Past president, Chattered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Mr Okechukwu Unegbu, on Sunday endorsed the dominant role of the private sector in the recently approved National Development Programmes (NDP).
The Federal Executive Council approved the NDP 2021-2025 on Nov.10 to succeed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan which expired in December 2020.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, explained that the NDP was structured along six clusters.
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They are economic growth and development, infrastructure, public administration, human capital development, social development and regional development.
The minister said that plan had a N348.7 trillion investment size of over the five-year period.
She explained that the plan was underpinned by a macro-economic framework, which projected an average real GDP growth of 5 per cent per annum over the plan period.
She said the investment size would comprise N49.7 trillion from the public sector, representing 14.3 per cent and N 298.3 trillion, representing 85.7 per cent from the private sector.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Unegbu said the Federal Government’s programme would be a game changer in revamping the nation’s economy.
He advised the private sector to rise to the challenge and steer the nation’s economy towards the path of sustainable growth and development within the timeframe of the current NDP 2021-2025.
“It is good for the private sector to drive this plan, but I will advise the Federal Government to give it a free hand to really have the dominant input required in the plan.
“The challenge is that over the years, the private sector had not lived up to expectation in terms of its performance and commitment to international best practices.
“Players in that sector should continue to drive improvement in all aspects of their operations so as to win the confidence of citizens,’’ he said.
“We have been having development plans over the years, but there was no mechanism to appraise their successes.
“Nigerians were not told of the level of successes or otherwise of past development plans; we simply take it as one of those failed government projects.
“It is good that this particular plan has clear timelines, unlike in the past. There is also the performance measurement which was not obtainable in the past. Government should take full advantage of these,’’ he added.
An Economist, Mr Tope Fasua, described NDP 2021-2025 as an ambitious but realistic projection.
Fasua, the Chief Executive Officer of a consulting firm said the plan was better than what was done in the past, and also more realistic than what some international organisations offered the country,
“This plan is in tune with what I have said in the past about being more ambitious and budgeting larger for our people.
“Allowing the private to provide 85 per cent of the funding is commendable.
“Even the projection of 5 per cent growth is better than what organisations like the IMF and the World Bank had for us.
“This is a good initiative; a good plan which could be improved upon as time progresses,’’ he said.
He noted that the abandonment of previous development plans was responsible for the huge infrastructure deficit and economic challenges bedevilling the country.
“The stoppage of planning, which started during the Ibrahim Babangida era, meant that as we got money every year we just spent.
“The economies that continued to plan like China, India and Russia amongst others have progressed. It was in the years that Nigeria did not plan that the economy went into trouble,’’ he said.
He urged the government to ensure that the NDP was sustainable and enduring so that future governments would not derail it.
A Chartered Accountant, Mr Ibrahim Aliu, also described the NDP as a welcome development.
He urged the Federal Government to ensure that enough resources were mobilised to actualise different aspects of the plan.
“The NDP 2021-2025 should be backed by the necessary funding to ensure that it sees the light of day.
“I believe that is why the Federal Government has ceded about 85 per cent of its funding to the private sector for effective implementation.
“The responsibility still lies on the government to ensure that the private sector meets its part of the bargain,’’ he stressed. (NAN)
