THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT PLAN FROM 1985 TO DATE WITH THIER CONSTRIANT

INTRODUCTION

Successive governments in Nigeria have adopted development plans as appropriate strategy to address development challenges in the country. Tordoff  observes that there is a general consensus that the instrument of both diagnosis and remedy to development is the “development plan” In the same vein Adedeji opines that the economic aspirations of Nigeria since independence are perhaps best exemplified by her various development plans. Since the past four decades, Nigeria has embarked on series of development plans to fasten the rate of economic growth and improve the standard of living of the people. It is noteworthy that Nigeria has gone through four national development plans in her post independence history, (the fifth National Development Plan did not materialize).

These plans are: First National Development Plan (1962), the Second National Development Plan (1970-74), Third National Development Plan (1975-80), and Fourth National Development Plan 1981-85. Apart from the five year National Development Plans, the Federal Government has also embarked on three year rolling plans between 1990 and 1998 and long term perspective planning in her endless efforts to search for appropriate developmental strategy. The federal government introduced another ambitious programme between 2003 and 2007 known as the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). It was a medium term planning which focused on wealth creation, employment generation, poverty reduction and value orientation.  Nigeria has had a relatively long experience in development planning beginning with the Colonial Development Plan (1985 to date). Medium-term development plans and national rolling plans were also developed and implemented with mixed results. Other major strategic initiatives – such as the Structural Adjustment Programme; the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy; the Strategy for Attaining the Millennium Development Goals; and the 7-Point Agenda – were not seen to have been effectively implemented. The plan was designed as a coordinated effort between the federal and regional governments with emphasis on technical education, agriculture and industry; it also allowed a mixed economic system. About 15% of GDP would be invested and a 4% GDP growth rate was envisioned, this number mildly differed with the 3.9% from 1952-1962.

In the West, in terms of agricultural development, the Akintola led government initiated a tree to crop system to spur cash crop productivity with the use of fertilizers. Both the East and Western governments later established farm settlements as part of the development project.

The Nigeria Vision 20:2020 expresses the aspiration for Nigeria to become one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020. Attainment of the Vision would enable the country to achieve a high standard of living for its citizens.

It was developed by Nigerians for the Nigerian people and involved a process of thorough engagement with all stakeholders across all levels of government and society.

The Vision will be pursued through a series of three/four year plans which will further articulate strategies, policies, projects and programmes.

Policy

The two broad objectives of Vision 20:2020 are to:

·        Make efficient use of human and natural resources to achieve rapid economic growth

·        Translate the economic growth into equitable social development for all citizens

The six main policy thrusts are:

·        Bridging the infrastructure gap to unleash economic growth and wealth creation

·        Optimizing the sources of economic growth to increase productivity and competitiveness

·        Building a productive, competitive and functional human resource base, for economic growth and social advancement

·        Developing a knowledge-based economy

·        Improving governance, security, law and order and engendering more efficient and effective use of resources to promote social harmony and a conducive business environment for growth

·        Fostering accelerated, sustainable social and economic development in a competitive and environmentally friendly manner

The critical policy priorities identified by the Vision are:

·        Correcting the weaknesses of the revenue allocation system which relies heavily on revenue from crude oil, by encouraging greater internal revenue generation efforts at the state and local government levels

·        Increasing investment in critical infrastructure, developing a framework for joint financing of infrastructure projects between the tiers of government, and encouraging private investment in infrastructure

·        Deepening reforms at all levels of government

·        Promoting private sector-led non-oil growth to build the foundation for economic diversification

·        Investment in human capital development to enhance national competitiveness

·        Entrenchment of merit as a fundamental principle and core value

·        Intensifying the war against corruption

·        Upgrading the capability of the internal security apparatus of government, and enhancing the efficiency of their operations

Governance

A key strategy in the implementation of Vision 20:2020 will be the empowerment of local government. The Vision sees local communities and jurisdictions at the centre of development.

Other strategic initiatives which will be pursued include:

Strengthening of the separation of powers between the legislative and executive arms of government with a view to enhancing the independence of the legislature Establishing appropriate mechanisms to allow for civic engagement and citizen participation, especially the effective participation of women, in public policy development and implementation, to ensure that, apart from periodically electing their representatives, the people are continually involved in decisions and activities affecting them, either directly as individuals or through civil society organizations, such as community based organizations and special interest groups.

