged, to pave the way to a leaner government,” he posted on his X account.

Also, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, while briefing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting, stated that some Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs, would be scrapped, merged, or subsumed into relevant government organisations.

According to him, the aim was to cut costs and not throw Nigerians into the labour market.

Idris added that the details of the affected MDAs would be made known soon, adding that a committee had been set up for the implementation of the report.

However, questions are being raised by some Nigerians over the genuineness of the order as it comes months after the administration created new federal ministries, raising doubts about its commitment and determination to cut the cost of governance.

According to Osun Defender’s report, following his inauguration, Tinubu established several new ministries, encompassing areas such as Marine and Blue Economy, Tourism, Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy, Gas Resources, Steel Development, Finance and Coordinating Economy, Health and Social Welfare, Aviation and Aerospace Development, Youth Development, and Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

In response to the President’s directive regarding the Oronsaye report, a prominent member of the All Progressives Congress, Uche Nwosu, praised Tinubu as a thoughtful and resolute leader committed to steering Nigeria back towards prosperity by reducing the expenses associated with governance.

Nwosu, the president-general of Ugwumba Leadership Centre for Africa Development, said in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja that implementing the report would reposition the federal civil service for better productivity.

“Nigeria operates one of the world’s most over-bloated federal civil service structures, and only visionary leadership in the class of Tinubu could face (sic) the bull by the horns to do the needful,” he said.

Nevertheless, Professor Pat Utomi, a distinguished political economist, expressed his view on his X platform, labeling Tinubu’s decision as a ‘paradox ahoy’.

He suggested it would be proper if the administration could just start with trimming the cabinet.

“Paradox ahoy. The largest cabinet in Nigerian history has just voted for full implementation of the Oronsaye report. Applause. Applause!!. If we can just start with trimming the cabinet,” he said.

Also, Former Kaduna lawmaker, Shehu Sani, cautioned Tinubu to exercise care regarding the complete implementation of the Oronsaye report, particularly concerning the potential loss of jobs for thousands of federal civil servants.

Sani also commended Tinubu about the order, saying it would cut the cost of governance and harmonise federal ministries, departments and agencies.

He made his opinion known in a post on his X handle on Monday night, cautioning, however, that job losses among thousands of federal civil servants were imminent.

He wrote, “The Oronsaye report has gathered dust for over a decade. It’s commendable that now it shall see the light of the day.

Oronsaye Report

The Oronsaye report has become a focal topic among Nigerians.

The potential implementation of this decision would result in no less than 102 heads of agencies and parastatals facing job loss.

This development traces its origins to 2011, when former President Goodluck Jonathan established the Presidential Committee on the Reformation of Government Agencies.

This committee, chaired by Oronsaye, a former Head of Service of the Federation, was tasked with the responsibility of assessing and recommending reforms for various government entities.

The committee was assigned as its terms of reference, among others, to examine the enabling Acts and mandates of all the federal agencies, parastatals, and commissions to determine areas of overlap or duplication of functions, with recommendations also included.

Following the completion of its assignment, the committee in its report recommended reducing 263 statutory agencies to 161, abolishing 38, merging 52, and converting 14 to departments.

However, the erstwhile Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, reviewed the report and rejected most of the recommendations of the committee when it submitted its report in 2014.

But the accepted recommendations were not implemented until the administration left office in 2015.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021 also inaugurated two committees to implement the report.

While one of the committees, headed by a former Head of Service, Bukar Aji, was mandated to review the Oronsaye Report and the government white paper, the other committee, chaired by Amal Pepple, was mandated to review MDAs created between 2014 and 2021.

Despite these attempts, the administration did not act on the report.

Addressing the issue, Nduka Odo, a Public Affairs Analyst and Communication Scholar at Peaceland University in Enugu, remarked that it is commendable for the President to consider reducing the expenses associated with governance.

Odo, however, picked holes in the President’s appointment of over 45 ministers and tens of aides, noting that it happened at a time citizens were under excruciating economic conditions.