By Franklin Alli

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Tuesday, called for the assessment of the  first phase of National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) policy.

Dr. Simon Okolo.NACCIMA’s President, said “The three tiers of government (Federal, State and Local) should work in partnership with the private sector to critically assess the performance of NEEDS-1, in terms of overall  employment generated over its period of implementation (2004-2010),”

Dr. Okolo said that the OPS is  prepared to work with the governments at the various levels to review the NEEDS policy framework which is targeted at poverty reduction, employment generation and wealth cration.

He recalled that the NEEDS policy document had the  objectives of vigorously pursuing to fruition, the privatisation of NEPA, NITEL, NNPC and other malfunctioning public enterprises; Seek to attain and surpass an annual growth target of 5 per cent over the  5 to 10 years; Refrain from initiating unnecessary large-scale projects and rather focus on improving the standard of living of Nigerians and rehabilitate decaying social, scientific, educational and economic infrastructure; Encourage the growth of non-oil exports and aggressively support the emergence of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the productive sector and Create policy incentives for entrepreneurs venturing into information technology business.

He urged the government to facilitate the implementation of the National Action Plan on Employment creation developed by the Ministry of Labour alongside other social partners.

He stated “Government should  develop and resuscitate our infrastructures such as energy, roads, railways, water supply, etc, to encourage creations of wealth and economic development in the country even as it takes steps to encourage initiatives of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in the promotion and development of entrepreneurial skills among the youths in the economy, as well as middle level manpower to bridge the gap,” .

Dr. Okolo who further called for the creation of an institutional environment that fosters business and investment, enjoined government to continue to place greater emphasis on supportive programmes and policies for micro, small and medium enterprises, encourage direct labour activities and the use of more labour intensive technique in project implementation (where feasible) in order to mitigate the current high unemployment and poverty situation in the country.