Why EGRP may end in fiasco ― Dons warn FG

Some dons have warned that the Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP) 2017-2020, may go the way of other development plans which ended in fiasco except the FG incorporates state and local governments and the private sector in the implementation of the plan.

The dons who spoke at the September edition of Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, seminar series, held on Tuesday, also attributed the lack of success of development plans to haphazardness of the plans, distorted policies, discontinuity in development blueprints by governments and poor plan implementation.

Associate Research Professor, Environment and Physical Infrastructure Policy Department, NISER, Ibadan, Dr Andrew Onwuemele, who led the conversation with his paper, titled, “Socioeconomic Impacts of Development Blueprints in Nigeria, 1999-2015, decried the nation’s top-bottom policies which failed to be preceded by an assessment of the needs of Nigerians.

He decried the lack of a long-term development blueprint, inconsistency in development plans, evidenced by the nation experimenting four development blueprints within 19 years, ranging from NEEDS to 7-point agenda, Transformation agenda and EGRP.

He, therefore, emphasised the need for the FG to establish a Development Planning Committee coordinated by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, which will incorporate all the relevant stakeholders across the tiers of government and the private sector in designing and implementing development blueprints.

Furthermore, he emphasised the need for the Ministry of Budget and National Planning to ensure that development blueprints have a clear target of policies and indicators to measure performance.

“Most of these policies are top-bottom rather than bottom-up. That is why the priority of the government is at variance with what is on the ground. We need to conduct a critical analysis to know the needs of Nigerians and how to incorporate it into our development plan so that a governor or local government Chairman is not focusing on infrastructure when there are other critical needs at the household level.

“Communities, state governments, local government should liaise with the FG in designing their development model. The various levels of government should be involved in the design and implementation of development plans. There will now be sustainability such that when a new administration comes on board, it can continue.

“We have had inconsistency in our development plans and we must ensure that the design stage is all-embracing. We have the EGRP at the Federal level but some states are getting consultants to develop that same plan. The state government should be implementing the plan just as the FG is implementing. Most states are implementing different policies which are not related to the EGRP,” Onwuemele said.

Speaking in the same vein, Acting Vice-Chancellor, Elizade University, Ondo State, Professor Theophilus Fadayomi, emphasised the need for coordination of plans among the three tiers of government if development is to address the actual needs of the majority of Nigerians.

“We don’t coordinate our plans. We don’t involve the people. It must be built on the needs assessment of the people. In Nigeria. We need to have responsible governance. And the elites must stop benefitting from the fight of the masses. The should join political parties, they should fight with the masses and not just be beneficiaries of the efforts of the masses. They should have a plan for long-term development and we begin to implement on a short-term basis,” Fadayomi said.