President Muhammadu Buhari, who attended the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA71) in New York, United States not too long ago expressed before world leaders Nigeria’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Sustainable Development Goals: A Universal Push to Transform the World” was the theme of UNGA71. The SDGs, according to President Buhari, “underscore the imperative for our collective will towards finding enduring and sustainable solutions to addressing global disparities”.
Trailing Buhari’s speech, unfortunately, is the grim report on Global Education Monitoring (GEM) by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) early in the month, which said Nigeria would achieve universal primary education in 2070, universal lower secondary education in 2080 and universal upper secondary education in the next century if present global trends on education were anything to go by.
President Buhari was at the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly graced by 193 countries last year, where world leaders (September 25-27, 2015), adopted the 2015 - 2030 development agenda - (SDGs - which had ‘Transforming Our World’ as its theme. Up to the year 2015, however, the ‘Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs), about eight of them , rolled out in the year 2000, which centred on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality and empowerment of women, child and maternal health, environmental sustainability, reduction of HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases, as well as building a global partnership for development, were in place.
The original intention was that nations would accomplish the MDGs by 2015 to pave way for the 2015-2030 SDGs’ initiative. It is common knowledge, going by local official indices and international assessments, that the end of 2015 caught Nigeria napping, with scant achievements to justify the huge publicity given to the MDGs in the country; and the purported commitment of the Nigerian government over the years towards attaining them. The SDGs have about 17 targets and scopes that are broader than those demanded by the MDGs.
They include ending poverty in all its forms everywhere; ending hunger, achieving food security as well as improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture; ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being of all at all ages; ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learninag opportunities for all; achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls; ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all; ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all; promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all; building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation; reducing inequality within and among countries and making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
But the latest UNESCO-GEM report says: “On current trends, universal primary education in sub-Saharan Africa will be achieved in 2080; universal lower secondary completion in 2089; and universal upper secondary completion in 2099. This would leave the region 70 years late for the 2030 SDG deadline. Nigeria, on current trends, will achieve universal primary education in 2070, universal lower secondary education 2080 and universal upper secondary education in the next century”. The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, according to reports, says the country will beat the UNESCO projection because of Federal Government’s commitment to reversing the nation’s educational woes.
We have no reason to doubt the minister’s optimism. But the FG should be reminded that only last year, the same UNESCO said no less than 58 million children across the globe aged between six and 11 years were out of school. Director, UNESCO’s Regional Office, Abuja, Mr. Benoit Sossou, also said (for Nigeria): “there are still many challenges, especially with high level of illiteracy more prevalent in the 19 states of the North, and more than 40 million adult illiterates nationwide”.
Without conquering illiteracy, the power of literacy in driving development, as well as reducing poverty and unemployment, other privations, pains and crimes, would be extremely difficult. We hope the kind of government commitment President Buhari and Adamu mean this time is not the type that robbed Nigeria of the MDGs.
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