Desirous of government at the federal, state and local government effectively working to ensure that the people benefit in a democracy, scholars from all walks of life will gather at a conference in Ibadan next week.
Under the aegis of Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy, the organisers of the conference said they hope to “reconnect effectively with the people again as it used to in the decade before and after independence as facilitator of development beyond the ‘ritual’ of policy declarations.”
According to a release issued by the school’s Director of Strategy, Mr. Christopher Edeimu, the conference will hold on February 1 and 2, 2016 at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan.
Edeimu said the conference will also seek to discuss how government can bond with the people.
“Is it not time to go back to the basics of government and see how government can be made to effectively bond with and tap from the energies, resources, commitment and needs of its citizens to govern all of its peoples again? These concerns touch on aspects of the notion of governmentality,” he said.
The conference will also, according to the release, initiate moves away from rhetoric and false starts toward concrete, cumulative and comprehensive public policy thrusts for change.
Some of the issues to be addressed at the conference include topics like ‘The Economy: What is to be Done?’, ‘Infrastructure, National Asset Management and National Productivity, Education, Health, Human Capital and Social Policy’, ‘Taxation, Governance, Democracy and Development’ and ‘Intergenerational Discourse on Getting Government to Work for Development and Democracy in Nigeria.’
Also included among issues to be discussed are topics like ‘Inclusive Development: Nigeria in African and Global Contexts’, ‘The Elite, Public Policy and the Political Economy of Identity Politics’, ‘The Political Economy of Party Politics, Elections and Election Management’, as well as ‘Federalism, Intergovernmental Relations and the role of Public Bureaucracy, Civil Society and the Legislature in Reforming Government for effective Policy Making and Execution’.
Expected at the conference to deliver papers are Dr Kayode Fayemi, Honourable Minister for Solid Minerals Development and former Governor of Ekiti State, Prof Osita Ogbu, Professor of Economics and former Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Prof Akin Iwayemi, Former President, Nigerian Economic Society (NES), Dr Ayo Teriba, Prof Pat Utomi, Dr (Mrs) Omobola Johnson, Honorary Chair, Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) and former Minister of Information and Communication Technology, among others.
