FOOD SECURITY SERIES
Nigeria Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), which sought to restore the nation’s economic status following the high rate of inflation and recession, was launched in Abuja by Nigeria’s ex-president Mohammadu Buhari to address this thorny problem.
The piece below, by Siaka MOMOH, published in 2017 looked at the ERGP closely then, put it side by side some related policies of government and hoped it would be properly executed. But as it played out, it failed as we can see today.
The story is that we have travelled this route before. So can government explore this benefit of hind sight and do it right? May be?
‘Former President Muhammadu Buhari, on a Wednesday first quarter of 2017 in Abuja, launched the Nigeria Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP, which seeks to restore the nation’s economic status following the high rate of inflation and recession. The launch of the document was attended by all cabinet members as well as top government functionaries.
According to President Buhari, the ERGP focusses on agriculture with a view to ensuring adequate food security as well as energy, industrialization and social investment; it is an ambitious plan that seeks to achieve a 7 per cent economic growth by the year 2020. He said “the aim is not just to remove the country out of recession, but to put it on the path of strength and growth, away from being an import dependent nation”.
ERGP in a nut shell
- ERGP’s vision is one of sustained inclusive growth.
- It is for increasing national productivity and achieving sustainable diversification of production, to significantly grow the economy and achieve maximum welfare for the citizens, beginning with food and energy security.
- It encourages the use of science, technology and innovation to drive growth.
- Provides a blueprint for the type of foundation that needs to be laid for future generations, and focuses on building the capabilities of the youth of Nigeria to be able to take the country into the future.
- It is meant to tackle constraints to growth. Economic growth in Nigeria faces various supply constraints including fuel, power, foreign exchange, and business unfriendly regulations.
- The plan calls for public/ private sectors participation to achieve economic recovery and transformative growth because government cannot do it alone.
- More business friendly economic environment is a priority for the plan.
- The plan is to promote national cohesion and social inclusion.
- The plan prioritizes the use of the market as a means of resource allocation, where appropriate, and recognizes the need to strengthen regulatory oversight to minimize market abuse.
- The plan is rooted in the core values that define the Nigerian society as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
- ERGP focuses on achieving macroeconomic stability and economic diversification to achieve growth.
- Macroeconomic stability will be achieved by undertaking fiscal stimulus, ensuring monetary stability and improving the external balance of trade.
- Policy focus will be on the key sectors driving and enabling economic growth, with particular focus on agriculture, energy and MSME led growth in industry, manufacturing and key services by leveraging science and technology.
- It is believed that the revival of these sectors, increased investment in other sectors, less reliance on foreign exchange for intermediate goods and raw materials and greater export orientation will improve macroeconomic conditions, restore growth in the short term and help to create jobs and bring about structural change.
Fine document, fine plan, it is. Like it has been said in several fora by informed Nigerians and non-Nigerians, we are very adept at drawing up plans, proficient in policy making, but it is the execution of such policies that we score low in. Can we make a difference with ERGP? Let us hope so.
Let us look at our ERGP closely and see if there is anything in the document that some policy documents in the past have not touched on. Take in particular, the key sectors like agriculture, energy and MSME led growth in industry, manufacturing and key services that the policy is focusing on.
Yar’Adua’s Seven Point Agenda
The Yar’Adua administration came up with what it called ‘Seven Point Agenda’. The list includes:
Power and energy – To develop an adequate power supply so as to ensure Nigeria’s ability to develop as a modern economy by the year 2015.
Food security – The emphasis was on the development of modern technology, research, financial injection into research, production and development of agricultural inputs leading to a 5 to 10-fold increase in yields and production.
Wealth creation – This reform was focused on wealth creation through diversified production especially in the agricultural and solid mineral sector.
Transport sector – The transportation sector in Nigeria with its poor road networks is an inefficient means of mass transit of people and goods. With the goal of a modernized and industrialized Nigeria, it is mandatory that Nigeria develop its transport sector.
Land reforms – While hundreds of billions of dollars had been lost through unused government-owned landed assets, changes in the land laws and the emergence of land reforms was supposed to optimize Nigeria’s growth through the release of land for commercialized farming and other large scale business by the private sector.
Security – An unfriendly security climate apparently “precludes both external and internal investment into the nation”.
Education – A strategic educational development plan “will ensure excellence in both the tutoring and learning of skills in science and technology” by students who would be seen as the “future innovators and industrialists of Nigeria.”
You can see ERGP flowing in it. What did we make out of it? May be not much or may be nothing because Jonathan had to come up with his own variant.
Jonathan’s Transformation agenda
As part of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s effort to revamp the agriculture sector, ensure food security, diversify the economy and enhance foreign exchange earnings, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) embarked on a Transformation Agenda with a focus on the development of agricultural value chains.
The good story here is that the Buhari administration adopted the Jonathan agric agenda. This is how it should be. President Muhammadu Buhari assured Nigerians that there would be no change to the agricultural policies already going on in the Ministry of Agriculture. Buhari made the disclosure when he met with permanent secretaries in the agriculture and water resources ministries in Abuja. He particularly pointed out the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) which he applauded as a good initiative.
So we can do it. We can make ERGP, the latest of our long list of policies work if we are determined to do so. What do we need to make this happen? We need the political will, we need to imbibe the culture of continuity in government, we need transparency in government, and we need the determination to deliver and government/private sectors participation. And very importantly, monitoring and evaluation must not be left out.
