Nigeria and the SDGs: Have We Learnt From History?

SDGs Nigeria; have we learnt from our past?

Nigeria is among the signatories to the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agender for Sustainable Development, and as a result committed to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which follow and expand on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).


The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.These 17 Goals build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals, while including new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among other priorities. The goals are interconnected – often the key to success on one will involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another.

The 17 goals of the SDGs initiated by the UN

But before begin to applaud the government of the day for joining hands with other nations to tackle this menace called poverty, we must not forget that in year 2000, Nigeria also joined other nations to sign the MDGs which promised to tackle poverty in its many forms; hunger, disease, lack of shelter, infant mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development among others. To achieve this, a number of steps were taken, including the release of central government funds. Offices were created and individuals appointed to key positions to work towards the MDG targets.

However, upon the expiration of the MDGs in 2015, the United Nations reported that the number of people living in extreme poverty declined worldwide by more than half, falling from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015; primary school enrolment rate has increased and the number of out-of-school children of primary school age worldwide has fallen by almost half, to an estimated 57 million in 2015, down from 100 million in 2000 across the world. There has been significant improvement in gender equality with empowerment of women as more girls are in school, more women are in paid employment and many more women are now in government around the world. Global under-five year mortality rate has declined by more than half, dropping from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2015. In addition, maternal mortality ratio has declined by 45 per cent worldwide since 1990 with an improvement in contraceptive prevalence; and new malaria and HIV cases have declined, with new HIV infections falling by approximately 40 percent between 2000 and 2013, from an estimated 3.5 million cases to 2.1million.

Nigeria performed badly in implementation of the MDG goals.

But where is Nigeria in all these as a nation? There were a number of unverifiable claims that Nigeria achieved most of the goals, especially the HIV and maternal mortality MDG targets ahead of deadline. However, according to the UN report, “nearly 60 percent of the world’s 1 billion extremely poor people lived in just five countries in 2011: India, Nigeria, China, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of the Congo”. Nigeria contributed significantly to more than 42,000 people who were forced to abandon their homes and seek protection due to armed conflicts in 2014. Of the 2.1 million new HIV infections that occurred in 2013, 75% occurred in just 15 countries with Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda accounting for almost half of them all. Moreover, Nigeria has one of the lowest number of children sleeping under the mosquito nets, in a comparison of surveys among nations of the world.


Once again, the trend is has been established, offices have been created, modalities have been put in place, but the real question still remains will the government see it through or are these just face value developments aimed at deceiving the populace as was carried out in previous régimes? Having seen these alarming statistics, it is clear that, for success of the SDGs, all hands must be on deck. The days of politicizing important and relevant matters like the SDGs must l but be put behind us. We the citizens must rise up and scrutinize every major decision or indecision of the government if we ever hope to benefit from these meaningful initiative.

Data sources: United Nations. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015: 2015 – Time for Global Action for People and Planet. 

United Nations, New York. Google ScholarUN (2015b). We can end poverty: Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and beyond2015. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/on November 10, 2015. Google Scholar