George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation
(SGF), has listed key recommendations from the three-day retreat organised for
members of President Bola Tinubu's cabinet.
The retreat with the theme: "Delivering on the renewed
hope agenda" held at the State House conference centre, Abuja, from
November 1 to 3.
Speaking on the last day of the event, Akume said the
retreat witnessed deliberations by experts from diverse relevant fields.
He categorised recommendations made during the retreat into
two sections: the "administrative processes of the government and policies
and priorities for the Renewed Hope agenda."
"Over the last couple of days, we have had some very
productive deliberations and heard from many experts across different fields,"
Akume said.
"Many of you have recommended a number of things, and
we have a lot of work to be done. I will be highlighting a subset of some of
the key recommendations."
ADMINISTRATIVE
PROCESSES OF THE GOVERNMENT
Akume highlighted that cabinet members at the end of the
retreat recommended that the government should raise the approval threshold for
public procurement and encourage open bidding for transparency.
Other recommendations are that cabinet members should submit
memos ahead of time (e.g., by EOD Wednesday) for analysis with permanent
secretaries before the federal executive council (FEC) meeting.
*Improve alignment of the budget for the MDAs to the
president's vision, strategic goals, and relevant key performance indicators
(KPIs).
*Formulate a standardised checklist detailing appointment
criteria for ministers and heads of agencies.
*Allow ministers presenting memoranda at FEC to be
accompanied by their permanent secretaries to hasten information flow.
*Evaluate the efficiency of previous federal government
intervention programmes and conduct proper pre- and post-project assessments to
determine the efficacy of the programs.
*Improve judicial process by allowing promoted judges to
complete pending cases in their new positions.*Revive the executive-legislature
conference/tripartite meetings to discuss pre-budget issues ahead of time.
*Define consequences and accelerate prosecution of
individuals, including lawmakers, who do not complete contracts awarded to
them.
POLICIES AND
PRIORITIES FOR THE RENEWED HOPE AGENDA
The cabinet members, according to Akume, recommended that
there should be a reform of the economy to deliver sustained inclusive growth.
Other recommendations include:
*Reform tariff structure to enable trade while still
supporting domestic production.
*Incorporate more equity financing rather than debt
financing for fiscal operations. *Ensure the annual budget is aligned with
strategic priorities.
*Review the implication of forward contracts on the economy.
* Set up a steering committee to review the issues around
the national single window.
*Strengthen national security for peace and prosperity.
*Intensify efforts to block revenue leakages in the police
force.
*Engage with governors to strengthen security at local
government levels while addressing issues of autonomy and governance.
*Have a collaborative and collective approach at the state
level to address security challenges, in collaboration with the federal
government.
*Develop and facilitate effective information gathering and
sharing mechanisms between and among states, communities, and the federal
government.
*Prioritise the clean-up of Ogoni communities.
*Boost agriculture to achieve food security.
*Utilise technology to increase agricultural yield.
*Intensify efforts to erect the green wall to stop
encroachment of deserts in northern Nigeria.
*Intensify efforts to reduce post-harvest losses by driving
investments into storage and value addition.
*Embark on efforts to check coastal erosion.
*Enhance dry-season farming and promote commercial livestock
farming.
*Unlock energy and natural resources for sustainable
development.
*Develop a 10-year plan to increase power generation
capacity in line with the country's needs.
*Set up a super grid in line with the nation's generation
targets and create semi- autonomous regional grids.
*Overhaul the structure and coverage of the distribution
companies.
*Revitalise a roadmap for the steel industry.
*Revive power plant projects that have been previously
paused, including the Ajaokuta Steel plant.
*Engage with OPEC to increase Nigeria's crude oil production
quota.
*Drive investments into the upstream petroleum sector, with
clear targets while making provisions for sanctions for non-performance and
inefficiencies.
*Focus on education, health, and social development as
essential pillars of development.
*Open up the sports sector for businesses by attracting
infrastructure, incentives, and investments.
*Accelerate the attainment of universal health coverage.
*Foster grassroots efforts to prevent and mitigate
humanitarian crises.
* Improve governance for effective service delivery.
*Improve capacity by training civil servants in critical
areas aligned with strategic priorities.
*Institute stepwise digitisation of all the MDAs in
government.
*Invest in technology to save cost, time, and reduce
corruption. *Ensure merit is the basis of the inclusivity priority.
*Ensure merit is the basis of the inclusivity priority.
*Ensure civil servants get competitive compensation.
*Roll out official emails for all civil servants above a
particular level.
*Performance management to enable delivery and execution.
*Institute consequence management at all levels.
*Establish performance-based compensation for civil
servants, tied to appraisal and without interferences.
*Ensure every ministry, department, and agency (MDA) defines
targets for investment attraction.
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