The House of Representatives on Thursday passed for second reading a bill seeking to broaden the mandate of the Nigeria Technical Aid Corps (TAC) in line with evolving global challenges and opportunities for international development collaboration.
Sponsor of the bill, Hon. Adewale Hammed, representing Agege Federal Constituency (APC, Lagos), while leading the debate, lamented the limited awareness of the agency’s potential, especially among Nigerian youths.
He noted that the TAC was originally established to deploy Nigerian professionals to African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries in need of technical assistance, aimed at promoting South-South cooperation and fostering mutual development.
Hammed stressed that the world has changed significantly since the creation of the agency, with issues like climate change, food insecurity, and disaster vulnerability now demanding more comprehensive and adaptive frameworks for global technical support.
He explained that the proposed amendment would expand TAC’s operational scope to include these emerging sectors and align its work with current international development priorities.
“The current Act is outdated and silent on critical areas that are now at the core of global development strategies,” he said, adding that the bill would make the agency more relevant and impactful in today’s world.
He said, “As nations significantly face complex challenges in public health, education, food security, and environmental sustainability, Nigeria must rise to the occasion not only as a beneficiary but also as a provider of meaningful technical assistance.
“This amendment is timely and necessary to reposition the Technical Aid Corps as a strategic tool in Nigeria’s foreign policy, soft diplomacy, and global development footprint. By expanding its objectives to include key development sectors and enabling partnership with international organisations, NGO’s, and the private sector, we will strengthen Nigeria’s role as a development leader in the global south.
He said the bill should be amended to strengthen its objective, while modifying the mode of appointment to the board of the agency to cover all the geopolitical zones in the country.
The objective, he said, should be to share Nigeria’s experience and expertise with the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and any other countries/organisations that may from time to time be recommended by the Directorate as capable of partnering with Nigeria under the Scheme in pursuance of its stated objectives.
In addition, the agency should be made to give assistance on the basis of the available manpower, skills and capabilities the Directorate can provide to the recipient countries; promote cooperation and understanding between Nigeria and those of the recipient countries and facilitate meaningful contact between the people of Nigeria and those of the recipient countries.
He said the law should also be amended to ensure the agency provides technical assistance in the areas of agriculture and food security, health and medical services, education and human resource development, infrastructure development, environmental protection and conservation, and disaster risk reduction and management.
He also called for the expansion of the functions of the agency to undertake the periodic monitoring of the activities of volunteers in their countries of deployment with a view to optimising the realisation of the objectives of the Scheme. The monitoring exercise.
The amendment he said will empower the Corps to collaborate with international organizations, development partners, non-governmental organizations, and private sectors to enhance technical aid delivery and maximize impact; to align the Act with current development priorities, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union Agenda 2063 and to deepen south-South cooperation by leveraging Nigeria’s abundant human capital in responding to the needs of developing nations.
He said the amendment presents an important step in strengthening Nigeria’s leadership role in regional and international development, adding that “It is not merely an expansion of scope; it is a strategic recalibration of Nigeria’s global engagement and technical diplomacy.”
