NGF Chairman praises Yuguda for reviving strategic planning

The Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, the Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has praised the supervising Minister of National Planning, Ambassador Bashir Yuguga for his vital contributions to the process of returning the nation to strategic

planning.

The Governor who made the remark in Minna at the Presentation of the draft Niger State Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the State Executive Council noted that the choice of Yuguda to head the National Planning Commission has yielded the desired dividends.

While speaking further on the Minister’s competence, Dr Aliyu Said: “When Amb. Yuguda was sent to supervise the Planning Ministry, many people doubted the propriety of deploying the Minister from Ministry of works. That was because they didn’t know his (Yuguda) background. But, from the quality of his presentation and the way he has carried on professionally, it has become obvious that he was the right choice.”

The Governor further faulted those who have been criticizing the recent GDP rebasing of the country’s economy by the National Bureau of Statistics, stressing that it was an exercise that was long overdue, in order to properly evaluate the strength of the nation’s economy.

Earlier, the supervising Minister of National Planning, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda said that the States’ GDP compilation programme in Nigeria was initiated by the Planning Commission in close collaboration with NBS.

Yuguda stressed that the exercise was designed “To help reveal the structure of the States’ economy, determine factors driving growth in States and provide evidence-based State planning policy.”

The Planning Minister further stated that the GDP sensitization flag-off exercise has been completed in the six pilot States selected from each of the geo-political zones; adding that the GDP of Niger State crossed the Trillion Naira mark in 2011, up from N960 Billion recorded the previous year.

He also advised the State Government to take fuller advantage of its vast land mass, mechanize its agriculture as well as optimize its diverse power infrastructure to promote industrialization and expand the State’s tax base.

On the other hand, in his keynote address at the opening of the 2014 Conference of Directors of Planning, Research and Statistics (PRS) in the Public Service, also held in Minna, Amb. Yuguda stated that the National Planning Commission had spearheaded Nigeria’s return to strategic development planning, after about three decades of abandonment. He described strategic planning as a very useful reform-based management tool of economic governance, the world over. 

“Strategic planning has over the years been universally recognized as a very useful reform-based management tool of economic governance. It serves as a veritable framework for coordinating the economic and social activities that takes place at the national and sector levels, especially in developing economics or States where resources are limited, with institutional weaknesses.”

*Report from National Planning Commission.