THE
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT MASTER PLAN
There have
been many attempts and many plans made in the past to improve the lives of the
people of the South East Region of Nigeria. Sadly, each ended with very little
to show for the time and resources spent. Therefore, it is understandable that
the people of the South East are quite disillusioned with ‘plans’ at this
time. The disenchantment of the people notwithstanding, it must be stated that
the South East Master Plan is different in its goals, focus and approach, and
will not suffer the fate of the others before it.
The Master Plan is basically conceived as a
tool that the millions of people of the South East Region can use to actualize
their common vision and build their future to the standard they desire. The
Master Plan is designed to offer stakeholders at all levels (individual, group
and community) the opportunity to participate fully in the planning and
decision-making process. specifically, the coordinating consultants require
the ideas and opinions of stakeholders as basis for defining focus areas for
development and for producing a vivid picture of what the people want the Niger
Delta region to look like within 15 years of the master plan implementation.
This implies that the input of stakeholders today is what will determine the
state of affairs (both for individuals and communities) in the region tomorrow.
The Master
Plan, for which satellite mapping had been completed and the resource
consultants
appointed, is expected to cover the following areas:
1.
Demography
2.
Environment and hydrology
3.
Agriculture and aquaculture (with focus on economic activities)
4.
Biodiversity
5. Transport
(infrastructure)
6. Rural,
urban, regional planning and housing
7. Community
Development
8.
Governance and capacity development
9. Health
10. Small
and medium enterprises
11. Water
supply
12. Energy
(electricity)
13.
Telecommunication
14.
Vocational training (with focus on employment generation)
15. Waste
management and sanitation
16.
Large-scale industry
17. Solid
minerals
18. Tourism
19. Social
welfare
20. Arts,
Sports and Culture,
21. Women
and Youth employment
22. Conflict
prevention
23.
Financial instruments and access
24.
Investment promotion