• Workers, stakeholders weigh expected gains, losses as implementation committee begins work
From Aidoghie Paulinus, Isaac Anumihe, Fred Ezeh, Adanna Nnamani, Okwe Obi, Charity Nwakaudu, Idu Jude, and Abubakar Yakubu, Abuja
In 2012, the President Goodluck Jonathan administration set up the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies with the former Head of Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, as the chairman.
Oronsaye, a retired civil servant, sat with his committee members and painstakingly produced a 800-page document, which recommended the scrapping and merging of 220 out of the then-existing 541 government agencies, aimed at streamlining their operations, eliminating redundancies, and saving a whopping N862 billion between 2012 and 2015.
But the report was not implemented by the Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari administrations. However, President Bola Tinubu on February 28 brought out the report from the shelf and ordered its implementation.
Inaugurating the implementation committee on Thursday last week, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, reiterated that the implementation of the White Papers on the report, which would involve the merger, relocation, subsuming or scrapping of some parastatals, agencies, and commissions is aimed at reducing the cost of governance and streamlining efficiency across the governance value chain.
As the implementation of the 12-year-old report has become a reality, parastatals and agencies under several ministries are getting ready for the expected new order with some of them grumbling.
In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, the concerned agencies are already looking at the options available.
Checks by Sunday Sun revealed that the Oronsaye Report recommended that the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA) established during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001, be merged with the Directorate of Technical Aid Corps (DTAC) established by the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s military regime in 1987.
Following the recommendation, both parastatals will function as a department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The DTCA was specifically designed to address the issue of brain gain and brain calculation in Africa through the utilisation of expert knowledge in developmental projects all over Africa.
DTAC, from the onset, was conceived as an instrument of foreign policy and saddled with the conduct of recruitment and orientation exercises for volunteers, including the deployments of volunteers on their final return to the country. DTAC objectives were the sharing of Nigeria’s know-how and expertise with other African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and giving assistance on the basis of assessed and perceived needs of the recipient countries, including the promotion of cooperation and understanding between Nigerian and beneficiary countries.
In the Oronsaye Report, the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) was also recommended to be merged with the Voice of Nigeria (VON).
FRCN, according to Sunday Sun checks, was established by Decree No. 8 of 1978 with the sole rights to shortwave or mediumwave broadcasting for effective and simultaneous reception in the country.
The VON was established in 1961 as the external service of the then Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) which later became the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).
The National Theatre, established on September 30, 1975, by the General Yakubu Gowon regime, has served as a major events venue, relaxation centre and tourists spots for both nationals and foreigners, while the National Troupe, the topmost performing arts organisation of the Federal Government established in 1991, has as its primary objectives, the celebration of the rich cultural heritage of Nigeria through dance, music, drama and children theatre.
Also in the report, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, a parastatal under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is to be subsumed under the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).
The Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), has also been recommended to be subsumed as a department in the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, while the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), is to be converted into an agency and transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
As at the time of filing this report, staff of DTCA and DTAC could not be reached for comments.
However, speaking with Sunday Sun, the media aide to the Chairman of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Abdurrahman Balogun, said that NIDCOM was not affected by the Oronsaye Report.
Balogun said: “We are not affected. We are already under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Zubairu Dada who is a former Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, was our supervisory minister during Buhari. So, there is nothing new.”
Also speaking with Sunday Sun, a staff of FRCN, said merging FRCN and VON will not create any problem.
The staff who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “It won’t affect us by God’s grace. It is okay. VON was just a foreign desk. It has been under us before. It was later that it was created independently. Before, they were a department under FRCN. For now, they will continue to be a department on the foreign desk. So, there won’t be any challenge.”
With the inauguration of the report implementation committee, pension experts and pensioners have described the recommendation on the discarding of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) as a wrong-headed and monumental error that would terribly destabilize the public pension management.
