This piece is a follow-up from last week’s article, titled, “The Renewed Hope Agenda, national development planning, and Agenda 2063.” It seeks to list the benefits derivable from fusing the President’s development agenda with a national development plan. To be certain, President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda transcends the eight points in the agenda to encompass a daring spirit of change and political will that seeks unequivocally to address long-standing, unpopular but necessary economic policy issues that have the potential to transform the economy if faithfully and courageously implemented. The latest evidence of this is the tax reform bills currently before the National Assembly, which seek to update our tax laws and transform the entire tax system as a source of enormous internal development resources.
Below are some of the benefits:
The fusing of the Renewed Hope Agenda with the national, regional, and international development frameworks removes the element of ambiguity, beclouded understanding, and discretionary interpretation of the ideals and goals of the Renewed Hope Agenda, on the one hand, while on the other hand, enabling the concentration of efforts by ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) on the implementation of clearly defined programmes and projects.
Read also: The Renewed Hope Agenda, national development planning and Agenda 2063
The component points will be incorporated into a broader development framework that improves the prospects of implementation and full realisation through linkages with related policies and sectors that result in implementation synergies. For example, Point no. 1, “Reform the economy to deliver sustained inclusive growth,” has ramifications for the entire economy, not just for the foreign exchange market, the refined petroleum products market, and the electricity market. It requires the implementation of a comprehensive deregulation and privatisation policy framework in all sectors of the economy. The federal government needs to fully divest from, or sell off all its assets in, the power sector, including all the stranded power plants in the Niger Delta, sell its 40 percent ownership of the power distribution companies (DISCOs) through an initial public offering (IPO), and privatise the Transmission Company of Nigeria. Until this is done, the much-needed inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic private investment into the power sector will at best come in in trickles. Similarly, the Ajaokuta Steel Company, the Nigeria Railway Corporation, and other state-owned enterprises need to be privatised.
Each of the eight points of the Renewed Hope Agenda will be elaborated upon and assigned specific objectives that will enable development programs and projects, with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), to be developed. For example, point no. 3, “Boost agriculture to achieve food security,” is strategic to fighting inflation, alleviating poverty, and turning around the Nigerian economy. Agriculture remains the largest sector of the Nigerian economy, contributing 28.65 percent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024 but grew by only 1.14 percent, signifying the perennial problems facing the sector, including underfunding—historically 1 percent to 2 percent of the annual Federal Government budget, compared to 10 percent recommended by the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)—violent conflict and insecurity of farmers, outdated systems of agriculture, little value addition, lack of access to finance, and poor market access, among others. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the new livestock ministry should roll out extant agricultural development plans to elaborate on Point no. 3 and to address the foregoing agricultural development challenges in Nigeria.
“The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the new livestock ministry should roll out extant agricultural development plans to elaborate on Point no. 3 and to address the foregoing agricultural development challenges in Nigeria.”
A comprehensive list of programmes and projects to be embarked upon across the board will be developed, thus generating a large portfolio of projects that give the Renewed Hope Agenda a tangible project orientation and focus.
A specific number of programmes and projects will be assigned to specific ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) with implementation mandates and timelines.
It becomes easier to cost programmes and projects derivable from each of the eight points of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Each of the eight points will be linked to one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This will lead to the mainstreaming of as many of the SDGs as possible and enable the Renewed Hope Agenda to make both economic and social impacts on lives and livelihoods.
The adoption of Agenda 2063 planning templates will lead to the use of the continental frameworks for sectoral development planning for agriculture, infrastructure, mining, and science and technology, among others.
The domestication of Agenda 2063 will enable its measurement and evaluation templates to be used in assessing the level of achievement of the goals of the National Development Plan/Renewed Hope Agenda.
Read also: Renewed Hope Initiative, African School of Economics boost access to education for Nigerian youths
Sub-nationals (state governments) will similarly be encouraged to mainstream the SDGs and domesticate Agenda 2063, thereby creating some level of understanding, collaboration, and synergy between the national and subnational governments in Nigeria in national development planning.
With the foregoing, the Renewed Hope Agenda/National Development Plan becomes a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which international development partners and multilateral organisations can use as a framework for development assistance in Nigeria.
The overall costing of the Renewed Hope Agenda/National Development Plan and the allocation of roles to the private sector as was done in the National Development Plan (2021-2025). This will be an attempt to give the private sector a role to play in realising the overall goals of the Renewed Hope Agenda/National Development Plan between now and 2027.
As we can see from the foregoing, President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda is very much in sync with Nigeria’s overall development agendas, and the best way to achieve the contents of the Agenda is by fusing them with the National Development Plan and implementing them as a single development plan, with the Renewed Hope Agenda serving the political role of hyping the development plan and giving it a soul and a spirit. This will require an ingenious and vibrant communication strategy.
Mr Igbinoba is Team Lead/CEO at ProServe Options Consulting, Lagos.
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