Publishing of reports on economic reforms will not change the fortune of Nigeria except actions are articulated in the right quarters, and Nigerians are convinced to buy in, Atedo Peterside said in a remark at the inaugural meeting of Anap Foundation on National Development Plan 2021-2025, in Abuja.
According to Peterside, the best times to think through the country’s progress are present time of low, arguing that if Nigerians take advantage of the current challenges, the country could be on its way to achieving its full potential.
“Nigeria has a history of preparing plans that are almost like reports and disappear from the shelves later. At the end of the day, there is no development or change.
“We are not after a report but to create a movement that will develop Nigeria. It is not report themselves that will develop Nigeria but human beings who champion it, take ownership, argue the case and convince everybody to back it,” Peterside said.
This perhaps was a follow up from President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration on Wednesday of the National Steering Committee to oversee and actualise Nigeria Agenda 2050 and Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP).
With Agenda 2050, President Buhari noted that the National Steering Committee for the development of Successor Plans to Vision 20:2020 and ERGP would be jointly chaired by Atedo Peterside and Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning.
Speaking at the inauguration, President Buhari said: ‘’The main objectives of these Successor Plans are to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years, particularly given the World Bank’s projection that Nigeria will become the world’s third most populous country by 2050 with over 400 million people.’’
The president noted that it had become necessary to develop Successor Plans to the Nigeria Vision 20:2020 and the ERGP, which both lapse in December this year, to ensure continuity and efficiency in the country’s development planning.
On the mandate of the National Steering Committee, the president said it would oversee governance structure, comprising the Central Working Group and 26 technical working groups.
Evidence before the COVID-19 pandemic showed Vision 20:2020 was far from being a reality, the health crisis only compounded the situation.
The Vision 20:2020, started by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, focuses on two broad objectives that include making efficient use of human and natural resources to achieve rapid economic growth, and to translate the economic growth into equitable social development for all citizens.
Nigeria has had two different administrations since the adoption of Vision 20:2020, each having its own economic growth plan. Under President Goodluck Jonathan, the Transformation Agenda was the focus. With President Buhari, it is the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the focus seems to be directly on the ERGP as opposed to the Vision 20:2020.
The ERGP is focused on achieving economic growth but without the aim of placing the country among the largest 20 economies in the world, experts note.
