By Merit Ibe

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) said development plans of the Federal  Government since 1960, can rival the best in the world, as the country’s challenges has nothing to do with  planning. 

NACCIMA President, John Udeagbala, who made the remark on the Independence  Day, noted that the First National Development Plan of 1962 to1968 to the last  Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of 2017 to 2020 had great merit from the scholastic point of view, leading to the firm opinion of the general populace that Nigeria’s issues are not with planning.

Commending Nigerians at the country’s 61 independence anniversary, Udeagbala said  the celebration comes with mixed feelings as the country is still facing numerous challenges. 

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Udeagbala  noted  that the economic growth since independence remains positive, adding that the current state of the economy is partly as a result of two main characteristics of various policies; either the policy design and implementation commenced too late or its positive effect is counteracted by the design and implementation of a different policy. He explained that an example of the first is the length of time between the impacts of the lockdown measures of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian private sector, and the time that elapsed before the announcement of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), and yet more time passing before the implementation of the plan. 

An example of the second is the current implementation of policies in the foreign exchange market that totally negate any benefits or relief that may have been obtained by the implementation of the ESP.

“A few highlights from relevant statistics will show that GDP per capita increased steadily from Independence and reached a peak of about USD1,800 on average  between  1976  and  1979,  then began to decline, showing a significant drop during and after the implementation of the Structural  Adjustment  Programme (SAP) in the 1980s.