Ahead of President Goodluck Jonathans proposed pruning of the 400 federal parastatals and agencies, fear has gripped the heads of many of the organisations.SATURDAY PUNCH investigations showed that although the chairman of the Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation, Mr. Steve Orosanye, assured that the exercise would not lead to job losses, the heads of the agencies were apprehensive that they would be major casualties.It was learnt on Friday in Abuja that the concern of many of the directors was that merger of some the organisations would lead to the loss of their positions.The President had two months ago set up the Orosanye Committee in the bid to reduce the number of agencies and parastatals at the federal level. He had explained that the committee became necessary as the over 400 government agencies were carrying out overlapping functions, which had led to inefficiency and wastage.The President had said that the merger of the agencies would assist in reducing governments recurrent expenditure, which took 70 per cent of the 2011 budget.He said it was a response to the memorandum submitted by the Presidential Advisory Council led by Gen. Theophilus Danjuma on the effective and optimal management of national resources.The chairman of the committee, had during a visit to the State House, Abuja, said, Obviously, we have many parastatals whose functions overlap. This is what we have been asked to look at. Where there is overlap, bring it up. Where there is duplication, bring it up. You know, you can make the deployment of people to other agencies where they can be more productive.So for me, I will go according to the terms of reference given to me and I will submit my report, he said.While presenting the 2012 budget to the National Assembly on Tuesday, Jonathan had said, Were conscious of the need to control the cost of governance. (The) government will streamline agencies with overlapping mandates as a way to realign public expenditure.In this respect, I have received the preliminary report of the task force which I set up for this purpose and we shall implement relevant recommendations.A source in the agencies said that directors and heads of the agencies, which were considered juicy, were afraid of being posted to other organisations.He said, Many of the directors are now living in fear because they may be posted to another organisation, where they may not wield much power.Investigations showed that the Orosanye committee was lobbied by organisations, which were likely to be affected by the planned merger.The source, who spoke with our one of our correspondents, said, Although the Federal Government has assured that the restructuring would not lead to retrenchment, there is no way some people will not be asked to go.There are some people who cannot fit into any organisation apart from the one they are currently working. Such people are at the risk of losing their jobs.It was reliably gathered that the criteria used by the Orosanye Committee in determining agencies that would be merged included performance and contributions to the reformation agenda of Jonathan administration.A member of the committee, who pleaded anonymity, explained, Where two agencies perform overlapping functions, their performances will be used in assessing them.The one that has become redundant will be merged with the one that is considered effective and efficient. The head of an agency may be posted to another as a deputy and those who have become deadwoods may be asked to go.It was learnt that agencies that were likely to be affected by the merger included the Police Service Commission and organisations in the ministries of science and technology, education, information and housing.
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