By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu has called on the Senior Executive Course 46 of the National Institute for policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) to critically examine the Agenda 2050 and the National Development Plan (2021 – 2025) to see the place of digital  economy in both documents
The minister made this call during the  courtesy call on him by the Senior Executive Course 46 of NIPSS yesterday in Abuja.

Bagudu stated that the review had become imperative in order to know if issues of unemployment and sustainable job creation were properly captured in both documents and if not, a review was necessary to enrich it and make them better documents for implementation to better the lives of Nigerians.
He reiterated that the digital economy was not a preserve of a Ministry or person but a golden field that should be embraced by all in order not to be left behind in the digital space.
According to him, the creation of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the separation of the Ministry of Youths from Sports Ministry, was a clear demonstration of the current administration’s commitment to better these sectors of the economy.
 Bagudu stated that a number of interventions such as; approval of 300bn  Youth Investment Fund  for the Ministry; Training of 3 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 vision of this investment, the Minister added, was to stimulate the delivery of some of the key priorities of this administration, especially priority 7, 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. The demography of the country highlights that 31 percent of the population were youths, this number cannot be ignored if we wish 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”, the Minister said.
He disclosed that within a few months of President Tinubu’s administration, the Nigerian Technology and creative ecosystem had been in the forefront of job creation, especially for youths, making them relevant not only in the country but also to compete globally.
On the National Development Plan (NDP 2021-2025) the Minister pointed out that it was detailed in chapter 14, the performances, programmes, projects, prospect, investment allocation, strategies and policies for accomplishing set objectives and targets, as well as inherent challenges in the digital economy space of the Nigerian economy were highlighted.
The Plan’s objective for the sector was to unleash Nigeria’s potential for industrialization and sustainable economic growth to ensure competitiveness in the global digital economy. This, according to him, is possible because the NDP has the concept of achieving double digit growth in an inclusive manner with consistency as guided by the National Protection Policy.
He solicited for the cooperation of all, in this regard while also calling for the spirit of humility to embrace the change digital economy had brought.
Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Nebeolisa Anako, stated that it was a welcome development for the institute to seek collaboration with the Ministry at this auspicious time of Nation building.
Mr Anako, who was represented by the Director of Economic Growth, Mrs. Elizabeth Egharevba noted that under the visionary leadership of the Minister, the Ministry was in the process of reviewing the current National Development Plan (2021-2025). This laudable decision was to make the NDP more relevant to the current National issues.
He therefore stressed 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 in achieving the Presidential priorities. “We shall keep consulting and re-strategising until Nigeria gets better for us and our future generations”.
The team leader/Directing Staff of the Senior Executive Course 46, study group 6, of the National Institute for policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Navy Commodore Suleman Dahun mni in his remarks said that 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 Dahun, was necessitated by this year’s Course theme: “Digital Economy, Youths Employment and Sustainable Job Creation in Nigeria: issues, challenges and opportunities.
Navy Commodore Dahun, explained that ”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”
He also stated that every year a policy area is chosen for a particular course and at the end of the 10 months programme, participants were expected to brief the President on their area of focus.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning (centre) with members of Senior Executives Course 46, 2024 of NIPSS, led by Navy Commodore Suleman Dahun mni, during the group’s study tour/courtesy visit to the Ministry, yesterday, in Abuja.