(a) Explain the term economic planning
(b) Outline the problems of development plans in Nigeria.
Explanation
(a)Economic planning is the allocation of resources by the government for various projects and sectors of the economy over a period of time. This brings about sustained growth in the economy.
(b) Problems of development plans in Nigeria are:
(i) Inadequate data and information for proper planning.
(ii) Resources are sometimes diverted to investments that yield no economic benefit to the people.
(iii) Over-ambitious and unrealistic plans mark the beginning of failure of such plans.
(iv) Frequent change of government disrupts economic activities and shifts attention from development plans.
(v) Inefficient allocation of scarce resources among the various sectors.
(vi) Poor co-ordination and monitoring between the ministries and government agencies responsible for plan implementation.
(vii) Corruption leads to the inflation of project costs and execution of plans on paper, while actual achievement on the ground is negligible.
(viii) Under - utilization of Labour: The services of skilled labour and experts are under - utilized while making use of unskilled labour. For this reason, projects are inadequately studied and not well implemented.