A national steering committee was inaugurated on Wednesday by President Muhammadu Buhari to oversee the development of the Nigeria Agenda 2050 and Medium-Term National Development Plan to succeed Vision 20:2020 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, 2017 – 2020.
The committee would be jointly chaired by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, and Mr Atedo Peterside.
The new development was made known in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, titled “Agenda 2050: President Buhari inaugurates national steering committee, says new development plan will lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030”.
During the inauguration, President Buhari was quoted as saying, “The main objectives of these successor plans are to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years, particularly given the World Bank’s projection that Nigeria will become the world’s third most populous country by 2050 with over 400 million people”.
The committee would oversee the governance structure comprising the central working group and 26 technical working groups.
The President explained that successor plans to the Nigeria Vision 20:2020 and the ERGP have become necessary, in order to ensure continuity and efficiency in the country’s development planning.
He added, “It is my expectation that the steering committee will oversee the execution of key deliverables, including recommending measures to ensure the continuous implementation of the plans even after the expiration of the tenure of successive administrations – including legislation, if required.
“Such legislation may introduce much-needed rigour and discipline to the nation’s development planning as well as institutionalise planned outcomes for the future. I trust that our partners in the National Assembly will support us in exploring these reforms.”
Recall that Nigeria’s Vision 20:2020 as created by former President Olusegun Obasanjo focuses on two broad objectives that include making efficient use of human and natural resources to achieve rapid economic growth; and to translate the economic growth into equitable social development for all citizens.
The strategies to achieve the Nigeria Agenda 2050 objectives are: Urgently addressing major constraints to Nigeria’s growth and competitiveness, such as epileptic power supply, weak infrastructure, and institutions among others; aggressively pursuing a structural transformation of the economy from mono-product to a diversified and industrialised economy.
Others are to invest in human capital to transform the Nigerian people into active agents for growth and national development; and to invest in infrastructure to create an enabling environment for growth, industrial competitiveness, and sustainable development.