WHERE ARE WE ON THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS?
The Millennium Development Goals are supposed to be met by the year 2015. Nigeria is one of the 192 UN member states signatory to this agreement. The fact that the MDGs won’t be achieved in Nigeria by this set time is a forgone conclusion, but with recent developments, one must wonder if these goals were ever on the list of priorities of the Nigerian leadership. I decided to conduct my own analysis of the present situation, this is only my opinion.
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Nigeria, which was one of the richest 50 countries in the early 1970s, has retrogressed to become one of the 25 poorest countries in the world with one of the widest gaps between the rich and the poor. It is ironic that Nigeria is the sixth largest exporter of oil and at the same time host the third largest number of poor people after China and India. Statistics show that the incidence of poverty using the rate of US $1 per day increased from 28.1percent in 1980 to close to 70% in 2009. Nigeria fares very poorly in all development indices. The average annual percentage growth of GDP in Nigeria from 1990 -2000 was 2.4. This is very poor when compared to Ghana (4.3) and Egypt (4.6). Poverty in Nigeria is in the midst of plenty. The Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or in some cases consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Gini index of zero represents perfect equality while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality. Nigeria has one of the highest Gini index in the world, at 50.6. This compares poorly with other countries such as India (37.8), Jamaica (37.9), Mauritania (37.3) and even Rwanda(28.9). Production of policy documents detailing numerous unimplemented strategies have so far gotten poverty alleviation in Nigeria nowhere. It’s a real shame that the term “job creation” is alien to the government and relevant bodies. No Nigerian needs data to know that we exist in the midst of desperate poverty, all you have to do is to keep your eyes open as you walk the streets, and you’ll have all the data you need.
My achievement score for this goal…0%
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
When some states still proudly refuse to put the child’s right act into law, it should come as no surprise that the girl child is still left at home in the kitchen during school hours and even forced into marriage in their teenage/formative years. Our public educational system remains in a rotten state and nothing is being done about it, rather our government officials send their own kids to plush schools abroad. Nigeria recently experienced an unprecedented failure rate of 98% in the 2009/2010 NECO SSCE exam. Nationwide University strikes are no longer big issues, certain education ministers even throw lavish anniversary parties when ALL the federal universities are on strike, such insensitivity that borders on treason. An ex “Honourable” minster for Education (the celebrant) once said that “80% of Nigerian university graduates are unemployable” I still need to know if he thought it a statement his office was to be proud of. It is sad that previously celebrated public schools have now become places of education for the poor who can’t afford private or foreign education. Teachers are the worst paid workers in the country so the lack of zeal for the job comes as no surprise really. There are however, few states that have provided free primary education and I laud them, when others will follow suit still remains to be seen.
My achievement score for this goal….3%
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Some NGOs have tried to do something about this particular issue and have achieved a degree of success in the promotion of women’s rights and female education. However, the only solution our government has for this case is to draw up useless policy papers and have their wives, our “first ladies” come up with one pet project or the other. These projects are rarely continued by the next 1st lady and quickly die with the end of that administration wasting money rather than improving the lot of Nigerian women. They hand out a few sewing and grinding machines here and there and also visit orphanages with a bag or two of rice with a couple of cartons of Indomie. That’s it. They are off to Dubai the next day, and that’s when and where the big bucks are spent, so I truly wonder if this is the way the Nigerian woman is going to compete with her counterparts in the west. There are indeed more women in government today but it is sad that our female legislators would rather sponsor bills that control the length of women’s mini-skirts than come up with constructive ideas that are meant to protect women and take the nation into the 21st century.
My achievement score for this goal….6%
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality Rate
There have been marked improvement in this area but it has mostly been due to the push from NGOs and International Development Organizations, one must wonder why this is so. Some General hospitals that have improved access and handling in child care have done so out of their moral beliefs in the sanctity of childhood and not due to any government policy or obligation. In Nigeria, the Infant mortality rate is 75 deaths per 1,000 live births. The under-five mortality rate is 157 per 1,000 live births while neonatal mortality rate is 40 per 1,000 births. Without intervention, 1,500,000 children would have died between 2001-2010. Little has been done, but lots more need to be done to further lower the child mortality rate in this country. Children are held sacred in all parts of the world and a country like ours should step up the fight to protect our children and our future.
