Overview
Daily Trust | May 13th, 2016
For the federal government to achieve the objectives of Vision 2020 of making Nigeria one of the largest economies in the world by 2020 there must be a deliberate effort to champion sound economic policies and creation of a conducive business environment to attract foreign direct investments. Prof Fabian Ajogwu (SAN) stated this while delivering in a public lecture at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) in Lagos with the theme: “Nigeria Vision 2020 and a Challenging Economic Situation: Is Good Governance a Panacea?”
Ajogwu, a professor of corporate governance and fellow and board member, Society for Corporate Governance, observed that the attainment of Vision 2020 has continued to be a mirage owing to current challenges of insecurity, corruption, lack of infrastructure, and poverty, among other factors. All these challenges, he said, “have discouraged potential investors and hampered competitiveness of the Nigerian private sector.”The don stated that Nigeria, despite being the biggest economy in the West African sub-region and its potential for growth, has realised very little of her potentials.
He said good governance would go a long way in promoting socio-economic development, and stressed the need for government to provide the enabling environment to encourage private sector to aid the provision of employment opportunities.“This will also encourage local production, which will ultimately lead to export, instead of being an import-dependent country,” Ajogwu noted. ICSAN president, Dr. Nat Ofo, said the harsh economic situation in the country posed a challenge to the attainment of Vision 2020, adding that the lecture was designed to proffer solutions to the attainment of the goals of the vision agenda.
