Pursue Double Digit Economic Growth, NIQS Advises Buhari
The most pressing and immediate task to be pursued by the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari should be to ensure a fast double digit growth of the economy, the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors has said.
According to the institute, the Federal Government should also avoid the practice of depending on multilateral donor agencies to set up policies for the country.
The President, NIQS, Obafemi Onashile, said these in Abuja on Thursday at a workshop organised by the institute on project monitoring and reporting services for financial institutions/third party funded or sponsored development projects.
Onashile said, “The new Federal Government’s most pressing and immediate task is to create new leadership initiatives for a fast double digit growth of the national economy. This will be in the form of implementation of bold and creative ideas to run the nation.
“The practice of relying on international management consultants and multilateral funding bodies such the World Bank to set up government policies for Nigeria and expect the Ministries, Departments and Agencies to simply drive such policies ‘externally crafted’ during a two-day management retreat has failed us woefully.
“This is due to disconnect between the policy crafters and the expected drivers, as the drivers had no input in the policies.”
The NIQS president explained that the first 100 days of any new administration was very crucial, as activities undertaken within this period would be a true barometer of the style, direction, capacity and depth of accomplishment that such administration would achieve in its entire days in office.
He further noted that the construction industry was a very strategic sector of the national economy that the government should focus on and exploit in order to make meaningful impact in the administration of this country.
“The construction industry is the second industry after the agricultural sector, with potential for the greatest impact on the national economy of any nation,” Onashile said.
He added, “In many nations, the construction industry plays pivotal roles in infrastructure delivery, employment, domestic manufacturing through cottage industries for producing glass, ceramics, iron billets and rods, aluminium sheets, paints, plywood and timber that can be consumed locally and exported to neighbouring countries to earn foreign exchange.
“This is why on behalf of the construction industry and as a part of the private sector drivers, NIQS wishes to contribute to the crafting of a new direction and administrative policies that can assure a double digit growth for our national economy and transform Nigeria back to being a ‘developing country’ rather than being an ‘under-developed country’ in the committee of nations.”
Onashile explained that a good start to stir the construction industry for a fast paced growth would be an immediate action to implement social housing programme to provide housing for the vulnerable civil service employees, including the men and women in uniformed services.
