NPOD Summit to actualize Next Level Agenda-Bapetel

By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari, has maintained that government remains interested in solutions that will help propel Nigerians to the next level under the ‘Next Level Agenda.’

Buhari who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the Government the Federation, Mr. Andrew David, stated this at the 2nd National Policy and Development, NPOD, Summit 2020, held in Abuja, with theme, ‘Actualizing the Next Level Agenda: Strategies, Prospects and Anticipated Challenges’, which was organised by the Senior Special Assistant to The President on Policy Development and Analysis, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Hon Ibrahim Bapetel.

According to him his administration is striving to prioritize and balance between the welfare of Nigerians and infrastructural needs of the country through pragmatism that enables government to simultaneously concentrate on social investment and infrastructural provision.

READ ALSO: Edo 2020: APC stakeholders call for Buhari’s intervention in crisis

He said: “As a government we, are interested in solutions that will help propel Nigeria to the next level we envisaged. As you deliberate on these issues and many more therefore, it is hoped you would proffer solutions that would enable government to overcome these challenges.

“Although, as a government, we have been striving to prioritize and balance between the welfare of Nigerians and infrastructural needs of the country. This we have been doing through pragmatism that enable our government to simultaneously concentrate on social investment and infrastructure provisioning.

“The Reports of the Monthly Policy Dialogue Series is hereby acknowledged, especially the one that dealt succinctly on funding the Next Level Agenda. The challenges and prospects as documented are well noted. This will further enable government to tackle funding challenges as highlighted by stakeholders at the Dialogue

Meanwhile, the President also appreciated the contribution of Hon Bapetel and his team towards policy implementation and organizing capacity building retreats for Ministers in his cabinet.

“We appreciate the contribution of Hon. Ibrahim Bapetel and his hard working team to the governance process. Their contributions have assisted in a much significant way to rejigging retreat for government ministers.

“The retreat now includes training, deliverables and targets amongst others. This is one of the major milestones the first summit that interrogated the change Agenda achieved.

He also said recommendations by the team on repositioning the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has led to corporation declaring profit including other achievements.

“Today, as a result of the recommendation of the summit, the opaque nature of the NNPC as noted by the report of the first summit is being gradually overcome. We now have an NNPC that is declaring profit and has also gone ahead to collaborate with the National Assembly to enact the Deep Shore Act 2019 that gives us more leverage over our oil resources. It is the first of its kind in our recent history.

READ ALSO: Heed call by Niger Delta Govs on NDDC board, group tells Buhari

He also assured that recommendations from the Summit would be implemented to better lives of Nigerians.

“Let me assure you at this juncture that the report of this committee will not go to waste. Recommendations contained therein would be implemented to the betterment of the hard working people of Nigeria. A lot needed to be done to pull Nigeria and Nigerian out of poverty. This we are committed to.”

However, the President made it known that his government has been challenged with a lot of issues ranging from security, absence of critical infrastructure, poverty to unemployment.

But he stated that such challenges were not peculiar to his government but are experienced in other parts of the world which include funding that has remained a major challenged, because it serves as life wire of governance.

“Though, the government has been challenged on all fronts – from security, absence of critical infrastructure, poverty to unemployment. The essence of the Next Level Agenda is to consolidate on the achievements of the last four years.

“Therefore the summit will not only afford us the opportunity to interrogate the strategies adopted by our government to actualize the next level agenda to overcome our national challenges but also to interrogate the prospects and anticipated challenges with the intention to proffer solutions.

“As we all know, among many challenges governments all over the world face, funding is the major one because it is the life wire of governance. Without it, government cannot deliver.

“After funding, comes strategies and human resource needed to succeed. The strategies and human resource needed for our government to succeed are all there. Funding is always the challenge and corruption. This explains the governance strategy of our government that combines anti-corruption and critical interventions delivery.

“Another challenge is the absorptive capacity of our national economy to support our developmental needs and plan at the movement. On a balance, our national challenges are more than our national income. It is a major challenge that must be overcome as a nation if we are to make progress”, he said.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Buhari approves appointment of Justice Mensem as Acting Court of Appeal President

In the an opening remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Policy Development and Analysis, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Hon Ibrahim Bapetel, assured that being the second Summit in the series, it will continue to play a strategic role in national development, particularly for the Next Level Agenda to succeed.

“This summit will continue in the tradition that we have started of interrogating strategies and prospects of our development as a nation, in the context of the Change Agenda.

“At this Summit we will rely on the strength of your affairs to identify the challenges that may likely affect the actualization of the Next Level Agenda; and also generate inputs that will assist Government to stay focused in the next four years.

“It is our distinct belief that the 2nd National Policy Development Summit will assist in proffering solutions that will enable Government deliver the Next Level agenda through impactful policies; especially President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to life 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next ten years.

“Be rest assured that the outcomes of this engagements on several levels are being documented and disseminated to the relevant stakeholders. Our dream from the very beginning was to develop a repository of government policies, milestones and impact. With your help we are getting closer to our goals” Bapetel said.

He also appreciated the President for “not only reading but also implementing our numerous advisory.”

vanguard