House of Representatives has begun a move to checkmate overlapping among Federal Government Agencies in the country.
Receiving chief executives of some agencies at the National Assembly, the house ad-hoc committee on an overlapping mandate of government agencies, the Chairman has demanded a comprehensive list of all functional museums in Nigeria.
Agencies that appeared before the committee includes, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments NCMM, National Council for Arts and Culture, the Nation’s Gallery of Arts, and the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation NTDC.
The Panel Chairman Mr. Victor Mela-Danzaria also directed the agencies to justify their existence and annual budgets as part of plans to identify agencies that have very similar roles or duplication of mandate.
In his submission, the Director General National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) Professor Abba Tijjani, informed the committee that his commission was established to ensure the preservation of national works of art.
He maintains that the Commission is a strategic parastatal of government that has 53 museums, 65 national monuments, and 2 world heritage sites.
On his part, the Director-General National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Runsewe, stressed the need to merge the agencies in the culture and tourism and that of hospitality, saying his agency is still instrumental in the task of promoting tourism and arts in the country.
The probe chairman, however, said the committee will undertake a holistic review of laws establishing the affected agencies to ensure they contribute optimally to the nation’s economic growth.
COV/TSIBIRI