That Nigeria failed lamentably in all aspects of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is now history whose sad melody lingers on. As has been noted by a commentator, the implementation of the MDGs in Nigeria “lacked the high-mindedness of the Millennium Declaration and the ambitiousness of some leaders because despite the availability of funds the required political commitment never arrived.” I guess the country cannot afford a repeat of that sordid performance in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in which Nigeria is already three years in arrears of any tangible commitment. The quality of the current electoral campaigns does not suggest that issues of SDGs are known to the political parties and their flag bearers. As opined by Chris Akor in his article “why Buhari, Atiku’s job promises are unrealistic” published in the Business Day of Thursday December 13, 2018, “the main challengers for the presidency, MuhammaduBuhari and AtikuAbubakar have continued, like in the past, to make bogus promises of creating millions of jobs in their manifestoes and policy documents without going into specifics of exactly how those jobs are going to be provided and by whom.”
This is not surprising because the main presidential candidates do not know what they should be talking about. All that we hear about the next four years is a bunch of razzmatazz. Instead of properly articulating their party manifestoes, they are busy throwing tantrums here and there. They seem unaware that we are tired of moderating our displeasure. Because they don’t know what they are expected to do in the next four years, the SDGs provide a ‘soft landing.’ They should simply adopt the SDGs as their party manifestoes. The goals are clear and the indicators well defined. There is no issue or programme of essence that they would want to pursue and implement in the next four years and beyond in their wisdom or lack of it that is not embedded in the SDGs.
Issues around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become extremely critical in Nigeria and no political party should pretend about it. The issues require a synergy of uncommon kind and political commitment to tackle. Many countries have devised road maps for localizing, implementing and monitoring developments around the goals because of the enormous potential to transform all aspects of national endeavours. The 17 SDGs and 169 targets present opportunities for the political parties to take advantage of to create significant value in the political, economic, social and cultural order in Nigeria. We must take a cue from many African countries where SDGs have become a flagship issue and serious steps articulated and taken to ensure maximum delivery by 2030.This is evident from the African SDG Index Report of 2018. The report was prepared and presented by the Sustainable Development Goals Centre for Africa and Sustainable Development Solution Network and provides a snapshot of the progress made so far by African countries ranked on the SDGs. The result of the ranking indicates that the ‘giant of Africa’ with a score of 48 is only ahead of some ten impoverished countries in Africa while Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritius, Algeria, Cape Verde, Ghana, and Egypt are blazing the trail. Besides, some countries have fully achieved at least one of the goals such as: The Gambia and Sao Tome and Principe (SDG 12, Responsible consumption and Production); Comoros, DRC, Guinea, South Sudan and Uganda (SDG 13, Climate action); and Burundi, Gabon and Sierra Leone (SDG 15, Life on land).
While these countries are making progress, the Federal government of Nigeria through the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President (OSSAP) on SDGs, has ‘formulated’ and ‘adopted’ a number of policies aimed at achieving the goals. But it is claimed that a number of challenges including paucity of and late release of funds, Lack of legal framework to institutionalize SDGs, lack of political will at some government levels, securities issues, ownership issues around the SDGs, data collection and integrity of same, among others, are constraining the efforts of the government in achieving the required mileage on the goals.
In spite of the challenges, however, the government says it has achieved a lot on the platform of the SDGs and wants to convince us that the feats are evident in the following- construction of minor irrigation system, building of VIP latrines in schools and hospitals, training of health workers, provision of insecticide treatment nets, maternal /child health centres, classroom blocks, school desks, benches, including health advocacy. Others include construction of teachers’ quarters, fencing of schools, and provision of First Aid Boxes among others. These are no mean achievements anyway; but how significant are they in the context of the SDGs? To which of thetargets do these activities relate? Have we not been fencing schools, providing VIP toilets and so on? What difference do these make in the context of the SDGs that we are prematurely celebrating? In-spite of the ‘feat’, Nigeria still lags behind many less endowed Africa countries. It would appear that those charged with implementing and monitoring the SDGs need more knowledge of the targets and indicators and thus,the government needs to redefine its understanding of the SDGs.
Though the challenges identified are acknowledged but what is lacking is insights into the targets that make up each of the goals. If the whole national budget is released and the activities are off the targets, no goals would be achieved.If the presidential candidates at a loss in terms of what to do in the next four years, let them adopt or adapt the Road Map for localizing SDGs which was drawn up by the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, UNDP and UN Habitat to support cities and regions to deliver the 2030 agenda. The road map is non-prescriptive but a portfolio of strategies that could be adapted to the specific contexts and needs of different environments. Time is of the essence. Let’s pursue the 2030 agenda in the truest sense of political responsibility and commitment. The time for government to hide and the citizens to bide is over and no matter how slow we are in our political development, let us never walk back. The SDGs represent the strength, direction and commitment required never to disown the poor or bend the rules for the insolent political profiteers.
Francis Iyoha
