Vice President, Osibajo, Faults Weak Institutions For Nigeria's Underdevelopment

The vice President, Prof.Yemi Osibanjo has explained that the inability of countries with galore of natural resources like Nigeria to achieve sustainable development is because of poor governance and weak institutional structures.

Speaking at the 21st Meeting of the National Council on Development Plan (NCDP) in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, on Friday, the Vice President said lack of transparency and accountability are factors hindering the country's national development.

He noted that the theme of the meeting, “Good Governance and Institutional Capacity: Pathways to Sustainable National Development” was apt as it was now expedient to develop the capacity of the country's institutions to properly implement its development plans.

In his words; “The question I am sure some of us ask ourselves is that why countries with huge natural and human resources still develop slowly and have greater number of poverty than other less endowed societies or countries without resources at all like South Korea and Singapore.

“Why do they still perform better than the resourceful country of the world? I think most of the surveys conducted show that there is lack of good governance and weak institutional capacity that largely account for the difference.”

Osibanjo added that the nation's economy was yet to fully recover from the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russina-Ukrain war.

He urged governments at all levels to put more synergy in tackling the challenges, while warning Nigerians to brace themselves for future onslaught on the economy.