Visit our shopSerious planning must inform social interventions, not whims and prayers - Dr Arkutu
A former Chairman of the National Population Council (NPC), Dr Andrew A. Arkutu has suggested that programmes and interventions that are intended, and have the power, to transform the lives of people, communities and society, should not be launched on a whim and a prayer.
Instead, it should be based on good planning.
He said for the country to make any meaningful progress in its development, “it is critical that serious and conscientious efforts
are made to ensure that the planning, execution and evaluation of such programmes are firmly based on the realities on the ground, the numbers and evidence before our eyes.”
He was of the view that “We need to develop and strengthen a culture of data-based planning for development. We must count the numbers.”
The former United Nations Population Fund official explained that “Any social development policy, programme or intervention should begin with the critical question: who are the primary beneficiaries or target of this intervention? What are their numbers, ages, sex, spatial distribution, levels of education, special needs, etc of the population to be specifically targeted to achieve desired outcomes?”
