The National Economic Empowerment And Development Strategy (needs) And National Development

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This topic National economic empowerment and development strategy, (NEEDS) was formulated as an economic policy directed towards National development, as was founded on July 2003 by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to help improve the people’s well-being and human development and to ensure environmental sustainability and regeneration. National Economic Empowerment and development strategy in the vision of Nigeria serve as a new set of values and principles, which will facilitate the achievement of National goals and wealth creation, employment generation and poverty reduction.

National Economic Empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) envisages sisters programme which is state economic empowerment and development strategy (SEEDS) for the state government and eventually local economic empowerment and development strategy (LEEDS) in national development in Nigeria based on four cardinal principle of national economic empowerment and development strategy.

Poverty eradication

Empowerment generation

Wealth creation

Value re-orientation

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The international development targets (IDTS) were set in 1996 to improve the peoples economic well-being and human development to ensure environmental sustainability and regeneration. A total of 189 world leaders met in September 2000 and adopted the united nations millennium declaration which UN members states were committed to adopt and achieve by the year 2015

The millennium development goals are as follows:

i) Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger

ii) Achieve universal primary education

iii) Promote gender equality and empower women

iv) Reduction of child immorality

v) Improve material health

vi) Combat against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other disease

vii) Ensure environmental sustainability

viii) Develop a global partnership for development.

Nigeria adopted the above millennium goals and the federal government equivalent is the national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) its goals are

1) Poverty alleviation

2) Employment

3) Wealth creating

4) Value re-orientation

The state equivalent of national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) is the state economic empowerment and development strategy (SEEDS) with its ultimate objectives as 

i) Economic prosperity

ii) Generation of employment

iii) Creation of wealth

iv) Poverty alleviation

although local empowerment and environment management project (LEEMP) and local government empowerment and development are drive from the federal government and state government policies, it is community based and provides infrastructural development and capacity building 

As local economic empowerment development strategy (LEEDS) is the federal and state government policies its goals are consistent with national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) and state economic empowerment and development strategy (SEEDS).

Since local empowerment and environment management project (LEEMP) is community based, its projects are community development project while the capacity building as mentioned earlier involve LEEM staff.

The training of the local community staff in the capacity building of the local empowerment and environment management project (LEEMP) is aimed at ensuring effective execution and maintenance of local empowerment and management project infrastructure.

The local empowerment and environment management project (LEEMP) is also charge with the responsibility of conducting surveys of community socio economic needs, national economic empowerment  and development strategy (NEEDS) which is aimed at ensuring effective execution and maintenance of the local empowerment and environment management project to ensure the identification of the actual needs of the people and their efficient achievement. As it is a federal government project, LEEMP seeks finance, materials and technical assistant for the realization of its community based projects.

In conclusion one can state that local empowerment and environment management project (LEEMP) involves a set of community development specifically identified and set in target to be achieved within specified period. It is therefore the responsibility of the local government to achieve these set target of local economic empowerment development strategy (LEEDS) and local empowerment and environment management project before the year 2015

According to A.E.C Ogunna (2007:185); the national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) is the response to the development challenges of Nigeria. The goal of national economic empowerment and development strategy is to mobilize the resources of Nigeria to make a fundamental break with the failure of the past and bequeath a United and prosperous nation to generations to come. National economic empowerment and development strategy is a home grown reform programme put together through extensive consultation with major stakeholder in both private and public sector of the economy.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

There has been a persistent quest for an economic policy that will lead to the path of national development several attempts towards the realization of this have provided abortive, several factors have accounted for the failure of any meaningful attempt towards national development in Nigeria, of which corruption rank top in the list and it has been discovered that development policies in Nigeria have been unrealistic when it comes to implementation.

Moreover, political instability of frequent changes in government has also impacted negatively on development policies in Nigeria.

This is because every government comes within its own copy of economic reforms and policies. Hence lack of continuation of a particular reform policy, as a result of frequent changes of government it has also been another problem facing development strategy in Nigeria. No wonder, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo during his regime as a president was pessimistic about handling over power to another person. He had vividly stated that he would like to handover power to someone that would continue with reform policies, that he would not want his successor to abandon any of his reform policies.

There is no doubt that the national economic empowerment and development strategy has to an extent, impacted positively on the Nigerian economy. But the fact remains that some years after the introduction of national economic empowerment and development strategy. By Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the dividends of this committee as a panacea to economic development are yet to be fully seen.

National economic empowerment and development strategy has not really brought about the much expected development as envisaged in the committee’s document. Some years after the introduction of National economic empowerment and development strategy. There are still unemployment, and the worst is that the rate of poverty in Nigeria is escalating

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To examine the implementation process of national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) as envisage by the NEEDS document.

To account for why national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) has failed to achieve economic development in Nigeria.  

To understand the way in which national economic and development strategy (NEEDS) has failed to achieve economic development in Nigeria.

To ascertain the prospects of the proposed NEEDS programme.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Does national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) have role to play in national development?

2. Has the intervention of national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) in any way hindered development in Nigeria?

3. Is there any factor affecting the performance of national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) in the role of national development?

4. Has national economic empowerment and development strategy achieved its main purpose?

5. Are there any challenges and prospects facing national economic empowerment and development strategy in development roles?