PTAD was established in August 2013 in compliance with the Pension Reform Act (PRA) of 2004, which was repealed and re-enacted in the PRA 2014.
Prior to the enactment of the PRA, government pensions were managed as disparate offices under the wholly treasury-funded Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS).
Empowered by Section 42 (1) of the PRA 2014, PTAD took over the management of the old pension offices. These were the Civil Service Pension Office (CSPO) under the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Police Pension Office (PPO), the Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office (CIPPO) as well as the pensions of over 200 Treasury Funded Parastatals. These were the categories of pensioners who served the Federal Government and retired on or before June 30, 2007 and who did not transit to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
Experts, who confided in Sunday Sun, recalled that pensioners languished under hot sun and torrential rains to get their entitlements from the Ministry of Finance as Nigeria’s pension system was fraught with fraud at the time.
Many slumped and died in queues as they awaited their emoluments.
The ugly development prompted the government to establish PTAD to take care of pensioners under DBS.
However, with the recommendation of the Oronsaye Report that PTAD be scrapped and the staff, about 200 of them, be absorbed by the Ministry of Finance, tongues are already wagging as to the sincerity of this recommendation because many see it as a return to the days of horror when getting pension entitlements cost an arm and a leg.
The Spokesperson of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Bunmi Ogunkolade, said that it was wrong for the government to recommend the jettisoning of PTAD without seeking sufficient stakeholder input or assessing the dangers therein.
“We didn’t approve of it. We are scared due to our past experiences with the Ministry of Finance.
“You know, it was the challenge we had with the ministry that led to the creation of PTAD. So, how will they now take us back to the Ministry again? Pension issues are too big to be a department in one Ministry”, he lamented.
Industry commentators who weighed in on the matter feared that the pension funds warehoused in PTAD may be looted by politicians if the government follows through with the scrapping.
They said that there were genuine reasons to smell a rat in the relentless move to scrap PTAD and ‘weld’ it to the Finance Ministry as the design and operations of PTAD leave very little room for fraud.
PTAD’s mandate is set out in Section 45 of the PRA 2014 and includes making budgetary estimates for existing pensioners and the officers exempted from the Contributory Scheme under section 5(1)(b) of the Act; preparing and submitting the monthly payroll of pensioners to the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
At the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the members of staff said that they have already made a provisional arrangement for the staff of the National Salaries Incomes Wages Commission (NSIWC) who will be merging with their commission.
According to the commission, before the announcement, it had made arrangements for their coming.
The Public Relations Officer of RMAFC, Mr Chris Nwachukwu, therefore, said that the announcement was a welcome development.
“It’s a government’s order and we are well ready to welcome them. Even before the order, RMAFC had made provisions for their coming. So, they are welcome,” he said.
But in the NSIWC, it was not a good development as the environment wore a mournful look. The members of staff were not cheerful as people were seen discussing in groups in fear and trepidation.
What is dicey in the new arrangement is who between the chairmen of both commissions will head the new RMAFC.
In the civil service hierarchy, the chairman of NSIWC, Ekpo Nta, is higher than the chairman of RMAFC, Engr Mohammed Bello Shehu. However, the puzzle is left for the Civil Service Commission to resolve.
It would be recalled that the Oronsaye Report had recommended that NSIWC should be subsumed into RMAFC.
It was equally reported that if the recommendations are fully implemented, the Federal Government would save more than N241 billion a month.
Also, the merger of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the National Commission for Refugees and Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) as prescribed by the Oronsaye Report has evoked mixed reactions.
NEMA was established in 1999 through Act 12 as amended by Act 50 to manage disaster in the country.
The 2024 budget proposal presented by the Director General, Mustapha Ahmed, was N2.545 billion before the National Assembly.
A break down of the budget, according to Ahmed, showed that N856,367,570 is for capital expenditure; N202,684,191, overhead cost and N1,486,593,233, personnel cost.
