Politics
THE Director-General of Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Prof. Antonia Simbine, has attributed the failure of various past development plans to lack of policy coordination among the three tiers of government.
Simbine stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ meeting with the officials responsible for planning the country’s economic development and policy coordination at the federal, state and local government levels.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was attended by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on National Planning and Economic Development and permanent secretaries of ministries of budget and economic planning in Imo, Benue and Nasarawa states.
“Nigeria is one of the countries practising federal system of government. This practice, while allowing the sub-national units to develop their plans for their growth, has frequently created duplication of policies, fragmentations and overlaps among the tiers of government.
“The scenario above underscores the need for policy coordination in a federal state,” she said.
According to her, several economic development plans in Nigeria have failed to achieve their aims and objectives due largely to inadequate planning and coordination across tiers of government.
This, she said, had made the special team research project imperative and timely.
Simbine stated that Nigeria had been involved in preparing development plans, adding that the country had experimented with different kinds of plans, ranging from fixed, medium-term to perspective and rolling plans.
“There were other major strategic initiatives, such as the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), the Nigeria Vision 20:2020 and Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), among others,” she said.
The director-general, however, expressed concerns about how well those development plans had been harmonised by all levels of government toward transforming the socio-economic well-being of Nigerians.
She particularly quoted the Nigerian Human Development Index (HDI) 2024 which revealed an improvement of only 22 per cent since 2004, saying that the levels remained undesirable and as low as 0.548 in 2023.
The director-general said that this situation suggested weak outcomes across health, education and economic indices that made up the HDI.
She, therefore, called for policy coordination among all levels of government to ensure proper implementation of government programmes and policies.
Simbine described development planning as a multi-faceted and cross-cutting undertaking, which played important role in shaping development goals and priorities.
She said that NISER was currently working on a Special Team Research Project (STRP), entitled: “Planning for Economic Development and Policy Development and Policy Coordination in a Federal State.
Simbine said the stakeholders’ engagement was aimed at introducing the project to government officials in all the tiers of government as well as other partners and stakeholders to get their inputs into its design and implementation.
According to her, the study is premised on the need to strengthen economic development planning and policy coordination processes in states across the federation.
She said that as a research parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, NISER was expected to be a strong engine room for provision of reliable inputs into the Federal Government’s policy process and activities.
Also speaking at the event, Hon. Ayokunle Isiaka, Chairman, House of Representative Committee on National Planning and Economic Development, said planning was critical and could not be over-emphasised, to avoid failure of policies and programmes.
Isiaka, represented by the Vice-Chairman of the committee, Hon. Clement Jimbo, said that every law made by the National Assembly must translate into economic prosperity and achieve certain developmental goals.
He said that Nigeria had what it took to effectively negotiate with other nations to have what it didn’t have to develop itself and its economy.
“We must be intentional and deliberate about developing our country. Critical opinion leaders should not stand against the forward movement of our country when bills that will advance our course as a country are proposed.
“Nigeria is the only country that we have; if we don’t develop our country, nobody will develop it for us,” the lawmaker said. (NAN)
A.I
Dec. 11, 2024
Tags: NISER Prof. Antonia Simbine
