Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman yesterday said the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan administration cannot be meaningful and successful unless credible planning and tracking of performance was implemented at all levels.
According to Usman, the concept of planning and performance measurement was no longer new and that it has been adopted by several countries to focus on service delivery and to transform the nations’ economies.
The minister, who doubles as the deputy chairman of National Planning Commission stated this yesterday, in Makurdi, at the meeting of the National Council on Development Planning.
The meeting, he said became necessary to discuss and agree on the strategies for entrenching economic planning at the sub national levels and to also provide a veritable platform for stakeholders to interact and share ideas on the best ways for ensuring effective design and implementation of medium term plans for the states and country’s economic development.
He said, “It is apparent that there cannot be meaningful transformation without credible planning. It is in fulfillment of this that the Jonathan administration recently introduced the performance management contract system at the federal level. The concept is no longer new and it has been adopted by several countries. In particular, the elements of a credible delivery are persistence, discipline, rigour, courage and resolving difficult issues in staffing organisation.”