Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Ezra Dikki has decried the non-regulation of the health sector in the country which has resulted in high medical pilgrimage abroad by Nigerians.
He said it was for that reason that the Federal government was keen on reforming the sector .Already,a joint preliminary review of the sector legislations has begun by the Federal Ministry of Health and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to reform the sector.
The BPE boss who revealed this on Friday when he received in audience, a delegation from Greenpark Worldwide, led by a one-time British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Sir Richard Gozney, noted that at present, only the medical practitioners were being regulated, leaving out the services and practice thus making the sector open to unqualified operators.
Mr. Dikki further informed his audience that government was also working on reforming the Sports, Hospitality and Tourism, River Basins, Housing and Road sectors. He added that five Bills in the Transport Sector were being reviewed by the government for possible re-representation to the National Assembly for enactment.
The DG noted that unfortunately the five transport sector Bills with three others were not passed before the expiration of the 7th National Assembly and expressed the hope the 8th National Assembly would expeditiously pass the Bills when presented by the executive arm.
According to him, once the Bills are passed, other new regulatory agencies would be set up or existing ones restructured. The passage of the Bills will facilitate private sector investment in infrastructure like railways, roads and inland waters ways and this would require manpower training and capacity building to drive the emerging change Nigerians yearn for.
Dikki said the present government had indicated the desire to privatize the country’s refineries and this would require the passage of the correct Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
He expressed the optimism that the 8th National Assembly would have the opportunity to review the original Bill of 2008, which when passed would achieve the desired result for Nigeria.
On the Sports Sector, the DG said that given the huge population of 160 million Nigerian sports enthusiasts, a lot of potentials abound in the sector which if well harnessed, would be a veritable income earner for the country as is the case in Britain and other countries.
Earlier, leader of the delegation, Sir, Richard Gozney said Greenpark is a management training company that has the skills and capabilities to support the privatization and reform objectives of the Federal Government.
He said the team took special interest in the BPE because of its mandate and as knowledge –based organization.
Green Park Worldwide is a London-based training company, supporting international banking, major industry and private & public corporations across the globe.
