By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning has emphasized the need to develop a collective national strategy for the delivery of a good monitoring and evaluation strategy at both national and sub national levels.
The Director of National Monitoring and Evaluation Department of the Ministry, Dr Zakari Lawal stated this at a workshop on Developing Nigeria Monitoring and Evaluation Strategic Plan (2019-2023) organized by the ministry in collaboration with UNICEF in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to the director, the evaluation strategy “is desirable because even though the country is operating a federal system, the National and Sub-National still operates within one economy and their development challenges are identical with few distinctions”
He urged the participants to discuss and come up with a harmonized national strategy that can be useful to both national and sub national levels.
“This I believe will lead to a better governance system for all of us, which will ensure policies, programs and project that are well planned and beneficial to the citizens”, he said.
Lawal assured that the ministry through his department, “will provide all the technical support and necessary coordination to all stakeholders to ensure the objective of achieving the national M&E strategy in a participatory and inclusive process”.
He recalled that the Federal Government has been consistent in supporting the development of a national M&E system by establishing the National M&E department in 2010 to provide technical support to all tiers of government; as well as in MDAs.He commended the efforts of its development partners including UNICEF, DFID, UNFPA and AfDB “for their untiring support in the development of M&E culture for the Nigerian Government.
The one-day workshop was attended by participants from various MDAs and the states. Topics for discussion included, Overview of the National M&E Policy Framework; Monitoring And Evaluation Gap Assessment Gaps and Selected Lessons of International Experience.
