Obasanjo gives top job to woman
2005-03-09 14:53
Abuja - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has appointed a woman to head the nation's privatisation agency BPE in a move widely seen as an effort to give more bite to his government's privatisation policy.
With her appointment, Irene Nkechi Chigbue, a director in the transport and aviation department in the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), has thus become the first woman to head the organisation.
An official statement from the president's office said that Chigbue replaces Julius Bala, who was appointed to that position in 2003.
The BPE is charged with the task of privatising government agencies in a bid to generate revenue and make them efficient.
Privatisation is one of the pillars of Obasanjo's economic revival programmes.
Some of the ailing agencies listed for privatisation are the Nigeria Airways, the mint, the refineries, the electricity company (NITEL), the aluminium smelter plant and the seaports. - AFP
- SAPA