Born
Nwabueze
D. R
IMO STATE COMMISSIONER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING: State Commissioner for Economic Development and Planning, D. R. Nwabueze hails from Ofeke-Osina in Ideato Local Govemment area and was bom in 1930. He is the fourth out of six sons of Mr. Nwabueze Ogbunebe and Mrs. Mmagwu Nwabueze, both now deceased. He did his primary education at St. Mary's School, Osina, St. Mary's School, Obodoukwu and St. Michael's School, Urualla between 1937 and 1944. He was among the batch of stu dents who, as a result of creditable performance in Standard six examina tion taken in 1944 were sent to St. Charles Training College, Onitsha in 1945 without any previous teaching experience by the then Supervisor of Catholic Mission Schools, Rev. Fr. J. Jordan. He finished up in St. Charles Col lege in 1948 and started teaching as a Grade 11 certificated teacher in 1949. He taught in many primary schools in what was then Amaigbo Parish among which were P.T.C. and St. Gregory's School, Amaigbo, 1950-51 respecti vely; St. Mary's School, Umuorlu Isu, 1952-53 and St. Thomas School, Nkwerre. 1954-57. In September, 1957 he secured admission to Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Sierra Leone - taken one of the far flung out-posts of the Uni versity of Durham, England, to do BA Degree in Economic studies. In 1960 he was transferred with the help of the Federal Government scho larship to the (Honours School of Economics), Kings College (University of Durham), New Castle-Upon-Tyne, England. He returned to Nigeria in October, 1962 and took up appointment with the Federal Ministry of Economic Development (Economic Planning Unit), Lagos. He was among the first batch of economists recruited by the Federal Public Service Commission to form the nucleus of the Economic Planning Unit under Prof. Stolper and Dr. Lyle Hanson - the two American Economists who were responsible for the formulation of the First National Development Plan 1962-68. He left the Ministry in 1964 to join the academic staff of the department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka at the invitation of Prof. N.A.' Cox-George under whom he had the privilege to study when he was at Fourah Bay. This was the most diffi cult occupational change he evermade in his life - a change that could hardly be rationalised at the time on any demonstrable economic advantage because there were several unknowns. He has lectured in this university since 1964 both at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He has watched the Department of Economics grow from its embryonic stage to one of fruition and maturity. He has also graduated several sets of students who now occupy lucrative positions both in the public and private sectors of the Nigerianeconomy. In 1966 he did the Masters Degree in Economic studies in the University of New Castle before the out-break of the civil hostilities in the country. While in the university he wrote 14 articles published in international aca demic journals, two of which were in collaboration with other university academics. Most of the articles were based on issues dealing with industrial economics, Trade Union development and Labour Relations problems seen from the Nigerian perspective. He was once a member of the National Wages Advisory Council Federal Ministry of Labour, Lagos from 1965 to the out-break of the civil war. He was also a member of # the Administrative Board of inquiry which examined the affairs of the Ministry of Economic Development and Reconstruction, East Central State ofNigeria. H He was also a member of the Uni versity of Nigeria Library Board. Until this appointment, he was amember of the Board of Directors of the Imo State Water-Corporation which was out to solve the acute water problems of the State. He is interested in community deve lopment and social welfare. He is an active member of Osina Ideal Social Club which piloted the Osina Rural Water Scheme and also a member of the Executive Committee responsible for the founding of Osina Secondary/ Commercial School. His ministry is charged with the res ponsibility for planning the economic development of the State. It is, there fore, the ministry on which the State ^ Government depends a lot not only for formulating its developmental objectives and priorities but also for piloting the development process itself In a situation where socio-economic needs are infinite and human and material resources available for the satisfaction of these needs are limited, the problems of the Ministry become readily obvious. In Imo State which was newly created without adequate productive and infrastructural base and without any industrial projects established by the Federal Govern ment capable of generating employ ment opportunities for the unemplo yed, the Planning Ministry faces a problem of planning not only for the ^ provision of these basic facilities but 169 of harnessing the resource potentials of the state in such a way as to achieve their optimum utilisation. It is comforting, however, to observe that within the Ministry he has a cadre of seasoned economists, admi nistrators and statisticians capable of producing an economic plan which, if fully implemented, will go a long way to achieving for the State within the shortest possible time,what the older States within the Federation had taken a longer period to achieve, a plan which will help the people of Imo State realise their creative potentials and enable them improve their mate rial conditions of living through the use of resources available to them.
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