The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Friday, said the reason countries with high natural and human resources develop less was because of absence of good governance.
This is even as the Vice President noted the need to have a system that will enforce transparency and accountability in governance.
Osinbajo disclosed this in Abakaliki, during the 21st edition of the Joint Planning Board (JIB)/ National Council on Development (NCDP) meeting.
He further noted that importance of NCDP saying that it provides oppurtunity for federal and state government to fathom out active collaboration for the well-being of the country.
He said, “The council on development planning has remained a very important platform for setting the tone of national development. It certainly provides opportunity for federal and state governments to fathom active collaboration for the wellbeing of our people.
“The need for synergy among all tiers of government at this critical time, especially as we continue to face the challenges of the onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic, which is now compounded by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and has already led to price and supply shock, especially in food sector.
“We must brace ourselves to collectively respond to the inevitable economic challenge that will occur and some which are already occuring.
“Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the council, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, federal and state MDAs and all stakeholders and indeed the private sector and the civil society for the sterling work that has been done in articulating a national development plan, 2021-2025.
“The strategic objective of the national development plan include establishing a strong foundation for a diversified economy, investing in infrastructure, improving government and stamping out insecurity. All of which would contribute to achieving our national development aspirations.”
He added: “The content of the plan is as important as the process that which it was developed. And I find the extensive deliberations and contributions to fashion a medium term blueprint . But the implementation of the plan is the crux of the matter and this speaks of the relevance to the theme of the meeting “Good Governance and Institutional Capacity: Pathways to Sustainable National Development”.
“The question I am sure some of us asked ourselves is why country with huge natural and human resources still developed slowly and have greater number of poverty than other less endowed society or country 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 lack of good governance and weak institutional capacity that largely account for the difference .
“How public institutions function is of course an approach determined by institutional capacity. This is not about having a merely educated and well motivated workforce, but a system that can enforce transparency and accountability. You must have a system that can deliver on transparency and accountability.
“So even when a country has the whole natural resources in every local government area and even well educated workforce, a country can still fail and social services can still be poorly delivered and extreme poverty can prevail.”
Meanwhile, governor David Umahi thanked the Vice Preseident for the visit, stating that his administration has prudently used the scarce resources that accrue from the state to develop it.
On the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) by local government areas and states government across the country, Umahi encouraged the legislative arm of government to look into the debate and ensure that VAT is included on the exclusive list.