Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu speaking during a courtesy visit by Sturdy Group Six of the Senior Executive Course of NIPSS
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, has called on the Senior Executive Course 46 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State to critically examine the place of the digital economy in the country’s Agenda 2050 and the National Development Plan (2021 – 2025).
He spoke yesterday in Abuja during a courtesy visit by Sturdy Group Six of the Senior Executive Course, stating that the evaluation had become imperative to determine if the digital economy, which offers immense opportunities for youth employment and sustainable job creation, was properly captured in both documents.
Saying the digital economy was not the preserve of a ministry but a golden field that should be embraced by all in order not to be left behind in the digital space, the minister explained that the creation of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, as well as the separation of the Ministry of Youths from Sports, were a clear demonstration of the President Bola Tinubu administration’s commitment to facilitate the development these sectors of the economy.
Bagudu stated that several interventions such as the approval of the N300bn Youth Investment Fund; the Training of three million youths in the (I –DICE) project and the creation of a National Agricultural Development Fund for every part of the country were laudable programmes.
The minister said these investments’ vision was to stimulate the delivery of some of the administration’s key priorities, especially priority seven, which was to accelerate diversification through industrialization, digitalization, creative Arts, manufacturing and innovation.
“With the advent of digitization, the world has become a global village; making the digital economy a financial hub for our youths,” he said, adding, “The demography of the country highlights that 31 per cent of the population are youths.”
Bagudu said the huge number of youths could not be ignored if the country wished to tackle unemployment, accelerate development and ensure sustainable growth.
“We must think outside the box, create the right synergy in addition to collaboration and encouragement of investments in the technology start-up across regions of the country,” he told his visitors.
In the last 10 months of the Bola Tinubu administration, he said, the technology and creative ecosystem had been a major source of job creation for the youth, making them more globally competitive.
Bagudu noted that the objective of the National Development Plan (NDP 2021-2025) for the digital economy sector was to unleash Nigeria’s potential for industrialization and sustainable economic growth to ensure competitiveness in the global space.
According to him, this is possible because the NDP aims to achieve double-digit growth in an inclusive manner with consistency as guided by the National Protection Policy.
He solicited the cooperation of all Nigerians in this regard while also calling for the humility to embrace the change the digital economy had brought.
In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Nebeolisa Anako, stated that it was a welcome development for the institute to seek collaboration with the ministry.
Represented by the Director of Economic Growth, Mrs Elizabeth Egharevba, he noted that under the visionary leadership of the minister, the ministry was in the process of reviewing the National Development Plan (2021-2025).
He said the review was to make the NDP more relevant to current national issues.
Anako stated that as the hub of national planning and policy development, the ministry was open to ideas, hopeful for the change that was to come and willing to lead the process of achieving the presidential priorities.
“We shall keep consulting and re-strategising until Nigeria gets better for us and our future generations,” he said.
Speaking earlier, the team leader/Directing Staff, Navy Commodore Suleman Dahun mni, said his team was in the ministry to examine and appreciate its contributions towards enhancing the digital economy, youth empowerment and sustainable job creation in Nigeria.
This, according to him, was necessitated by this year’s course theme: “Digital Economy, Youths Employment and Sustainable Job Creation in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities.”
”NIPSS is the nation’s highest think tank, a centre for research and dialogue, which attracts Nigerians of proven experience to meet and dialogue towards bringing out quality decisions. The flagship programme of the institute is the senior executive course,” Dahun said
He explained that every year a policy area was chosen for a particular course and at the end of the 10-month programme, participants were expected to brief the president on their area of focus.