ASCSN Warns against Merger of MDAs

ASCSN Warns against Merger of MDAs

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has warned against the moves by the Federal government to merge some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), saying it could trigger industrial and social unrest.

In a statement issued yesterday by its Secretary-General, Mr. Alade Lawal, the union questioned the motive behind the decision to implement the report when COVID-19 is wreaking havoc in the country.

“The reality is that if some MDAs are merged and others scrapped, thousands of civil servants will surely lose their jobs. We cannot understand the logic behind government’s decision at this material time when Nigerians are losing their loved ones while thousands of others are being afflicted by coronavirus.”

Lawal argued that since Nigeria has been rated among the poorest countries implementing the report will lead to social crisis.

“The governments of the various countries including those in Africa are providing financial stimulus even to private sector players to stimulate their economies while citizens are being paid some money to enable them to survive the vagaries of COVID-19. We are not doing that. All we are interested in is to heap more suffering and misery on the people.

“With billions of naira donated by some wealthy Nigerians and international donors, the least we expect the government to do is to use such funds to upgrade medical facilities and inject others into welfare packages for Nigerians. Instead of doing that the government is preoccupied with devising strategies to sack thousands of workers in the name of restructuring the MDAs. This is very unfortunate and unacceptable.

“The question is what moral high ground will the government be relying on to persuade the private sector not to retrench workers, using COVID-19 as an excuse.”

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