An Examination of the Effectiveness of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan in Nigeria

Abstract

Right from the independence and especially since the return to democratic governance in 1999, the successive governments in Nigeria have made concerted efforts in economic and development planning. Nigeria’s quest for a sustainable development roadmap has been a torturous one since independence with various plans and policies developed to fast-track the economy. However, no meaningful change has been witnessed thus making all successive governments come up with different development blueprints on how to rejig the economy. The Buhari Administration has come up with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), a Medium-Term Plan for 2017-2020 which was built on the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) to restore economic growth while leveraging the ingenuity and resilience of the Nigerian people. It is sufficient to say that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) was a medium-term, all-around developmental initiative that focused on restoring growth, investing in people, and building a globally competitive economy. The main objective of this paper is to examine the performance of the plan as a developmental state paradigm for “Nigeria's economic recovery”. Data were generated from secondary sources. The study revealed that, even though ERGP was implemented properly, its expected positive impact on GDP growth, reduction of inflation, and unemployment is not satisfactory. Accordingly, restructuring of the economy through diversification needs to be seriously sustained in Nigeria.

Keywords: Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), Nigerian Populace, Strategic Implementation Plan, Nigerian Economy, Development Planning