Vice President Yemi Osibanjo on Friday blamed the inability of countries with huge natural resources like Nigeria to achieve sustainable development on poor governance and weak institutional structures.
Osibanjo who spoke in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, also identified lack of transparency and accountability as other factors militating against national development.
The Vice President spoke at the 21st Meeting of the National Council on Development Plan (NCDP) which was held in the state.
He said the theme of the meeting, “Good Governance and Institutional Capacity: Pathways to Sustainable National Development” was apt as there was a need to develop the capacity of the nation’s institutions to properly implement its development plans.
He said “The question I am sure some of us ask ourselves is why countries with huge natural and human resources still develop slowly and have a greater number of poverty than other less endowed societies or countries without resources at all like South Korea and Singapore.
“Why do they still perform better than the resourceful country of the world? I think most of the surveys conducted show that there is a lack of good governance and weak institutional capacity that largely account for the difference.”
Osibanjo said the country’s economy was yet to fully recover from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
While calling for synergy among all tiers of government to tackle the challenges, Osibanjo warned Nigerians to brace themselves for a future onslaught on the economy.
The state Governor David Umahi opposed the collection of Value Added Tax(VAT) by states, describing it as an invitation to anarchy.
He noted that the National Assembly should be encouraged to look into the matter and work on including VAT in the exclusive list.
Minister for Finance, Zainab Ahmed urged states to ensure that their medium-term plans are in alignment with the country’s aspirations.
Report From Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
