Manpower and Economic Development in Nigeria

Economic planning has become almost universal in the less developed countries of the world. It is considered that only in this way can the centuries of economic and social poverty be rapidly overcome, so as to ensure decent living standards, for the people in a world in which the gap in the standards of living between the have countries on the one hand, and the 'have nots' on the other, threatens to grow even bigger. In Nigeria a ten-year development plan (to be effective from 1945) was formu- lated even before the last war came to an end. The plan was ultimately found to be deficient in many respects and had to be revised. Since 1954 when a Federal Constitution was introduced the three Regional Governments, as well as the Federal Government, have formulated and implemented their individual Development Plans. There was a tendency for these Plans to be competitive in character. Recently, however, (for the period 1962-67 for example) the need for co-operation and co-ordination has been increasingly emphasized.