NIGERIA'S government has approved a plan to merge, scrap, and relocate several agencies to streamline its bureaucracy and cut costs, the information minister said. The move followed recommendations from a 2012 report from a government-appointed committee that suggested the elimination or merger of some 220 of more than 500 government agencies. Information Minister Mohammed Idris told reporters that under the plan announced on Monday more than 20 government agencies will be merged, subsumed under existing ministries, or relocated. Streamlining government bureaucracy in Nigeria has been the subject of debate for years, with critics pointing to overlapping mandates and redundancies among…