RECENT pronouncements by federal officials on economic targets sound hollow when juxtaposed with the abject failure of the Vision 2020 plan that once riveted national attention. According to the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, the government has already started collating stakeholders’ inputs to guide a new 10-year national development plan. But there should, first, be a thorough review of the failed Vision 2020 and indeed of all major planning schemes. Thorough in conceptualisation, multi-sectoral and in a departure from the first four national development plans, it had extensive buy-in from the private sector, the states and local government councils and from multilateral development partners. National development planning has however featured in the success stories of many economies.

Source: Punch March 03, 2020 23:15 UTC