AJAYI OLADIPUPO O.

MEE/2014/010

Interim Assessment of Nigeria’s Performance on

the Sustainble Development Goals

OCTOBER 14

MEE 507
Machine Design II

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Introduction
In September 2015, the General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development that includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building on the
principle of “leaving no one behind”, the new Agenda emphasizes a holistic approach
to achieving sustainable development for all, especially in Africa and many low and
middle-income countries (LMICs).

The Seventeen (17) sustainable development goals are listed below:

GOAL 1: No Poverty
GOAL 2: Zero Hunger
GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
GOAL 4: Quality Education
GOAL 5: Gender Equality
GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality
GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
GOAL 13: Climate Action
GOAL 14: Life Below Water
GOAL 15: Life on Land
GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal

Besides the 2030 Agenda, African countries have committed to implement the African
Union Agenda 2063, which is both a vision and a plan to build a more prosperous
Africa in 50 years. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development acknowledges the
importance of the AU Agenda 2063 and considers it an integral part of it.

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Africa has made significant progress on the Millennium Development Goals, including
enrolling more children in primary school, particularly girls, increasing the
representation of women in national parliaments, and reducing child and maternal
deaths and the proportion of people infected with HIV.
In this report we will be analysing how Nigeria, a country in Western Africa has been
able to implement the Sustainable Development Goals examining where they have
done well (Strengths), where they have not been able to achieve the goals
(Weaknesses), how much help they have gotten to achieving these goals
(Opportunities) and the challenges they face in achieving the SDGs (Threats).

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SDG 1: No Poverty
Eradicating poverty in all its forms remains one of the greatest challenges facing
humanity. While the number of people living in extreme poverty dropped by more
than half between 1990 and 2015 – from 1.9 billion to 836 million – too many are still
struggling for the most basic human needs.
Globally, more than 800 million people are still living on less than US$1.25 a day, many
lacking access to adequate food, clean drinking water and sanitation. Rapid economic
growth in countries like China and India has lifted millions out of poverty, but progress
has been uneven. Women are more likely to live in poverty than men due to unequal
access to paid work, education and property.
Progress has also been limited in regions such as South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa,
which account for 80 percent of those living in extreme poverty of which Nigeria is a
major part. New threats brought on by climate change, conflict and food insecurity,
mean even more work is needed to bring people out of poverty.

As it stands in Nigeria:
Poverty headcount ratio is at $1.90/day (42.6% of the population live in poverty)
Projected poverty headcount ratio at $1.90/day in 2030 (44% of the population)
Proportion of population living below the national poverty line (46% of the population)
Population covered by Social Protection (5.2% of the population)

SDG 2: Zero Hunger

Prevalence of undernourishment (7.9% population)
Prevalence of stunting (low height-for-age) in children under 5 years
of age (32.9% population)

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Prevalence of wasting in children under 5 years of age (7.9 % population)
Prevalence of obesity, BMI ≥ 30 (8.9 % adult population)
Cereal yield (1.4 t/ha)
Fertilizer consumption (8.3kg per hectare of arable land)

SDG3 – Good Health and Well-Being

Maternal mortality rate (814 per 100,000 live births)
Births attended by skilled health personnel (35%)
Neonatal mortality rate (34.1 per 1,000 live births)
Mortality rate, under-5 (104.3 per 1,000 live births)
HIV prevalence (1.0 per 1,000)
People living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy (30%)
Incidence of tuberculosis (219.0 per 100,000 people)
Proportion of children under 5 with fever who are treated with appropriate anti-
malarial drugs (27.3%)
Malaria mortality rate (54.1%)
Coverage of Preventive Chemotherapy for Neglected Tropical Diseases (51.6%)
Age-standardised death rate due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and
chronic respiratory disease in populations age 30–70 years (20.8 per 100,000
population)
Traffic deaths rate (20.6 per 100,000 people)
Adolescent fertility rate (109.3 births per 1,000 women ages 15-19)
Universal Health Coverage Tracer Index (48.7/100)
Age-standardised death rate attributable to household air pollution and ambient air
pollution (150 per 100,000 population)
Percentage of surviving infants who received 2 WHO-recommended vaccines (49%)
Healthy Life Expectancy at birth (54.5 years)
Subjective Wellbeing (average ladder score, 5.3/10)

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SDG4 – Quality Education
Net primary enrolment rate (64.1%)
Mean years of schooling (6.0 years)
Literacy rate of 15-24 year olds, both sexes (66.4%)

SDG5 – Gender Equality

Proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before age 18
(42.8%)
Proportion of girls and women aged 15-49 years who have undergone female genital
mutilation/cutting (18.4%)
Seats held by women in national parliaments (5.6%)
Women in ministerial positions (18%)
Estimated demand for contraception that is unmet (52.3% women married
or in union, ages 15-49 )
Ratio of female to male mean years of schooling of population age 25
and above (69)
Ratio of female to male labour force participation rate (84.3)

SDG6 – Clean Water and Sanitation

Population using at least basic sanitation services (32.6%)
Freshwater withdrawal as % total renewable water resources (5.8%)
Imported groundwater depletion (1.6m3/year/capita)

