In the 2019 SDG index, Nigeria ranked 159th among 162 countries compared in terms of their achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nigeria’s performance score of 46.4 is just a little above the score for the Central African Republic, a country sitting at the lowest rung of the index.
While the ultimate goal of the SDGs is to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030, the first four goals, namely, no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, and quality education, prioritize human welfare in the course of development. Attainment of these first four goals serves as the launch pad from where to attempt the realisation of the other goals.
Since the SDGs were adopted in 2015, Nigeria has continued to struggle to achieve many of the targets. For instance, available reports indicate that Nigeria is nowhere close to achieving the first four preliminary goals. The pace of implementation of these goals also raises concerns particularly with the country’s failure to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which had similar development aspirations and a similar 15 year implementation period.
As to the ‘No Poverty goal’, poverty still remains endemic in Nigeria. By 2019, Nigeria had become the global poverty capital with an estimated 91.8 million of its population living in extreme poverty. This is not unexpected for a country with a very low Human Capital Index rating and a high level of youth unemployment. In 2018, Nigeria ranked 152 of 157 in the World Bank’s 2018 Human Capital Index.
On ‘zero hunger’, food insecurity still poses a considerable challenge to a number of Nigerians across the country. In the North East alone, 2.6 million people face the challenge of food insecurity and extreme hunger. Similarly, in 2019, the World Bank raised an alarm over Nigeria’s frightening food security crises.
Health reports in Nigeria also do not suggest that Nigeria is meeting the SDG target on ‘good health and well-being’. In 2018, health challenges such as diarrhoea, malaria, neonatal disorders, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, blood/endocrine disorders, unintentional injuries, nutritional deficiencies and other non-communicable diseases were identified as leading causes of death in Nigeria. Nigeria currently has the second-largest number of people living with HIV globally and the highest burden of malaria globally.
Obviously, the ‘quality education’ goal for Nigeria is at best a mere fantasy. With over 13 million school-age children out of school, Nigeria still struggles to meet the SDG target on education. The quality of education in the country is declining especially in many public schools. Prohibitive costs of accessing quality private education leave many Nigerians without a chance to access quality education. The Nigerian girl child still does not have access to education at all or past a certain age, especially in the northern part of Nigeria. This is because they are considered ripe for marriage and are subsequently forced into marriage.
These identified gaps bothering on the first four SDGs begs for a reflection on Nigeria’s commitment to meet the global goals by 2030. Five years after the adoption of these goals, considerable progress is expected to have been made on each of the goals. The goals are also expected to have effected changes in policy and practice.
To achieve the SDGs within the remaining time frame, there is a need for specific interventions driven by a sustained political will. Also, human welfare and human capital development should be prioritized as they have the ability to fast track development.
Top of these, strategic and effective poverty alleviation programmes should be developed to increase the ability of citizens to access balanced diets, to escape multidimensional poverty, to benefit from quality inclusive education and to avail every citizen their rights to universal health coverage.
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