BudgIT, a civic organisation that uses technology to simplify budget and intersect citizen engagement with institutional improvement for societal change, has recommended strategy for economic growth in Nigeria.
BudgIT said the continuous opacity around public financing and low investments in critical sectors had consistently produced weak institutions and massive opportunities for waste and corruption at both the national and sub-national levels.
“In this report, we examined Nigeria’s economic challenges and recommended 6 broad goals – with 18 priority actions that would effectively end poverty, improve health, advance education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth,” it said.
BudgIT noted that with an estimated population of 200m people, 13.9m unemployed youths, N300m average investment in health tertiary institutions and over 100m Nigerians living below the poverty line, there was an urgent need to implement strategies that will effectively raise higher revenues.
“The numbers are currently looking grim. Nigeria’s teeming population would not confer any advantage if the population is not converted to human capital.
“We need to get more students into classrooms, re-skill graduates for emerging job openings, provide direct education-to-employment opportunities through public-private partnerships, and improve access to credit for MSMEs,” said Oluseun Onigbinde, Co-founder and Director of BudgIT.
He added that there is an urgent need for “strategic and inclusive actions by the government” targeted at improving equal citizen access to service delivery.
According to him, Nigeria needs to rethink its non-oil exports by improving local industry for production and strengthening sectors like technology, education, creative industry, mechanised agriculture, among others.
