The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has called for partnership with relevant stakeholders towards attaining the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations since 2015.
Senator Akpabio made this statement at the weekend in Awka, Anambra State, at the maiden southeast regional summit on SDGs organized by Nnamdi Azikiwe University Centre for Sustainable Development in collaboration with United Nations in Nigeria, where he was equally honoured with an award for promoting SDGs.
The former governor of Akwa-Ibom state, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Chief Sylvester Okonkwo, argued that the government, including politicians, individuals, nongovernmental organizations, community leaders and others should pull resources together to ensure that the goals were met at a record time.
According to him, this requires dialogue, political will, critical thinking, and sincerity because addressing the goals would not only help to address the problems of poverty, insecurity, climate change, and others but will speed up development especially in the developing world.
Akpabio re-assured the support of the tenth Senate to programmes, policies and actions geared towards realizations of the SDG through lawmaking and oversight functions in areas of education, water, food, security and others.
Presenting the keynote address, Professor Chinedum Uzoma Nwajiuba, a professor of agricultural economics, speaking on the theme: Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges, Gains and Prospects” said development is about the human being, development would be humans having better life. Our interest is therefore for human beings to have a better life. Man is the beneficiary of development but man is also the engineer of development.
“Unfortunately, in Nigeria, the growing challenges of poverty, hunger, inadequacy of health, clean water and energy, climate change, insecurity and corruption of public office holders have negatively affected the many measures of ensuring adequate sustainable development within the country. Despite the widespread adoption of sustainable development goals, Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented stagnation in the achievement of these goals due to high insecurity, gross economic downturn and inability of the ivory towers, government and significant stakeholders to share basic knowledge needed in achieving sustainable development goals.”
He urged the government to help eradicate the high rate of poverty in the country, provide adequate social infrastructures for citizens and boost the morale of the security personnel, by improving their welfare and equipping them appropriately to fight insecurity.
Speaking earlier in her welcome address, the director of the centre for sustainable development, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Professor Echendu Dolly Adinma, who recognized and honored the guests, explained that, “Sustainable Development refers to the use of today’s resources in a manner that does not compromise the use of these resources by future generations.”
On his part, the United Nations resident co-coordinator Mathias Schmale, the co – host who spoke virtually, emphasized that Africa is the best investment of the 21st century and assured unending support of the UN to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Professor Charles Esimone, emphasized that the summit will be an annual event aimed at reinforcing stakeholders and governance structures to address existing and new SDGs challenges towards formulation of a pact that would assist in advancing it attainment by the year 2030.
The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994,brought in a human right component to develop and provide the framework for Millennium declaration 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of 2000 to 2015, and ultimately the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2015-2030.
This year 2023 marks the midpoint in the implementation of the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development anchored on the 17 interconnected SDGs.