Importance of Development Planning in Nigeria
All governments consider development to be their primary responsibility. This means that governments at all levels should continue to implement programs and strategies to achieve all of the important goals. Every responsible government is expected to develop comprehensive plans on a regular basis to improve residents’ social, economic, and political well-being, among other things.
The purpose of such strategies could be to help people grow in the areas described above. Many of these issues are intertwined with the importance of development planning in Nigeria. The relevance of development planning in the country will be highlighted in this article.
IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN NIGERIA
The following are some of the reasons why development planning is so important in the country.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMY
Nigerian planning is primarily focused on achieving economic development goals. Economic development is concerned with the rise in per capita income and the factors that contribute to this rise.
In order to measure a country’s economic development, we must take into account not only its overall production capacity and consumption, but also its population growth. Economic development is the process of lifting people out of inhumane circumstances such as poverty, unemployment, and poor health.
VIABLE RESPONSE TO MACROECONOMIC CHALLENGES
When Nigeria faces macroeconomic issues, development planning is a potential solution. Two development plans – the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the Economic Sustainable Plan (ESP) – were enacted in recent memory to address the country’s major macroeconomic issues.
The ERGP waste was created to help Nigeria recover from the economic recession that occurred during the last phase of the Vision 20:2020 Economic Transformation Blueprint. The ERGP’s development planning measures aimed to re-establish economic growth.
INCREASE EMPLOYMENT
Another goal of Nigeria’s development objectives is to make better use of its human resources. As a result, more job possibilities will become available. During the planning process, steps have been taken to ensure that millions of people are employed. Many individuals are expected to be employed as a result of the plan’s completion.
CONTRIBUTION TO WOMEN AND GENDER EQUITY
Girls and women account for approximately 50% of the population of Nigeria. Unfortunately, women in Nigeria only own 10% of the country’s total assets. The maternal death rate has grown to 917 per 100,000, making it one of Nigeria’s highest. Women’s full engagement in the Nigerian economy is hampered by patriarchal traditions, poor political representation for women, and the high occurrence of child marriage. The National Development Plan, 2021-2025, has been adopted in Nigeria to attain these goals of inclusive growth, gender parity, and reduced gender-based violence.
SELF-SUFFICIENT
Nigeria’s development goals aim to make the country self-sufficient in terms of food and industrial raw materials. Furthermore, growth must be self-sustaining, which necessitates higher savings and investment rates. The Nigerian economy will attain the take-off stage of development if the Plan is successfully implemented. The plan’s major goal is to reduce reliance on foreign aid by growing export trade and developing domestic resources.
STABILITY OF THE ECONOMY
Growth is vital, but so is stability. It indicates that inflation and deflation do not occur frequently or excessively. Many sorts of structural imbalances are formed in the economy when the price level rises or falls dramatically. Every development strategy in Nigeria has included economic stability as a goal. Although some price increases are unavoidable as a result of economic expansion, they should not be excessive.
FOSTERS SUSTAINABLE POPULATION MANAGEMENT
Nigeria’s rapid population increase has put a strain on the country’s resources and puts the country’s demographic dividend at jeopardy. Furthermore, a considerable portion of the population (about 100 million) lacks a genuine national identity.
Increased rural-urban population shifts are occurring in addition to the population expansion. It would be difficult for the government to restrict population growth without effective development planning aimed at long-term population management and a strong national ID management system.
SOCIAL WELFARE AND SERVICES
The goal of Nigeria’s development programs has been to enhance labor welfare, backward-class economic development, and impoverished people’s social welfare. The Plans also aimed to improve social services such as education, health, technical education, scientific advancement, and so on.
DEVELOPMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY
Another goal of the development plans is for the economy to grow in all directions. Agriculture, industry, transportation, power, and other economic activities are all attempting to develop at the same time. The Plan placed a strong emphasis on agricultural growth. The growth of heavy industries was also prioritized.
REDUCE ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES
Every plan has sought to reduce economic disparities. In Nigeria, economic inequity is a sign of exploitation and injustice. As a result, the wealthy become even wealthier, while the poor become even impoverished. Several steps have been done to attain the goals of economic equality in the programs. The goal of a socialistic society pattern was established in the second plan primarily to attain this purpose.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Every strategy has also included a goal of promoting social justice. It is feasible in two ways: one is to reduce poverty among the poorest members of society, and the other is to minimize wealth and income disparities. Approximately 45 percent of Nigerians are poor. The development strategy attempts to keep this to a bare minimum.
INCREASE IN STANDARD OF LIVING
Another goal of the development plan is to raise the people’s level of living in Nigeria. Many factors influence one’s standard of life, including per capita income growth, price stability, and income distribution equality. At present prices, per capita income is expected to rise during the Plan period.
CONCLUSION
Nigeria’s successive governments have adopted development plans as an effective technique for addressing the country’s development difficulties. It has been noted that the “development plan” is often regarded as the tool of both diagnosis and therapy for development.
Similarly, Nigeria’s economic ambitions since independence have been best reflected by her different development programs. Nigeria has been on a succession of development programs over the past four decades in order to increase the rate of economic growth and raise the people’s standard of living. This article emphasized the significance of these development plans in the country’s overall improvement.