My achievement score for this goal…20%
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Maternal mortality rate in Nigeria is 545/100,000 live births. Without intervention, the loss of productivity due to maternal deaths will have been $341,000,000 or about 39 billion Naira between 2001 and 2010. And in this time, 437, 000 maternal deaths would have occurred. These deaths are mostly as a result of lack of access to pre-natal, birth and post-natal care. The midwifery scheme being conducted by the government should be successful , the only snag (not surprising), is that these women are posted off to villages where they save countless human lives, and are paid a paltry N30,000 monthly, when militants, criminals who should be imprisoned for destruction of human lives, or shot for high treason, are paid N65,000 monthly in the “amnesty” deal. I still don’t know what to call this. There are lots of NGOs dedicated to the reduction of maternal mortality, aided by international development agencies and are producing results. However, provision of safe reproductive health care is the responsibility of the government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Health, and sadly, they are doing little to tackle this problem.
My achievement score for this goal….15%
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
A lot has been done, but there’s still a long way to go. When messages on health come on the radio these days, it is mostly brought to you by the “society for family health” an NGO, when it should be by the federal ministry of health. Illiteracy and lack of information and communication has dealt, and still deals heavy blows on Nigeria’s fight against HIV and other major diseases. Some people still think that insecticide treated nets are used as bed sheets, and that malaria is caused by eating too much “palm oil”. Majority of women (88 percent) and men (94 percent) aged 15-49 have heard of HIV or AIDS. However, only 23 percent of women and 36 percent of men have what can be considered comprehensive knowledge of modes of transmission. Ten percent of women and 23 percent of men had higher-risk sexual intercourse and among the respondents, only 33 percent of women and 54 percent of men reported that they used a condom. The Nigerian government considers it too expensive to import and develop the use of nucleic acid based, NAT, testing methods for HIV/AIDS. This system leaves only 12 days window period between infection and “detectability” of the virus as against the 90-180 day window period of the methods we use here. Main reason why there are cases of people testing positive after transfusions from supposedly HIV –ve donors. The ministry of information should rise up to their primary duties of sensitization and data dissemination, and forget about frivolities like “district 9”.
My achievement score for this goal…30%
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
How can this be ensured when there is no waste disposal system, no water supply, no controlled housing system, no environmental protection/maintenance strategy in existence. The destructive oil spillage in the Niger Delta goes unnoticed, so far as cash changes hands. The rate of the spill and environmental destruction is equivalent to one (1) BP-sized spill each year for the past 50 years with nearly 600 million gallons of crude oil lost in this time. Even with the ever emerging signs of global warming, there is no plan to end gas flaring and emissions, the oldest, “smokiest” buses are the first to acquire the certificate of road worthiness, environmental protection plans begin and end on the drawing board, virtually non-existent.
My achievement score for this goal….0%
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
We have more international partnerships than we can count, but they fail simply because the foreign partners do their part of the partnership and our ministries fail or refuse to do theirs. Nigerian ministry officials only end up embezzling money allocated to these programs and recent news reports on investigations of foreign deals have shown that foreign partners are now encouraged to do things the “Nigerian way”. Policy papers are just prepared (with millions of Naira embezzled) and dropped, till further notice, which is our fancy way of saying “never to be seen or heard of again”. There is no effective “due process”, there is no accountability. Working with Nigerian ministries is now considered as the slowest means of getting things done, they effectively hinder rather than aid the efforts of the foreign agencies. The endless protocol and the red tape makes one wonder if there is indeed any interest or plan to get the job done.
My score for this goal….10%
TOTAL ACHIEVEMENT SCORE FOR THE MDGs so far…..84/800 OR 10.5%: This is a disaster considering the ludicrous amounts of money we hear about on the news everyday, being spent on things that have no bearing on the welfare of the Nigerian populace. Corruption is so deeply rooted that it has cost us our common sense, people will rather get rich or die trying. The future generation now believes that the only form of security that is worth striving for is financial security, by any means possible! How can there be sustainable development if the future has already been destroyed by the present?
- IF THERE IS ANY TIME TO PLAN FOR OUR FUTURE, IT IS NOW!
- THIS COUNTRY HAS COME A LONG WAY, WE CANNOT AFFORD TO FAIL!