CONSTRIANT  OF DEVELOPMENTS PLANS IN NIGERIA

Despite the series of development plans and visions introduced by successive Nigerian governments since independence, the country has failed to produce much needed sustainable development. Development plans in Nigeria have failed to achieve their desired objectives due to many challenges that bedeviled the plans. These challenges are:

Corruption: Corruption in Nigerian political system has hampered development plans and programmes. Corruption has been a pervasive social phenomenon. The disheartening thing about the whole scenario is that the purported development plans are to a large extent corruption avenues to some greedy Nigeria leaders. Illicit misappropriation of privileges and opportunities in public and private sectors for personal aggrandizement particularly those in positions of authority are sine-qua-non to Nigeria (Ologbenla, 2007). The involvement of our political leaders in massive corruption both in military and civilian governments has been a stumbling block to national development plans. Onah (2006) observes that all development visions and programmes fail in Nigeria because of poor handling by corrupt and poor/hungry politicians and bureaucrats.

Lack of Plan Discipline: The failure of Nigerian political leaders and bureaucrats to abide by the plan objectives has frustrated development plans in Nigeria. Many previous plans in Nigeria were distorted during the implementation stages which eventually killed the overall objectives of the plans. Indiscipline in the process implementation of development plans has resulted in many abandoned projects in all parts of the country. Many projects like Ajaokuta Steal Complex which could have fasten Nigeria’s industrialization are not yet completed after two decades of their projected completion dates.

Lack of Commitment: Development plans are often prepared without consulting the people, hence public apathy towards its implementation (Obi, 2006). Since the plan is meant for the people, but they are not even aware of its existence or objectives, they do not feel duty bound to contribute to its success (Obi, 2006). This has made many development plans fail in Nigeria. It was an attempt to address this problem that made the defunt Vision 2010 Committee to embark on series of publicity programmes, like seminars, conferences and public enlightenment campaigns (Obi, 2006).

Absence of Relevant Data: Development planning depends basically on availability of data. This is due to inadequacies of Federal Office of Statistics, the unwillingness of Nigerians to reveal information and outright manipulation of data for pecuniary or other gains. A striking example of the problem in Nigeria is that until today, nobody is sure about the exact population of Nigeria. A country that does not know its population would definitely not be in position to determine the other vital statistics necessary for planning life, birth rate, death rate, number of those of school age and demographic changes in the population which are essential for planning. (Ejumudo, 2013). The absence of reliable background data has made the use of social indicators difficult and inadequate for plan preparation, implementation and monitoring of national development (Ejumudo, 2013).

 Over Ambitious Development Plans: National Development Plans are over ambitious trying to achieve many objectives at the same time without considering the conflicting and competing priorities. Again, they are often grandiose in design but vague on specific policies needed to achieve stated objectives (Onah, 2010). In most cases, policy objectives are contradictory.

Lack of Continuity of Government Programmes: Lack of continuity of government programmes has retarded development plans in Nigeria. Most of the development programmes are usually abandoned once the government that introduced them are out of power. Government officials did not feel committed to the national plans of their predecessors and subsequently sought to change by introducing major projects not incorporated in the original plan or introducing new ones (Oladapo, 2004). This is the reason for uncompleted projects in different parts of the country today. The situation is worsened because of political instability to which the country has been subjected since independence. Arguably, the frequent and unpredictable changes in the government especially during the military regimes, created room for uncertainty and for the retardation of development process articulated in various plans.

Public Service Inefficiency: Public service is an institution that is responsible to execute development plans. It is worrisome that Nigerian public service is beset with many problems which militate against its efforts in the implementation of development plans. Some of these problems are: corruption, inadequate working materials, poor communication system, red-tapism and political instability. It is imperative to address these problems to enhance the capacity of Nigerian public service to serve as appropriate instrument for implementing development plans in Nigeria.

Public and Private Sector Partnership: There is poor collaboration between the public and private sectors in development planning process in Nigeria. In fact, development planning has largely followed bureaucratic process with little private sector participation so much so that such efforts can be appropriately described as lacking in synergy (Ejumudo,2013).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

We have examined various development plans embarked by successive Nigerian governments since independence and identified the problems that militate against these plans as instrument of sustainable growth and development. The failure of National Development Plans in Nigeria is manifested in the crisis that besets Nigerian economy. All

economic and social indicators have shown that our economy is in doldrums. Acute unemployment, widespread poverty, illiteracy, decayed social and physical infrastructure, technological backwardness, urban congestion, excessive debt burden, poor growth of agricultural production and high incidence of diseases are common features of Nigerian

economy. Therefore, it is imperative to address all the problems that bedevil Nigerian Development Plans to enable it serve as appropriate instrument of national transformation. The political leaders and top bureaucrats should be disciplined to ensure that the objectives of national plans are realized. The developments plans will be worthless if the political executives and senior administrators are not committed to implement it sincerely. Many development plans in Nigeria have suffered in this respect. The objectives of National Development Plans can be achieved if the government, the private sector, civil society organizations, multi-national corporations, work as a team to ensure its success. The implementation of the suggested measures would enhance the efficacy of our development plans and ensure that they are viable instruments of sustainable development in Nigeria.