The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, on Thursday restated Federal Government’s commitment to the implementation of the various strategies set out in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
The strategies are aimed at addressing the five execution priorities of Macroeconomic Stabilization, Agriculture and Food Security, Transportation, Energy and Industrialization.
Udoma, gave this assurance while addressing the Joint Planning Board/National Council on Development Planning (JPB/NCDP) meeting in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The minister pointed out that with the faithful implementation of the plan government would be able to deliver a resilient and more prosperous economy where country grows what it eats and consume what it makes.
A statement by the minister’s Special Adviser (Media), Akpandem James, quoted the minister as saying that the though the ERGP was hailed within and outside the country as well designed to address the fundamental economic challenges of the country, there are still some concerns being expressed about implementation, given past failures as a country to effectively implement previous plans.
Udoma assured that the Buhari administration was determined to properly implement the plan in view of the achievements recorded so far in its implementation.
The minister recalled that the ERGP was conceived as a comprehensive medium term plan to address the fundamental problems of the country and place the economy on the path of diversified, sustainable and inclusive growth, adding that many innovations are being introduced to achieve faster results.
Citing the success recorded through the ERGP Focus Labs, held early this year in driving the objectives of the plan in some key sectors of the economy, Udoma hinted more of such innovations would help to fast-track implementation of the plan.
He expressed the hope that the JPB/NCDP meetings would generate new ideas that would help the plan implementation.
The theme for this year’s meeting is “Accelerating implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan: the role of stakeholders.”
While declaring this year’s meeting open, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, explained that the realisation of the goals of the ERGP would require the active participation of the sub-national governments.
Osinbajo, who was represented by the Budget and National Planning Minister, commended states that had already adopted a number of the initiatives being canvassed in the ERGP, and called on others that were yet to key into the objectives of the plan to do so because it is the only way to guarantee a better future for the people.
The annual JPB/NCDP meetings is a platform for State Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, and other relevant stakeholders to discuss on various aspects of the Nigerian economy and keep abreast of developments by learning from development experts on topical issues required to grow the economy.
