Members of the multi-disciplinary
team of professionals include:
·
Former
Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji
·
Former
Economic Adviser to the President, now Director of Institute of Development
Studies University of Nigeria, Prof. Osita Ogbu
·
Deputy
Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, chairman of Innoson Group of Companies,
Chief Innocent Chukwuma
·
Former
Aviation Minister, Ambassador Fidelia Njeze
·
Chief
Chilo Offiah
·
Chief
Loretta Aniagolu
·
Dr.
Chikelu Mba
·
Princess
Ngozi Nnadozie
·
Mr.
Kelvin Emeka Onah,
·
John
Okoye
·
Emeka
Odo
·
Ikechukwu
Chioke.
The team is coming at a
most auspicious time, considering that at present the national economy could be
said to be in the labour ward, grappling with sharp fall in the price of oil,
which the nation depends much on for its earnings and the states for their
allocation from the Federation Account.
More important, it seeks to
address the bigger challenges of unlocking the immense potential of the state,
opening up opportunities for growth, getting the state’s economic engine to
work, as well as reducing the level of poverty amongst the population. It is
equally significant that the governor has a full appreciation of what needs to
be done to fast-track the economic growth and development of the state.
This is evident in the
agenda he set for the team which is: “To promote
balanced sustainable economic growth, to promote and engender adequate
employment for the people of Enugu State and to promote a system of fair income
distribution among the various income groups in the state.”
Given that members of the
team possess enviable antecedents and career and service credentials, it
promises that their deliberation will not be another talk-shop or a forum for
championing parochial causes. They have the capacity to dip into their rich
bags of local and international experience in the private and public sectors to
bear on the growth initiatives of the state. It is expected, therefore, that
the Ugwuanyi administration should be well equipped with a complete dossier of
these socio-economic issues to aid their policies and actions.
To that end, the blueprint
put together by the team should capture the status of each sector of the
state’s economy as at 2015 when the Ugwuanyi administration came into being.
It may as well state in
detail where the state hopes to be by the end of the governor’s first term in
2019 and how the overall objectives contained therein will be pursued and
achieved.
It would also be germane to
add yearly targets including anticipated revenue and expenditure in a scenario
projection. These point to a need for careful and deliberate formulation of
coordinated and integrated government policies which can and should be
implemented, and which actualization should thrust Enugu State into an era of
productive self-sufficiency.
The major areas and thrust
for such policies should include: Revenue generation, basic needs satisfaction
for Ndi-Enugu, skills development in available manpower, employment generation,
self-reliant attitudes and production as against consumption-oriented
life-styles.
Others are: Human resources
development, Agro-based industrial development, Rural and Infrastructural
Development, Ideological development and Project development. It will be to the
glory of the team’s brilliant efforts and ideas if it ventures into many more
areas than what was originally assigned to it and advise on policy options
aimed at better governance of the state; in a very simple everyday language.
The governor would want to
drink from the cup of the team’s deliberations and recommendations charged with
energy and inspired by their out-of-the box ideas that could spur desired
actions.
The team, therefore, should
be driven by the passion to make the difference in whatever they do in this
regard. Their vision for our state should be truly inspirational. They should
always see the big economic and social picture and think of the fulfillment
that comes from sharing one’s time, energy, resources and resourcefulness for
larger causes.
Challenges facing the state
could be surmounted if pursued with common purpose, common resolve and common
will. Part of our duty as committed citizens of the state is to create the good
ideas that our leaders will use to complement theirs for transformative
actions.
Ndi Enugu should therefore
channel ideas to this important economic advisory team to enable it achieve the
noble purpose for which it was set up. (As seen in Guardian)
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