Nigeria celebrated her 58th independence on Monday, October 1, 2018. The low-key celebration is understandable given the positions of the two divides-something to celebrate and nothing to celebrate groups.
The yearnings of the majority of the Nigerians to live a life above average cannot be said to have been met given the level of poverty and the drama in our democracy. The fact that previous policies like the housing for all by the year 2000 have been a slogan without measurable impacts and the show of affluence by the few business and political elites has left much to be desired.
However, Nigerians are hopeful. We believe the country will get it right and make histories like Singapore, Taiwan and a host of countries without the enormous resources Nigeria is endowed with. We look up to have visionary leadership that will one day write our names in history and create another Singapore story-from survival to fulfilling development among the nations of the world.
One thing to celebrate in this year’s independence is the increasing political awareness of Nigeria’s populace and the call to the accountability of the people saddled with the resources and responsibility for governance. Though this is yet to be fully reflected in the electioneering process, a few examples are the loss or almost loss of power by the incumbents.
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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the United Nations General Assembly initiative established in 2015 to drive an inclusive and minimum standard of living for people in the world by the year 2030. The seventeen SDGs are the summary of the one hundred and seventy-nine targeted objectives that are to be achieved to make the world a better place for living for people.
The primary themes of the SDGs are: 1. No poverty, 2. Zero hunger, 3. Good health and well-being for people, 4. Quality education, 5. Gender equality, 6. Clean water and sanitation, 7. Affordable and clean energy, 8. Decent work and economic growth, 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure, 10. Reduced inequality, 11. Sustainable cities and communities, 12. Responsible consumption and production, 13. Climate action, 14. Life below water, 15. Life on land, 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions and, 17. Partnerships for the goals.
The assignment of the SDGs projects to a senior special assistant to the President and the creation of a structure around it are laudable. Howbeit, the mandatory adoption of the SDGs at all levels in Nigeria will eliminate ambiguity in the direction the country is heading to. This uniformity of purpose is a platform for achievement and the yardstick of resolving the conflicts of the divides as to whether there is something to celebrate or not from October, 2019.
Having uniform policy objectives from the federal to the local government levels will shape expectations and allow the performance appraisal of the people elected to act for others easier than envisaged.
For the SDGs to be successfully pursued and achieved there must be a collective political will to create, align and drive relevant policies irrespective of political affiliations, religious or sectional beliefs. There is a call for a document with constitutional backing to align efforts in the same directions and with the identified objectives in mind.
Aside political will, SDGs 16 and 17 preclude others in the Nigeria situation. No growth and development will be achieved even if pursued with all the resources and effort except, there are strong institutions, peace and justice. That is where Nigeria might likely fail to be counted in 2030 when the review of the SDGs is being done. In the interest of Nigerians, the political elites should ensure justice without which having peace is an illusion. The independence of the judiciary, the legislature, the press and the entrenchment of the rule of law will create institutions that can uphold the aspirations of a society worthy of having for Nigerians.
SDG 17 demands the partnerships of all in driving all the other sixteen SDGs. The partnerships are stronger if it starts within the country. For, SDG 8, decent work and economic growth to be achieved, the institutionalization of the private sectors in inevitable. Thus, the private sectors must be deeply involved in the people’s mental well-being and balance as the employers of labour. The private sectors’ supports and involvement cut across most of the SDGs 1 to 12. However, a score of 8 out of 10 in SDGs 3, 8, 9, 11 and 12 will complement the government efforts.
It takes visionary leadership to buy into and work in the interest of the people of Nigeria. A visionary leadership team will develop or align policies, create an enabling environment and administration of all the components of the country in the interest of the generality of the citizens. A visionary leadership will live above the religion, ethnicity and sectional bias and upload the tenets of the Nigerian constitution.
One area of alignment is the way our public officers’ achievements are measured and benchmarked. The political office holders under the SDGs’ environment will not attribute the outcome of governance to self. The resources are of the people and not personal.
People should have the right perspectives of the achievements of the public officers. Having the right perspective that public officers are custodians of resources, and not the owners will reduce the praise-singing industry and sponsored accolades.
At the institutional levels, the budget sessions of the federal, state and local governments, the state competitive index rating, the performance rating of the private sectors, the non-profit organisations and all the key governance indicators (KGIs) should be benchmarked with the 17 SDGS goals. The award of contracts or grants should have a section for the SDGs effect analysis.
The rating organisations should hence, measure the impacts of business entities on SDGs outside the size of profits and return on investments to shareholders. The award issuing bodies should align the awards to individuals and organisations to focus on the contributions to the achievement of the SDGs.
In conclusion, all the sectors of the economy are important and needed to make Nigeria a country we will all be proud of by 2030, a country to be counted for the SDGs’ achievements. In achieving this, one class of the Nigerian workers who deserves more focus is the teachers.
The teachers will drive and sustain the achievement of the SDGs beyond this generation of the citizens.
Babs Olugbemi
Olugbemi FCCA, the Chief Responsibility Officer at Mentor as Leadership Limited and Founder, the Positive Growth Africa
