The majority of developed countries always have a living document that serves as the hub for their development.
A “development plan,” which describes the overall strategy of a project in order to ensure adequate planning and sustainable development of such endeavor or project, has often been attributed to such a document.
However, reliable and sufficient data that will inform or influence decision-making at both the project’s conception and execution stages are required for a development plan to be well written and implemented.
Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, said, “Every agency must now have a planning team and the head of that agency must be the Chief Planner because you are the one we will hold responsible. You will tell us how you intend to roll out your services to our people.
“We will need to beef up our planning as we are undertaking data to re-plan the existing areas. There’s a need for the Ministry of Budget and Planning to be involved in this, because we have to tie the socioeconomic planning and physical planning together.”
Given the aforementioned, data’s significance in a development plan’s ability to realize its intended goal or meet its established objectives becomes inescapable. In an effort to transform the State into a contemporary smart city, the Obaseki-led Government has been in the forefront of data collection and management in its decision-making processes.
The Obaseki-led Government has launched a number of data management and data collection projects, including the innovative Operation Plan Edo project, with the goal of gathering information on government presence in relation to infrastructure issues across the State’s 18 local government areas. The numerous advantages of this project make it commendable.
One of such benefits was evident when the Commissioner for Physical Planning, Urban and Regional Development, Isoken Omo, said: “The Ministry has concluded the recertification exercise in the Amagba axis of Benin City, visiting over 5,000 properties in the area by walking from street-to-street and door-to-door.”
She stated that the area has about 25,000 residents and that there are 3,796 houses, 756 storey buildings, and 608 vacant plots in the axis. In light of the data made accessible by Operation Plan Edo in Amagba Community, government decisions in this area will have a favorable influence.
Furthermore, the data gathered by Operation Plan Edo would allow the government to evaluate the numerous infrastructural shortages across the state, particularly in hard-to-reach areas that previously lacked government presence.
Similar to this, the Operation Plan Edo data will help the government create its budget and prioritize initiatives that would directly and immediately improve the socioeconomic ecosystem of the populace. Additionally, a data repository would be available for use by pertinent government MDAs in planning and carrying out initiatives across the State.
Furthermore, the data base will give potential local and international investors access to information that will aid in their decision-making and ensure that their investments will generate viable and sustainable returns. This will increase investor confidence and promote Edo State as an investment destination. As a result, this will encourage the creation of jobs for young people and raise the state’s own revenue.
To summarize, the Operation Plan Edo project will assist in the collection of useful data that will accelerate the realization of the goals and objectives of the Edo State 30-year Master Plan, which has served as the foundation of the Making Edo Great Again mantra. Governor Obaseki’s commitment to repositioning Edo State is unquestionably on track.
It is important for all stakeholders, both public and private, to support and offer all essential information to make the Operation Plan Edo initiative a rewarding enterprise and a document for the State’s long-term growth.