Stakeholders at the just ended ‘Roundtable on Economic Transformation’ have identified the major signposts for economic transformation.

They listed improved business environment, quality service delivery in the public service and fiscal consolidation as the bottom-line.

The programme which was organised by the African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE) and the Office of Special Adviser to the President on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation was  attended by eminent personalities such as the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr. Okedigbe Nwanze, Director General of Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright Okogu,  Director General of the Bureau of Private Enterprises (BPE), Ms. Bolanle Onangoruwa, and Director General of the West Africa Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), Prof. Akpan Ekpo,  among others.

The Executive Director of AIAE, Professor Eric Eboh, said improving the business environment, particularly power and transportation is indispensable for economic diversification, accelerated growth, creation of wealth and employment.

According to him, non-oil growth  will not happen without significant reforms of infrastructure and regulatory systems. He said that achieving better service delivery is fundamentally linked to public service and institutional reforms that are designed to deliver improved public service performance, effectiveness and efficiency.

In his own submission, the Special Adviser to the President on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Prof. Sylvester Monye, said performance is the bottom-line of the people’s expectation of government.

He added that his office is developing simple and straightforward measures to assess whether outcomes expected of the government agencies are being realised.

Other speakers at the conference called for holistic approach to the transformation process.

They said for Nigeria, this is a period of change, re-engineering, restructuring, re-organisation, reworking and transformation.  They urged the government to introduce performance contract which clearly specifies the intentions, obligations and responsibilities of the government and the workers.