Southwest States Resolve to Prepare State Development Plans (SDP)

February 04, 2020 01:52:43 PM Published by: PERL

 

Dr. Gabriel Ojegbile leading discussions on policy, planning, strategy and budget architecture in government

Dr. Gabriel Ojegbile leading discussions on policy, planning, strategy and budget architecture in government.
      

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Prof. Olalekan Yinusa, the Commissioner of Economic Planning and Budget, Osun State sharing experience on the intricacies of preparing a State Development Plan.

 

To improve service delivery for citizens, Southwest (SW) States have resolved to deliberately plan for, track and monitor implementation of services that benefit the people. Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, Directors and Senior Officers from Ministries of Economic Planning and Budget (MEPB) and the State Bureau of Statistics (SBS) of the six SW states came together for a learning event on the modalities of preparing inclusive and participatory State Development Plans (SDP), focused on delivery of services to the citizens.

The event was hosted by Osun State on 13th November 2019, supported by PERL and DAWN Commission. It aimed at triggering an in-depth discussion on policy, planning, strategy and budget architecture in government; harmonizing expectations from the demand and supply sides of governance; and synchronizing high-level policy documents such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) towards service delivery.

As Lagos and Osun States have previous experiences of developing SDPs, high-level officers from both states shared intricacies of their processes, challenges, successes and learning points while preparing their SDPs. Both states identified critical success factors, including citizens needs’ assessments and engaging wider stakeholders in the processes; understanding and buy-in by the Governor and the legislature; cooperation by officers of all cadres within Ministries, Departments and Agencies; engaging experienced and knowledgeable development partners/consultants and a thorough understanding of the development direction of the state.

Osun SDP, spanning 2019 – 2028 and that of Lagos, spanning 2012 – 2025, are being used to deliberately plan the progress of the states, inform sector strategies and prepare budgets. Consequently, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun and Oyo States resolved to commence their SDP development processes to strengthen good governance within their states and the region. At the same time, Oyo State is working towards launching their SDP by May 2020. Committing to their resolution, each of the 4 States came up with Action Plans detailing activities, responsibility and timelines for the preparation of their SDPs.

States and their Action Plans will be monitored closely, and progress tracked following indicated timelines during the next Community of Practice (CoP) meeting for Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries of Planning and Budget slated for the first quarter of year 2020. The PERL programme and DAWN Commission continue to work together within Southwest Nigeria to achieve an accountable, responsive, capable and inclusive governance that delivers better services to citizens.