President Muhammadu Buhari has launched the National
Development Plan (NDP) for 2021 to 2025, which will focus investment on
ensuring economic stability, enhancing the investment environment and bettering
social indicators and living conditions of Nigerians, among others.
He presented the document to the public at the council
chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, before the commencement of the
weekly federal executive council (FEC) meeting.
Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national
planning, in her opening remarks, said that the new development plan will
replace the Economic Recovery and Growth Programme (ERGP).
“The NDP 2021-2025 is designed as our medium-term
development plan to succeed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP
2017-2020) which ended in December 2020,” Ahmed said.
“The ERGP 2017–2020
assisted the country to exit economic recession in 2017, and sustained modest
growth until the recent global economic challenges occasioned by COVID-19
Pandemic.”
The minister said that current challenges result from
several years of inappropriate policies, fiscal leakages and global economic
phenomena.
“This Administration is taking necessary actions that will fundamentally
change the structure of the economy and how government businesses are conducted
for efficiency and effectiveness,” she added.
Ahmed said the plan would help Nigeria achieve robust
development in the science and technology sectors.
“The President graciously granted approval to my ministry in
2019 to develop a new national development plan to succeed both ERGP
2017-2020,” the minister added.
“It is very important to note that the Plan is a pointer to
the type of Nigeria we all desire and encourages the use of science, technology
and innovation to drive growth.”
Ahmed further noted that the NDP 2021-2025 will help Nigeria
achieve regional continental agendas.
“I want to place on
record that this plan is sufficiently comprehensive with the capacity to
accelerate the attainment of various regional and global agendas, including the
AU Agenda 2063, ECOWAS integration agenda 2050 and the Sustainable Development
Goals 2030,” Ahmed said.
“In order to have the future we all desire, the plan is
developed to play a sizable role in the product complexity space
internationally and adopts measures to easing constraints that have hindered
the economy from attaining its potentials, particularly, on the product mapping
space.
“The plan provides for the implementation of major
infrastructure and other development projects across the six geo-political
zones and the opening up of opportunities for the rural areas to ensure
balanced development and increased competitiveness.”
Clement Agba, the minister of state, budget and national
planning, speaking after the weekly FEC meeting, said that the NDP for 2021 to
2025, approved by FEC on November 10, intends to be an all-inclusive plan for
all Nigerians especially women, young people, people with special needs and
vulnerable people.
“From us in the
Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, ours wasn’t a memo to
council,” Agba said.
“What happened today was the unveiling of the National
Development Plan by His Excellency, Mr President.
“You will recall that the National Development Plan 2021 to
2025, which is the successor plan to the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan was
approved by the Federal Executive Council on November 10.
“The difference with this plan is that it provides a
mechanism to engage, empower, and employ our teeming energetic youth.
“The plan puts
opportunities for inclusiveness for young people, women, people with special
needs, and the vulnerable ones, mainstreaming women’s gender into all aspects
of our social, economic and political activities.
“This plan also has a financing plan to increase revenue to
15% of GDP. Currently, revenue to GDP is 7%.
“This plan also separates sports from youth and takes sports
as business.
‘“For the first time in our planning history, we have three
volumes of the plan.
“In the past, we have always had one volume, which is the
plan itself. But this time, we have three volumes.
“Volume one is the main plan, and that’s what will be
accessible to the public.
“Volume two is the prioritised and sequential list of
programmes and projects that will be fed into the annual budgets.
“While volume three are the legislative imperatives. What
volume three really seeks to cover are those laws or policies that impede the
private sector from being the main driver of the economy.
“And so, laws have been identified that need to be reviewed
or changed. Policies have also been identified that need to be worked upon. So,
Volume Two and Volume Three are not for the public.
“They are essentially for government to see what they need
to do. Another difference between this plan and the previous plan is the issue
of Integrated Rural Development. This plan takes rural development away from
agric.
“It looks at how to bring in different levels of
infrastructure to the rural areas with a view to discouraging rural-urban
migration and ensuring that broadband technology gets to the rural areas, and
that power supply, even if it’s an upgrade, it’s within the rural areas.
“And we begin to open up our rural areas. Another
differentiating factor between this plan and the previous plan is that this
plan has a strong implementation framework. And there is also a framework for
monitoring and evaluation because it takes into cognizance, vertical, lateral
and horizontal coordination.”
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