Dickson Igwe. Photo: Provided

Those words had this Layman thinking. And yes, the DPU for all intents and purposes, is a vital department of state. In fact, the DPU could be considered the brain of government: the FLIGHT DECK of the aircraft called the British Virgin Islands. The DPU is in many ways the eyes and ears, and even nose and tongue, of government. It provides the critical numbers that allows decision makers of every type chart the way ahead.

OK, the technology called global positioning is classic science. In its earliest form, global positioning technology took the form of a powerful device called the compass. The compass contributed to man’s extraordinary voyage in history, from three centuries before the advent of Christ, up and until the very beginning of the 21^st century. 21^st Century global positioning technology is spawn of the old compass. The compass was, and is, a device that for hundreds of years contained a magnetized needle indicating magnetic north, and aligned with the earth’s magnetic poles.

The compass was used by captain and crew of the first seafaring vessels. In that historic voyage over the oceans, the compass indicated whether seafarers were on the right path, on a frequently lethal journey that saw over 70% perish regularly. The compass was the tool of the early conqueror, missionary, voyager, explorer, and adventurer. It was an indispensable ally and friend, aiding travel across sea, desert, jungle, mountainous and hilly terrain, lowland, grassy plain, and more.  

The modern equivalent of the old compass is the Global Positioning System: GPS. The GPS is a system of US navigational satellites providing precise and synchronized data on position, velocity, and time, on land, sea and air. Today, GPS devices allow navigators, soldiers, pilots, boat captains, travelers, motorists, hikers, and such, to very accurately proceed, at various speeds, to any desired point or destination, within the parameters of the GPS’s programme, albeit based on the user’s position in time and space.

For example, this small island man and motorist, can visit any vast city and metropolis, anywhere on earth, and with the use of a GPS device, which can be a standalone instrument, cell phone or I-Pad application, or a dedicated device for the motor vehicle, go gallivanting, reasonably safely, just as if he had lived in that city for years. In fact, today’s GPS devices for the motorist provide an incredible array of data and information; from the location of libraries and museums, to leisure centers, water parks, restaurants, and hotels, add hospitals, and emergency services. On a foreign visit, from airport to hotel room, and back to airport, a GPS device is swiftly becoming an indispensable travel tool.

In the air, GPS technology has made flying incredibly safe. It is the technology at the center of a dizzying aeronautic choreography. Global positioning has seen hundreds of millions of flights safely take off and land, sitting hundreds of millions of passengers, and many more millions of tons of luggage, add cargo and the like. These are humans with their chattels, seated in flying fiberglass and aluminum tubes, crisscrossing the earth’s atmosphere, tens of thousands of feet above sea level, covering hundreds of millions of aeronautical miles, and from the dawn of commercial aviation in the early 1900s.  

Now, there is an analogy between GPS technology and effective governance. Governments need a type of GPS system to know where they are headed. A government has a vision of the future: the ultimate destination where it wants to take the country. That destination, in a free democracy, is a nonbinding agreement contained in the manifesto of the political party. If successful at an election, that party eventually becomes the government.

Consequently, a development plan is frequently the party’s manifesto, become governing blueprint. Ideally, an effective development plan leads to a sound economy and strong economic growth. This in turn leads to a better quality of life and higher standard of living for the citizenry of a nation. However, in order to get to El Dorado, a pathway is required to be followed that entails more than simply a plan to build this or that project within this or that time span.  

That long, winding, and frequently complex pathway known as a development plan uses coordinates, numbers, metrics, and math, just as a GPS device does. These numbers allow a government to navigate effectively, steering the ship of state to the PROMISED LAND. Having a development plan is not enough. In fact having a development plan without knowledge of key national metrics is a useless exercise. A government must know the correct numbers to navigate its way forward effectively and precisely. It must know in quantitative terms how to move towards its desired goals.

To be continued...

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