N32 Trillion: What Nigeria Needs For Vision 2020

The Nigerian Minister for National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, said N32 trillion is needed for the full implementation of Vision 20:2020 in the country.

The minister, who was in Minna, the Niger State capital, for a retreat organised by the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation for directors of Planning, Research and Statistics, said public sector funding for the Vision 20:2020 will be insufficient.

He further disclosed that for the country to achieve the targeted goals, there is the need for an effective tracking of both inputs and outputs, monitoring and evaluation of the framework designed for the actualisation of the.Vision 20:2020.

The minister told the participants that bad governance and corruption in the country must be addressed for the vision to be achieved.

Due to unforeseen circumstances and the need for regular reviewing of the implementation process, the minister said the Federal Government decided to implement the vision’s blueprint in three phases.

“The first is the implementation plan 2010-2013, which has already been completed and approved by the Federal Executive Council for implementation,” the minister said.

On the retreat,  Shamsudeen said huge responsibility for the implementation of the planning is placed on the Department of Planning, Research and Statistics of the Federation.

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, who was represented by Permanent Secretary Interior, said poor funding, weak capacity building, etc., are some of the challenges facing  the department.

He added that the department has always been staffed with administration officers who are not equipped for planning and research functions.

He added that the capacity building effort in terms of provision of equipment in the department are also weak.

“In view of these constraints most of the departments neither carry out any planning nor research functions in any meaningful sense,” he said.

The Head of Civil Service also faulted the procedure for recruitment and selection into the public service which he described as poor and does not give priority  to service delivery.

—Musa Aliyu/Minna