By ABUBAKAR YUSUF, Abuja.
Sustainable Development Goals SDGs in Nigeria had made a remarkable impact on the socio-economic and infrastructural development having transmuted from MDGs to SDGs in line with the UN resolution at the 70th session General Assembly.
Many years down the line, sustainable development in all areas had been impacted greatly by the handlers in all areas, despite the debilitating effects of both natural and artificial phenomenon, which ranges from the dreaded health emergency of COVID-19, global economic recession, ENDSARS, and other distracting variables including job losses and high unemployment rates, resulting in more demands on the domestication of UN SDGs in Nigeria.
Having achieved a lot in all areas of our national life by SDGs six years down the line, with its social responsibility to quality Education, Health, provision of Water, Capacity building, and skill development among many cross-cutting edges, and other routes of engagement by the 17 goals of the program.
Given the 2020-2030 decade of action powered by SDGs, the need to constantly rejig both humans, and material resources available at its disposal became a recurring decimal, hence the growing demand to bring on board an enabling environment through a ‘retreat’ an awareness program, to review, re-strategize and chart a new course as we moved towards the actionable decade.
In this vein, the convening of the 2022 retreat program of SDGs brought on board major stakeholders from both the national and international spheres, including the private sector, who are the major actors in the attainment of the 2020-203O agenda.
The theme of the event, ‘Reflecting and Strategizing for Effective Coordination of SDGs Implementation In Nigeria’, tagged ‘Management Retreat’ held in Lagos on 11th to 12th May 2022 came at a time when many negative variables were already militating against the progress of the decade agenda, which glaringly may not augur well and or not tenable by any negative tendencies.
The high cost of living and inflationary rates among many other contending variables needed a wholistic orientation of the major stakeholders including the staffers of the agency, to nip in the bud any impending and avoidable circumstances, that will tend to militate against its activities, hence the needed reorientation of its workforce from time to time to deliver on the core mandate of SDGs.
The 2022 retreat came at a time when the SDGs in Nigeria had realigned its National Statistic System NSS, the first in Africa articulated and certified by the National Bureau of Statistics NBS, already launched to play a pioneering role in reprioritizing its programs among many others in all ramifications.
The realignment of its statistics is expected to assist greatly not only the SDGs 2020-2030 agenda, and its line MDA’s in Nigeria, but across government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies on the deployment of its socio-economic and infrastructural interventions to Nigerians without speculations.
With the major stakeholders consisting of local and international partners including the private sector advisory group PSAG, the key partners, will be encouraged to invest more in infrastructure, Goal 9 of the sustainable development template of the program.
Given the current realities from palpable situations across the country and the global crises that had affected the performance of many economies negatively, the need to re-strategize towards realizing the set goals cannot be jettisoned, particularly as it affects the global program being deployed to ameliorate the consequences.
With all the variables, the international partners used the meeting to convey a vote of confidence on the performance of SDGs in the years under review, saying the sustenance of the current approach, management will no doubt redouble efforts toward achieving the Goals objectives in Nigeria.
The Private Sector Advisory Group PSAG, a major local stakeholder for the program in Nigeria, no doubt stated that the constant review, involving the past, present, and future programs with accurate statistics, will be a major step toward achieving meaningful results going forward in the realization of the 2020-2030 agenda.
According to the SSA to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire stressed the need for redoubled efforts, having achieved significantly and remarkably on the program in the last six years.
She stated that a lot needed to be done along with other flagship programs as coordination and cooperation will be greatly required given her commitment to the success of the 2020-203O agenda in Nigeria.
It was also geared towards strengthening the needed capacity of relevant unit heads, and staff to tackle headlong the decade of action agenda.
Princess Adefulire was conversant with the prevailing situations and snail speed another line MDA’s may deploy, the retreat was also meant to strengthen their activities and programs in line with the NSS, to articulate towards achieving the decade of action goals.
In her view, the program was also organized to convey sectoral plans, and strategies, geared towards promoting multi-stakeholders and participatory approach through knowledge sharing, best practices and approaches, support to MDA’s, and relevant SDGs unit to deliver on its mandate. she said.
According to her, it was also meant to develop strategies to accelerate SDGs improvement across all sectors and to also outline initiatives that will add value across SDGs Implementation and line MDA’s in Nigeria.
For SDGs, it planned achievements of the decade of action agenda of 2020-2030 will be an irrevocable and irreversible decision, geared towards resolving the critical and unabated socioeconomic disequilibrium in Nigeria.
Yusuf Writes From Abuja, All inquiries to yus.abubakar3@gmail.com.
