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Budget ministry urges MDAs to include ageing in sectorial plans

Budget ministry urges MDAs to include ageing in sectorial plans

NAN-H-8

Ageing

By Cecilia Ologunagba

Abuja, March 22, 2017 (NAN) The Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning (MBNP) has urged Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to incorporate issues of ageing in their sectorial annual plans.

Ms Jessica Ahgu, an official of the Department of International Cooperation, made the call in a presentation made on behalf of the ministry at a stakeholders meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.

Ahgu spoke at a two-day coordination and consultative meeting of the National Task Force Partners in Population and Development (PPD) on South-South Cooperation and MBNP, UN Population Fund (UNFPA), MDAs and Implementing Partners.

The official said ageing population had always been forgotten in planning and projects implementation.

She, however, said that the ministry had successfully organised the first quarter PPD meeting to sensitise MDAs on the importance of including the ageing in their plans, adding that 12 MDAs attended the meeting.

“Presentation on the need for enhancing institutional capacity for mainstreaming ageing development was made.

“The objectives of the presentation were to make a case for equity and inclusive of older persons in national development agenda; position ageing within the imperatives of population and development.

“It highlighted the rising needs of older persons; the weak capacity of personnel and institutions to mainstream ageing and issues of older persons.

“It also highlighted training needs to enhance formulation and implementation of inclusive national policies and programmes,’’ she said.

Ahgu said that the ministry also presented the Dakar Call for Action for national implementation and adherence.

She said that key presentations made at the 2016 International Inter-Ministerial Conference and Board Meeting of the Partners in Population and Development (PPD) were discussed.

On challenges, the official attributed failure of government to fulfill her counterpart obligations due to the current economic downturn.

However, the official said that Nigeria remained committed to her partnership with the UNFPA.

Ahgu said that the ministry has scheduled to conduct Joint Monitoring visit of UNFPA Assisted Programmes at the Federal and State levels in the second quarter of this year.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Task Force for PPD is the bridge builder in implementing the objectives of the South-South Cooperation.

It seeks to implement the objectives of promoting family planning, gender, sexual, reproductive health, and population and development to enhance capacity building.

NAN also reports that the meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning and supported by the UNFPA, attracted key line implementing MDAs.

It was attended by more than 49 MDAs and CSOs involved in reproductive health, family planning, population and development as well as humanitarian services.

They include the host Ministry of Budget and National Planning; Ministries of Finance, Education, Health, FCT and Women Affairs, NAN and National Population Commission, among others. (NAN)

CIA/MST

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Economy

Lack of commitment, capacity to implement national plans cause economic challenges – Foundation

NAN-HE-16

Plan

By Kingsley Okoye

Abuja, Mar. 3,2017(NAN)The African Capacity Building Foundation Fund,(ACBF) has identified lack of commitment, inadequate capacity of government institutions to implement development plans as largely responsible for economic challenges  in the  African region.

The Executive Secretary of ACBF, Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie, said this in an interview with the News Agency Of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday.

Nnadozie, an economist and a development expert, said the greatest challenge facing Nigeria at this time was the recession it found its self.

He said there was no reason Nigeria should be in recession, given the robust nature of its development plans and visions over the years.

He, however, said that the inability  to fully implement the plans were part of the reasons for the current economic crunch in the country.

Nnadozie said it was cheering that the government  was putting together an economic recovery and  growth programme to get the country out of the recession .

According to him, Nigeria should be growing at double digit at this point in time.

“It should not be in negative growth rate; this country should be doing at least 10 to 13 per cent growth rate,” he  said.

He said it was important that Nigeria resorted to long term measures  of  development.

“But we should not confuse this short term expansionary policy to address  recession with the long term  strategy  for developing the country.

“ I have emphasised this long enough to say that this country has always had good plans and good strategies, weather it is vision 2020 or the national development strategies.

“Nigeria has always had good plans; It always had plans to diversify the economy, but the issue has always been to what extent has this nice strategic plans be implemented.”

Nnadozie said that Nigeria made the mistake that many countries  made  by listening much to outsiders who it thought knew  better than  Nigerians.

This, he said, resulted in successive governments abandoning well articulated policy documents designed to promote economic development and prosperity in the country.

“When you make a plan as individual  and things don’t work as an individual, would you then throw away the plan.

“But what did we do on the continent, we throw away the plans made because  people told us that the plan will not work.

“ The Asians never threw  away their plans; from China to Malaysia, to Indonesia,  to South Korea,  none of them stops planning, even though they were advised to do the same thing that Africans were advised to do.

“ They continued with their development plans, but perfected it, continued to have leadership that enforced and make sure that it was implemented  and look at where they are today.“

According to him, whatever plan the managers of the nation’s economy will make to salvage the economy will not be different from the well formulated plans of the past.

Nnadozie said it was important that  managers of the economy  be disciplined and consistent in the process of implementing whatever economic plans designed to salvage the economy.

“ We need to have some where we are aiming to go and decide how  best to get  there.

“In vision 2020, we had the strategies, but you can see that we have that and kept it aside and everybody is just doing something different; there is no discipline to follow the strategy  put in place.

According to him, the issue of non implementation of the various plans is not the challenge of money but the challenge of capacity.

“The constraint is capacity; three types of capacity, one is the soft capacity, that is the leadership capacity, the mind set, the issues of values; the second one is the  human capacity, then the  critical skills that are needed.

He said it was important that Nigerians in government and leadership positions developed the right capacity to drive development in the country.

“We have thousands of educated Nigerians all over the world; how can they shine in other places and they don’t perform here in Nigeria.

“It is not that it does not have the critical skills but some time, they are not allowed to contribute here.”

He also said it was also important to strengthen the capacity of various institutions of government involved in implementing economic and development  policies in the country. (NAN)

KC/IA

(Edited by Idris Abdulrahman)