Prof Pat Utomi has commended Hon. Dimeji Bankole, the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives for his initiative at collaborating with Civil Society to raise the quality of governance and service to the Nigerian People.
The ADC Presidential Candidate in 2007 general elections and opposition leader who also described the act as "as a move in the right direction", spoke in Lagos today, in reaction to the forum initiated by the House and an NGO, Action Aid, which took place in Abuja on Monday 26 November 2007.
A renowned policy wonk, Prof Utomi observed that such collaboration was at the heart of balanced rapid development. He said, "The deep chasm between the development partners is a major reason for the prolonged failure of human advance in Nigeria".
Utomi, who has studied the public policy process in Nigeria and those of Asia's Tiger economics for years, pointed to the middle-80s Agha Khan Foundation-sponsored conference in Nairobi Kenya, which emphasized a tripartite partnership for development between Government, Private development agencies otherwise known as Civil Society or Non-Governmental Organizations, and the Private Sector.
He said that conference resulted in the Enabling Environment Forum, which convened in Abuja in 1988 and was forerunner of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
He however regretted that the public sector has never given the platform of the NESG the force of effect it deserves. Prof Utomi noted that the idea of Malaysia Incorporated, for example, meant that, as the President of the Confederation of Malaysian Industry told a Nigerian Government delegation a few years ago; government could not take a major decision with full and objective digest of the input of private sector.
Prof Utomi explained that, more recently, emphasis has increasingly been on the role of the Civil Society. Pointing to the great debate between leading Economists Jeffrey Sachs and William Easterly, on why economic development in Africa is so slow. He drew attention Easterly's latest book: The White Man's Burden, which put the future of Africa's development in the hands of social entrepreneurs.
According to Utomi "this, however, did not mean that Easterly who wrote an earlier appealing book, The Elusive Quest for growth, was dismissing the value of government in Africa". "What we need", Utomi insisted, "is strong partnership.
Utomi assured of the cooperation of the ADC and several PDAs, (NGOs) that he has helped create through the yeas in the expansion of the scope of human freedom, man's material progress and social harmony.
By Kila Odunayo
Restoration Movement for a New Nigeria
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
