The new National Development Plan (NDP) spanning 2021-2025 unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, is expected to generate 21 million full-time jobs and lift 35 million people out of poverty. Buhari said the plan is also aimed at achieving a broad-based real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of five per cent on average.

Buhari, who spoke in Abuja during the formal launch and public presentation of the NDP 2021-2025, said the new scheme was crafted to succeed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), 2017- 2020, which lapsed in December 2020, saying the launch would set the stage for achieving the government’s target of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS).

A statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the full implementation of the plan would require an expenditure quotient of about N348.1 trillion in investment to achieve the set target.

To achieve these, the President said out of the N348.1 trillion investment size, the government is expected to provide N49.7 trillion or 14.3 per cent, while the private sector would provide the balance of N298.3 trillion or 85.7 per cent.

The statement reads in part: ‘‘This implies that successful implementation of the Plan will require a strong partnership between the public and private sectors.

‘‘In this regard, a Development Plan Implementation Unit headed by the Vice- President with the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning as the Vice-Chair, will be established in the Budget and National Planning arm of the Ministry to ensure overall coordination with the Ministries, Departments and Agencies; sub-national governments; Private sector operators and Civil Society Organisations.’’

He said: ‘‘The plan, as a matter of deliberate efforts, is comprehensive and has the capacity not only to accelerate and sustain national development, but also the attainment of various Regional and Global Agendas, including the AU Agenda 2063, ECOWAS Agenda 2050 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, 2030.

‘‘I have no doubt in my mind that with effective and sustained implementation, Nigeria will achieve a quantum leap in unlocking its potentials in all sectors of the economy for a sustainable and inclusive national development,’’ the President said at the presentation before the commencement of the weekly FEC meeting.”

Buhari said the implementation of the ERGP, not only helped the country to exit the 2016 economic recession, but also sustained modest growth until the advent of the recent global economic challenges caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19).

According to Buhari, the broad objectives of the plan include the establishment of a strong foundation for a concentric diversified economy with robust MSME growth and a more resilient business environment.

Governors described the new NDP as a product of collaboration and consultation between the federal and state governments.

Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, who represented the Nigerian Governors’ Forum Chairman, Governor Kayode Fayemi, said the Buhari administration is determined to ensure that the economy continues to witness more prosperity.

He said: “This government, more than any other, has taken deliberate and active steps to include all economic groups and support them more than has ever been done in order that they achieve their economic objectives, and ensuring that the country’s economy continues to provide for all. (Adopted from The Nation)

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