In 2004, the Nigerian National Planning Commission released a document entitled "Meeting Everyone's NEEDS." NEEDS is an acronym for National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy. It can rightly be viewed as a National Development Plan. What makes it quite different from previous National Development Plans in Nigeria is the fact that this time around, the private sector is expected to play a significant role in Nigeria's development.

The document is exceptionally well written, and going through it, one begins to fear that it anticipates a high level of intellectual compliance from Nigerians, something which this writer finds practically impossible at this point in Nigeria's history. NEEDS is a plan that is prefaced with the following question: "Why is Nigeria poor?" It goes ahead to proffer answers. It also strongly favors small government, viewing previous governments as the roots of most evils in Nigeria. For instance, it states:

"By 1999, corruption was practically institutionalized [in Nigeria]. Government was largely regarded as a provider of large contracts…[especially] in the oil industry. The judiciary became intimidated and the rich and powerful manipulated laws to their advantage. Instead of engaging in productive activities that would help [Nigeria's] economy grow, people chose instead to peddle their influence and position."

It identifies key factors that inhibit progress (some of which the average Nigerian knows anyway). Poor economic management coupled with "the dominance of oil in the [Nigerian] economy" have helped ensure that Nigeria remained one of the "weakest economies in the world" where average income in 2000 was 25% lower than that in 1975. This is an economy in which all tiers of government run huge annual deficits. Between 1998 and 2003, these deficits amounted to 1 trillion Naira ($7.69 billion).

Despite about $300 billion earned from oil since the mid-70s, present-day Nigeria remains incredibly poor, thanks in no small part to gross mismanagement and kleptomaniacs posing as leaders and heads of institutions, agencies and companies. NEEDS offers the following suggestions for empowering people: job creation, improved healthcare services, strengthening of skills base and promoting private enterprise.

While all these sound laudable, they can only be achieved when basic infrastructure is on the ground – good roads, drinking water, food and electricity (the document clearly notes this). For now, they are not and the aims of NEEDS look like another fairy tale story, which Nigerians have been hearing about for almost two generations. When basic infrastructure is in place, the government would bother less about the need to provide peace and security. Peace and security directly correlate with the standard of living of people.

NEEDS also calls for Nigeria to become a place where hard work and results are rewarded. At the moment, this appears not to be the case. Mediocrity still reigns supreme. Students are admitted into Federal Government institutions not based on how good they are but also on their so-called "state of origin." The growth of private institutions may likely help bring an end to this baseless practice, which from all indications is meant to fulfill the political aspirations of some.

The government of Nigeria knows what changes ought to be made but cannot make them in haste because of sensitivities involved – ethnic, cultural and political. But as long as these changes are not made, the sort of society NEEDS hopes will be built may just be four to ten generations away. For instance, to get a feeling of how futuristic the people who wrote this document are, they have requested that French should be "made compulsory from primary through secondary schools"

Why French some may ask? Why not some "local" language such as Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba? The answer is pretty simple: because Nigeria is surrounded by French-speaking nations, with French being the most widely spoken language in West Africa in terms of the geographical distance covered by those who speak it. Cultural and ethnic allegiances need to give way to reality in this regard. Reality in this case refers to increased trade with West African nations.

I cannot exhaust the NEEDS document in a single short write up such as this. The document presents some very interesting economic data that one may want to analyze.

Being a watcher of the policies of the current Nigerian government under Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, this writer feels that that it is already implementing some of the recommendations of NEEDS. Civil service reforms, banking reforms, cut in government expenses and exceptional transparency in the drugs and edible products industry. These may be a start but much more is required.

Download the NEEDS document from the web site of the Nigerian Ministry of Finance.

Labels: Nigeria