NCFRMI, formerly known as National Commission for Refugees (NCFR) was established in 1989 to receive asylum seekers and migrants and those seeking citizenship.
But over of the years, both the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS) and police have usurped the responsibilities of NCFRMI, as undocumented foreigners are arrested and deported by NIS without the knowledge and permission of NCFRMI.
The NCFRMI only come in to celebrate international migrants day and to dole out palliatives to indigent migrants, a function that has been taken over by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, thereby rendering the Commission redundant.
A senior civil servant in NCFRMI, who preferred anonymity said: “The merger will help streamline the activities of those agencies. As far as I am concerned it is even better because it is going to harmonise the activities of government, especially when we are talking about cutting cost of governance.
“When you allow those agencies to exist independent of each other they allow chief executives that function independently and draw money from the national treasury. It is a plus for the government.
“They are not going to depend on each other. Because they are going into operation, there will be another law to repeal the laws of NEMA, NCFRMI and then a new law will be enacted. The new law will now define who will be in charge. It is still in process.”
Asked if he was happy with the decision, he said: “It is not about being happy or not being happy. It is what the government wants to do to reduce the cost of governance.
“If they are one they cannot be drawing allocation from different sources.”
Speaking on the fate of the some civil servants in those agencies, he said:
“They will redistribute the staff to other agencies, where they will be needed. We have some of them who will be having overlapping functions. So, they will be redeployed.”
Also, the removal of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), from the Presidency to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, did not go down well with some staff members of the former.
The NALDA was founded in 1992, but it ceased to exist in 2000. It was revived by President Buhari. Its aim is to rejuvenate rural areas through agriculture, transforming them into profitable enterprise for national prosperity.
Those in the know contended that it was not established by an Act. They claimed that it was established to settle political scores.
Also, most directors in the Ministry of Agriculture are happy that it has been removed from the Presidency because of the direct funding it has been getting from the government.
But with the new arrangement, NALDA will now draw funds from the ministry and seek permission from the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security before embarking on any project.
“We are happy that NALDA is coming to the ministry of agriculture. Because from my calculation and estimation, it is the richest agency under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security,” a director said.
However, the change has rattled staff members of NALDA who argued that the subjection of the agency to the dictates of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, will slow down the activities of the agency, especially the autonomy to award contracts for the clearing of lands for agriculture at its discretion.
For the National Intelligence Agency Pension Commission and the National Pensions Commission expected emerger, there appears to be a disagreement as sources at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) have faulted the announcement made by the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, who while breaking down the decisions made at the Federal Executive Council meeting on the full implementation of the Oronsaye Report, disclosed that the National Intelligence Agency Pension Commission will be merged with the National Pension Commission.
One of the sources said that in the first place, the agency never had a pension commission, except a pension’s department.
The source said that he has gone through the whole of the Oronsaye’s Report and there was no place the NIA is mentioned.
“I believe someone has either doctored or is trying to insert that clause into the report which is unfair,” the source said.
The source wondered why the NIA was singled out among other intelligence agencies when it was the same Act that created the NIA that also created the Defence Intelligence Agency and the Department of State Security Services, adding that the Act has not been repealed.
He advised the Federal Government not to listen to those trying to insert the clause, noting that there is nowhere in the world were intelligence officers’ expenditures and salaries are made public.
Also expectedly, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) will be merged with the National Gallery of Arts while the National Theatre is to be merged with the National Troupe of Nigeria.
In the 1940s, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments was established to take care of the management of all national museums and monuments in Nigeria.
A source at the commission revealed that they are in a nutshell in charge of antiquities and have offices in all the states of the country.
“This means that in the culture sector, it was the first to be carved out to handle antiquities, so the other countries in the world can see what Nigeria has,” he said.
Another source at the National Gallery of Art (NGA) revealed that for years after the creation of the commission, there was no agency to handle modern arts, which led to agitations.
He said that in 1993, the then military president, General Ibrahim Babaginda (rtd), through Decree No. 86, established the NGA and in 2004, the Act was amended by the National Assembly.
