Governor expresses skepticism over proposed NPDP

Governor expresses skepticism over proposed NPDP
Abiodun Ozurumba, Enugu

Enugu State Governor, Mr Sullivan Chime has expressed skepticism over the success of the proposed Federal Government’s National Physical Development Plan (NPDP) spanning from 2010 to 2030, stressing the need for a more goal oriented programme.

Governor Chime’s views were made known by his deputy, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, who represented him at the sensitization workshop on the proposed physical development plan organized by the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development at the Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu, South East Nigeria.

Need for result-oriented programme

Admitting that the plan was worthy of commendation, being a “step in the right direction,” he pointed out that Nigeria could not make progress if it continued to operate on sundry unanchored policies and programmes, some of which he said were “products of the whims and caprices of past leaders.

Although he noted that the purpose, aim and timing of the workshop could not have been more apt and well thought out, he contended the view that the plan would serve as a compass with which the nation would navigate through the very difficult challenges of achieving socio-economic ascendancy and advancement.

In his words; “in this age of globalization and global economy, we cannot afford to lag behind, we cannot afford to stumble. If we do, we will fail as a nation while the rest of the world moves on. That is why we need a strong, well designed and discernible plan of action for our development efforts and aspirations.”

He cautioned participants at the workshop that while appreciating the importance of the workshop, the pursuit of the NPDP would not be the first time the nation had made a conscious or determined effort to establish a definite plan for rapid and sustainable development of the country.

He expressed the belief that the workshop would help to identify and examine the factors that led to the failure of previous initiatives and to determine the best ways of avoiding their reoccurrence.

The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple expressed regrets that most of the strategies adopted in the past to resolve the problems of development have largely been un-coordinated while the three tiers of government had been in many aspects operated independently.

Reversing the trend through coordination

She noted that as part of the measures to reverse the trend, her new ministry had created the platform that would coordinate the contributions of all levels of government to quicken the realization of Vision 20:2020 which encapsulates various development plans.

Represented by the Director of Planning and Strategies in the ministry, Mrs. Ade Oluwadiya , the Minister said that the NPDP was a veritable vehicle for balancing development amongst the regions in Nigeria, and that it would harmonize and rationalize differing approaches at the Federal, State and Local government levels to achieve growth.
 

Williams