United Nation initiative to partner Nigeria on SDGs

Prof. Labode Popoola, Director, Sustainable
Development Solutions Network, Nigeria (SDSN), a
UN initiative, says it will partner with the Federal
Government to implement the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.
Popoola made this known in an interview with the
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
He recalled that SDGs, which implementation began
on Jan. 1, built on the eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) that ended on Dec. 31,
2015.
The SDGs 17 goals and 169 targets are expected to
wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate
change over the next 15 years.
SDGs address the three dimensions of sustainable
development: social, economic and environmental,
as well as important aspects related to peace, justice
and effective institutions.
Popoola said that the network had been sensitising
people and trying to work out ways to work with
the government to implement the goals effectively
in the country.
We are also trying to work with the private sector
to implement the goals,’’ he said.
Popoola, however, said the pace of implementing
the goals has been slow at the national level due to
economic situation.
He said that Non-Governmental Organisations had
been sensitising people at the state level, adding
however that much has not been achieved at the
national level.
Nigeria is committed; there is no doubt about it
because the President was in New York in
September 2015 at the launch of the goals.
We also know that we now have Senior Special
Assistant to the President on SDGs but funds are not
flowing from the North as it was with the MDGs.

In the case of MDGs, we have funds from
international organisations, the UN, bilateral
sources but in the case of SDGs, it is a different ball
game entirely.’’
He said that the drop in crude oil price and also the
sabotage going on in the Niger Delta region had
affected the earnings of the country.
The government means well, I personally believe so
but funds are not available,’’ he said.