He said that the NGA was set up for the promotion and propagation of modern (visual) arts in Nigeria, adding that they are also supposed to give grants to art institutions as enshrined in the Act establishing it.
“This means that it is the only agency established to take care of modern arts, as there is no other one. Right now the NGA is spread in 25 states in the country and the NCMM is in all the states of the federation,” the source noted.
He wondered how the merger will work when both organisations have distinct functions with one handling modern arts and the other taking care of antiquities.
“The merger will cause confusion. Presently, the NGA has 3,000 artworks as national collection and has been crying to the Federal Government to have a building structure to display the works to attract tourism,” he said.
He said that Nigeria is the only country in Africa that does not have a building structure or an edifice to displace her collection of artworks.
According to him, “the country needs an edifice and instead of giving us that, they want to merge us with the NCMM.
“This is confusing as we do not know whether modern arts will be kept with antiquities.”
The source also disclosed that the NGA is at the verge of changing its establishing Act, which is service oriented as of now to become a revenue generating agency.
“We were about to go to the National Assembly for this and what did we hear, we are now merged. The NGA has always opposed merging as it is involved with modern arts which are big business around the world,” he said.
He said that NGA workers are not happy with the new development and hope the Federal Government will take to the part of reasoning in this regards, saying that modern arts are money-spinning venture across the world.
The source decried the budgetary allocations for art agencies, which he described as a joke and called for increment.
He said that both the NGA and NCMM are in limbo presently as their new CEOs are yet to resume.
“For the culture sector, the Federal Government ought to have concluded the resumption arrangements of the new CEOs before making the merge announcement.
Similarly, the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) will merge with the National Centre for Generic Resources and Biotechnology.
The National Biotechnology Development Agency established in 2001 under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology is saddled with the responsibility of implementing policies, exploring resources, conducting research, promoting, coordinating and developing biotechnology in Nigeria.
The Agency since inception has been able to create awareness, as well as raise the level of consciousness towards the advancement of biotechnology in the country.
A staff of the agency who pleaded anonymity stressed that the NABDA has made meaningful progress in the pursuit of the realization of its mandate after 23 years of existence.
According to him, the agency focused majorly on its promotional role in the development of biotechnology and has done so much in the area of promotion and awareness creation of biotechnology in the country.
He added that many of the nation’s universities are offering Biotechnology at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels with some up to the level of PhD.
“So, NABDA’s mandate on the promotion of biotechnology has been greatly realised. As part of our mandate, the agency has been working very hard towards ensuring that Nigeria becomes self-reliant in the development and application of biotechnology-based products and services and I don’t think any resources was wasted.”
The National Centre for Generic Resources and Biotechnology was also established by the then Ministry of Science and Technology in 1987 with a mandate to gather data and disseminate technology information on matters, especially for agriculture and food, as well as ensuring that they are used sustainably.
The staff added that the merger was a welcome development as it would go a long way in fostering research and cut cost as both agencies share the same or similar mandates.
“And for we the staff, I don’t think there would be any challenge because our salaries are intact, it is just the name of our place of work that will change,” he added.
Another staff who shared the same view with the first speaker noted that it will make research easier and more efficient because both agencies are related and it will also save cost of governance.
He expressed optimism that the merger won’t pose any challenges because it won’t affect salaries and the government had also promised not to dismiss anyone.
In 2008, the Federal Government established the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) under the (Establishment,) Act, 2005.
The ICRC was established to regulate Public Private Partnership (PPP) endeavours of the Federal Government aimed at addressing Nigeria’s physical infrastructure deficit which hampers economic development.
The pioneer Governing Body of ICRC was inaugurated on November 27, 2008 by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Mr. Michael Ohiani is currently the Director General of the Commission.
