Economic Sustainability Plan, 2020.

Due to the health and economic emergencies caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Economic Sustainability Committee was established on 30 March 2020 with the following terms of reference: develop a clear Economic Sustainability Plan in response to the challenges posed by the pandemic; identify fiscal measures for enhancing distributable oil and gas revenue; increase non-oil revenues and reduce non-essential spending towards securing sufficient resources to fund the Plan; propose monetary policy measures in support of the Plan; provide a fiscal/monetary stimulus package, including support to private businesses (with emphasis on strategic sectors most affected by the pandemic) and vulnerable segments of the population; articulate specific measures to support the States and FCT; propose a clear-cut strategy to keep existing jobs and create opportunities for new ones; and identify measures that may require legislative support to deliver the Plan.
The main objectives of the Plan are to: prevent the collapse of businesses by ensuring liquidity; retain or create jobs using labour intensive methods in key areas like agriculture, facility maintenance, housing and direct labour interventions; undertake growth enhancing and job creating infrastructural investments in roads, bridges, solar power and communications technologies; promote manufacturing and local production at all levels and advocate the use of domestically made/sourced goods and services; and extend protection to the poor and vulnerable groups.
The Plan is based on three pillars. The first pillar is termed real sector measures and takes a focus on job creation across the fields of agriculture and agro-processing, food security, housing construction, renewable energy, infrastructure, manufacturing and the digital economy. The second pillar, fiscal and monetary measures, aims to maximize government revenue, optimize expenditure and enshrine a regime of prudence. The third pillar involves implementation and tasks federal ministers with the responsibility of supervising the plans situated within their ministry, drive execution of projects and ensure synergy in the public and private sectors. The Plan further proposes a mass agricultural programme which seeks to cultivate between twenty and hundred thousand hectares of new farmland into cultivations in every state, it also proposes an extensive public works and road construction programme, a mass housing programme, installations of home solar systems, etc. The Plan is to be delivered through different implementation frameworks by the Economic Sustainability Committee and the National Economic Council, the Ministerial Implementation Committee and the Project Monitors constituted by public and private sector teams.