By Joan Odafe
Some experts in different fields have called on the Federal Government to cut down cost of governance by reducing the number of ministers.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that the cost of governance was becoming too high for the nation.
The Medical Director of Bee Hess Hospital, Lagos State, Dr Olabode Bakare, said that since assuming office, President Bola Tinubu and his aides had been working without ministers, implying that the country did not need many of them.
Bakare called on the government to collapse the position of ministers of state and consider merging some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to reduce cost of governance.
“We have permanent secretaries and others who can deputise for ministers,” he said.
He urged the senators and House of Representative members to also reduce cost of governance by sacrificing some allowances out of compassion for the masses.
A businessman, Mr Befe Onwuasoanya, told NAN that ministers were important in governance but must be effective and prudent to avoid wastages.
He cautioned them against amassing wealth to the detriment of the nation.
The Principal of Festac Senior College, Mr David Oluwafemi, said that Nigeria did not require a large number of ministers.
According to him permanent secretaries were capable of running MDAs.
He said that Nigerian ministers were expected to be experienced and knowledgeable.
“If we have permanent secretaries with the experience needed to run the various MDAs, why not cut cost of governance?” he asked.
He urged that Nigerian ministers must be disciplined, competent and full of integrity to justify their appointments.
Oluwafemi advised incoming minister for education to modify school curricula to provide better education.
The Managing Director of SUNU Health, Dr Patrick Korie, however, said that Nigeria needed adequate number of ministers to carry out functions of the executive arm of government.
According to Korie, in the civil service structure, officers, directors and permanent secretaries have roles different from that of the minister, to play.
“Ministers interface directly with the president; they are in the executive arm.
“All these other people are not part of the executive arm,” he said.
Korie urged incoming health minister to set clear and measurable goals to be achieved in the next four years.
“Something like maternal health is a measurable goal. Life expectancy is a measurable goal,” he said.
He added that the minister should facilitate enforcement and implementation of laws and policies on health, including the National Health Insurance Authority Act of 2022 and National Health Plan. (NAN)