The ICRC Act 2005 empowered the Commission to take custody of every concession agreement made under the enabling Act and monitor compliance with the terms and conditions of such agreement, as well as to ensure efficient execution of any concession agreement or contract entered into by the Federal Government.
The establishment Act ensures compliance with the provisions of the ICRC Act which is to Perform such other duties as may be directed by the President, from time to time, and as are necessary or expedient to ensure the efficient performance of the functions of the Commission under the ICRC Act.
In the oil and gas industry, the ICRC is to oversee infrastructure such as storage depots and distribution pipelines, among other roles.
A senior Director in ICRC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, faulted the Federal Government on the merger, particularly in creating employment opportunities for the disengaged staff of the agencies and commissions.
“As I am talking to you now, I am afraid of the next place to be. This is because Nigeria has become a very horrible place to be and my guess is as good as yours. The country we call ours is no longer what we think. This puts to question the level of patriotism in all of us. The vision to run government of national unity,” he lamented.
He claimed that the commission has achieved a lot within the shot period it was established, including sea ports and airport concessioning and the Nigeria railway property concessioning.
Looking at the Oronsaye Report, a chieftain of the APC, Dr Garus Gololo, stated that the implementation of the report under the present economic situation is an attempt to throw more Nigerians into the labour market.
His words: “What I am saying is that people should not open different war fronts at the same time. To me, it is ill-timed and should be looked into because scrapping the agencies do not guarantee another job for such staff. We are here to advise him, and we know he is listening. The implementation of the report means cutting the number of workers and he forgot that this country is over 250 million people. What Nigerians want to hear now is how the price of a bag of rice would come down. How price of a bag of cement would be reduced, not creating avenues to sack Nigerians from their means of living”.
He said that including the ICRC among MDAs to be scrapped or merged is contrary to international best practices.
“We need not to go back to the stone age time. While other nations crave private public partnership as penesea to investment opportunities, Nigeria is heading back by scrapping the agency in charge of the duty,” he said.
In the education sector, the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC) was recommended for scrapping.
The decision, however, triggered questions from some staff members and stakeholders who reminded the government that NSSEC was not in existence when the Oronsaye Report was released, hence it should not be affected in the recent policy pronouncement.
In its place, it was suggested that the newly established National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children should be considered for scrapping, and its responsibilities be transferred to the National Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
NSSEC was conceived in 2020, but received legislative backing in 2023 (NSSEC Act 2023), with the mandate to prescribe and enforce minimum standards for Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria, a responsibility that was hitherto domiciled with the Basic and Secondary Education Department in the Federal Ministry of Education.
This became necessary considering the fact that other education sub-sectors, notably, Basic Education, College of Education, Polytechnic and University Education, have regulatory and intervention agencies which include Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and the National Universities Commission (NUC), respectively.
Prof Benjamin Abakpa was appointed the pioneer Executive Secretary of the Commission in April 2021, with over 60 staff deployed/seconded from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to kick-start the Commission.
There were suggestions that education being an item in the Concurrent List should be the responsibility of the state governments, particularly basic and secondary education, while the Federal Government focuses on tertiary education.
In the NSSEC Act, two per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) was proposed for the running of the Commission, as well as infrastructural development.
Recently, stakeholders, including State Commissioners of Education, donor partners, assembled in Abuja for the review of a draft national minimum standards for senior secondary education in Nigeria.
The document specified the standards/benchmarks in six thematic areas in senior secondary education delivery, namely, teaching and learning; quality assurance; planning, research and statistics; infrastructural facilities and equipment; special and support programmes; and stakeholders’ responsibilities at the federal and state levels.
Some staff of the Commission said that the inclusion of NSSEC in the list of scrapped/merged agencies was done in error considering the fact that it was not included in the Oronsaye Report, demanding that it be removed from the list.
A senior staff of the Commission who pleaded anonymity told Sunday Sun that there was neither panic, worry, nor unnecessary anxiety in the Commission as a result of the development.
