The Supervising Minister of National Planning, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, has said that the 20th Nigerian Economic Summit would focus on the education sector, which he described as a vital sector in transforming the national economy to compete well at the global level.
Yuguda stated this in Lagos during the inauguration of a Joint Planning Committee for the 20th Nigerian Economic Summit, which is scheduled to hold between March 18 and 20, 2014.
The theme is: “Transforming Education through Partnerships for Global Competitiveness.”
The summit, an annual event organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, representing the private sector, and the National Planning Commission, representing the public sector, is aimed at stimulating policy direction for the government and the private sector.
Yuguda described this year’s summit as particularly special because it marked the 21st year of hosting the summit.
“The summit has grown to become the largest annual economic forum for policy makers and captains of industries from the public and private sector, as well as representatives of the academic, civil society organisations and development partners,” he said.
He added that participants at the summit would have an opportunity to discuss key issues and challenges facing the nation’s economy, with a view to evolving a common strategy and policy framework to address them.
Accordingly, Yuguda said that the PPP arrangement adopted over the years for the summit process has yielded many positive results, particularly in the introduction of Transformation Agenda and the Vision 20:2020.
Dr. Foluso Phillips, Chairman of the NESG, said the summit would take a cue from the success recorded at the last one in the agricultural sector to create awareness around the education sector.
Phillips said: “We want to create awareness around the sector and allow people and key stakeholders to focus on it.
“A lot of investment has been made in the agriculture sector as a result of the last summit.”
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