The staff said: “We are going about our duties and engagements as planned. In fact, a general meeting was held within the week with top management of the Commission including the Executive Secretary, Prof. Iyela Ajayi, in attendance, and nothing of such was mentioned nor discussed.”
The staff maintained that NSSEC has been effective in promoting senior secondary education within the short time that it was created.
“We have done several projects through our collaboration with the Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), a World Bank-assisted project of the Federal Ministry of Education.
“Also, we have been implementing our budget effectively through the assistance of members of the National Assembly.”
Also, the National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE) was recommended for merger with the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult Education and Non-Formal Education (NMEC), to perhaps, strengthen the education opportunities for under-privileged Nigerians, particularly nomads.
Nomadic education was introduced in 1986 to provide basic formal education to disadvantaged and marginalized nomadic populations in the country; while the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education was established in 1990, with a mandate to, among other things, provide basic education to non-literate adults and youths through a non-formal approach.
The merger was, however, not a surprise to many stakeholders in the education sector who claimed the Commissions have contributed little or nothing to the education sector over the years despite the budgetary allocations and other interventions over the years.
An Abuja-based educationist, Jafar Kazaure, said, for instance, NMEC was conspicuously missing in major education activities in 2023.
“The Commission couldn’t even take advantage of the World Literacy Day that is celebrated on September 8th, every year to make an impact. The staff are just there drawing salaries and allowances from government, making no contribution to the government.
“The suggestion to merge them is better. Perhaps, it will make them stronger to work together to support the development of the education sector. The combine staff strength of the commissions are huge, and the fact that the President has assured that workers won’t be laid off would make them deploy the staff effectively in other areas to ensure they make positive impacts,” Kazaure said.
Executive Secretary of NCNE, Prof. Bashir Usman, said that the Commission worked and made some silent achievements in 2023, as well as promoting peaceful co-existence among farmers/herders.
He said that a recent survey conducted by the Commission indicated that literacy level among nomads and other people in the same category rose to 19 per cent from 0.29 per cent that it was over the years.
“The feat was, however, as a result of years of effort and commitment to the cause of human capital development of the nomads.
“The Commission also developed pupil’s texts in three subject areas, namely, Islamic Religious Studies (IRS), Christian Religious Studies (CRS) and History.”
In the health sector, the decision to merge the National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA) with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) was largely not accepted by stakeholders in the public health management.
Some of them noted that the two agencies have distinct roles in the health care sector and would function effectively if left alone.
However, there are indications that the Federal Government might have taken the decision considering the fact that global community has set 2030 as deadline for HIV/AIDS transmission, besides, Nigeria has made appreciable early gains as regards the 2030 global target for HIV/AIDS.
NCDC being a national public health institute, has the mandate to lead the preparedness, detection and response, to infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies; while NACA is charged with the responsibility of coordinating HIV activities in Nigeria by providing enabling policy environment and facilitation of proactive multi-sectoral planning, coordinated implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all HIV/AIDS prevention and impact mitigation activities in Nigeria.
The Bill for an Act to establish NCDC was signed into law in November 2018, by former President Muhammadu Buhari; while NACA was established in February 2000, to coordinate the various activities of HIV/AIDS in the country. Both Agencies have, undoubtedly, enjoyed huge and massive financial and logistics support from local and international partners who have interventions on disease outbreaks (for NCDC) and HIV/AIDS (for NACA).
Additionally, NCDC has been effective in management of public health outbreaks in Nigeria, including COVID-19.
Similarly, NACA has over the years engaged in several activities in line with its mandate, thus resulting in more knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDs, conducting massive testing and linking the people to treatment centres. They have also produced data that has been useful in HIV/AIDS response in Nigeria.
However, some epidemiologists were optimistic that merging the two agencies might, perhaps, give birth to a stronger agency that will effectively and efficiently respond to changing public health issues, and also provide opportunities for the workers to gain additional skills and capacity.