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SDG7 – Affordable and Clean Energy
Access to electricity (57.7% population)
Access to clean fuels & technology for cooking (2.3% population)
Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption (87.3)
Consumer affordability of electricity (100%)

SDG8 – Decent Work and Economic

Growth
5-year average GDP growth per capita (0.7%)
Employment-to-population ratio (53.5%)
Slavery score (80/100)
Adults (15 years and older) with an account at a bank or other financial institution or
with a mobile-money-service provider (39.7%)
Starting a Business score (80.8)

SDG9 – Industry, Innovation and

Infrastructure
Infrastructure score (33.2/100)
Logistics performance index: Quality of trade and transport-related Infrastructure 2.4
(1=low to 5=high)
Research and development expenditure (0.2% GDP)
Number of scientific and technical journal articles (0.0 per 1,000)
Mobile broadband subscriptions (23.3 per 100 inhabitants)
Proportion of the population using the internet (25.7%)
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SDG10 – Reduced Inequalities
Gini Coefficient adjusted for top income (59.8/100)

SDG11 – Sustainable Cities and

Communities
Proportion of urban population living in slums (50.2%)
Improved water source, piped (13.5% urban population with access)
Satisfaction with public transport (59.0%)
Annual mean concentration of particulate matter of less than 2.5 microns of diameter
(PM2.5) in urban areas (38.0μg/m3)

SDG12 – Responsible Consumption

and Production
Municipal Solid Waste (0.6kg/year/capita)
E-waste generated (1.3kg/capita)
Natural Resource Value Realization Score (50.1)
Production-based SO2 emissions (0.7kg/capita)
Anthropogenic wastewater that receives treatment (0.2%)
Net imported SO2 emissions (0.6kg/capita)

SDG13 – Climate Action

Climate Change Vulnerability Monitor 0.1 (best 0-1 worst)
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Energy-related CO2 emissions per capita (0.5tCO2/capita)
Imported CO2 emissions, technology-adjusted (0.2tCO2/capita)
CO2 emissions embodied in fossil fuel exports (1011.4kg/capita)

SDG14 – Life Below Water

Percentage of inadequately managed plastic waste (81.0%)
Ocean Health Index Goal - Clean Waters (36.3/100)
Ocean Health Index Goal - Biodiversity (70.9/100)
Ocean Health Index Goal - Fisheries (45.3/100)
Percentage of Fish Stocks overexploited or collapsed by EEZ (13.4%)
Fish caught by trawling (28.5%)

SDG15 – Life on Land

Mean area that is protected in terrestrial sites important to biodiversity (79.6%)
Percentage change in forest area (-2.2 from 2010-2015)
Red List Index of species survival (0.9/1)
Imported biodiversity threats (0.3 threats/capita)

SDG16 – Peace, Justice and Strong

Institutions
Homicides (9.8 per 100,000 people)
1.3 Conflict-related deaths per 100,000
Proportion of the population who feel safe walking alone at night in the

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city or area where they live (59.0%)
Children 5–14 years old involved in child labour (24.7%)
Property Rights (47.5/100)
Access to justice (76.1/100)
Corruption Perception Index (27/100)
Public Sector Accountability & Transparency (39.4/100)
Birth registrations with civil authority, children under 5 years of age (29.8%)

SDG17 – Partnerships for the Goals

Tax revenue (3.0% GDP)
Level of customs duties on imports 13.5
Visa Requirement score 106.0
Governmental Statistical Capacity 63.3

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Challenges Faced To Achieve SDGs
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provides opportunities as well as
challenges for developing countries, as the cost of its implementation will be high
though it can bring long-term benefits. Nations are different and have their
peculiarities and different perspectives. It is important that each nation should
translate each relevant SDG into National Plans of Action. This must be borne in mind
when creating plans and policies for Nigeria. Four major challenges that need to be
addressed for achieving the SDGs in Nigeria are
 Finance
 Maintaining peace
 Measuring progress
 Accountability

Finance
Achieving success in a programme as huge as the SDGs requires a massive amount of
financial investments. The dependence of low-resource nations on donor agencies has
not produced the desired results for various reasons. Nations or Foundations alone will
not be able to deliver on the ambitious vision for global sustainable growth and
inclusive development that is at the core of the SDGs. Many government aid budgets
are not expanding and the private sector will have to take more of the financing and
service delivery gaps to achieve the goals. The private sector can and should become a
key partner in this process while large scale government funding remains essential.
There should be different types of private sector engagement, finding the appropriate
private sector source of finance for each goal.

Accountability
There must be accountability for inputs into SDGs at all levels. Donor support to
leverage private investment - and private finance generally - needs to be compliant
with development effectiveness principles, and there must be robust environmental
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and social safeguards. There is need for transparency about how private finance is
utilized and political leaders and public servants need to show integrity in the manner
funds from any source are utilized.

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Wayout/Solutions to the Challenges
Faced
Capacity building
Capacity building is important to the success of the SDGs in Nigeria and its goal is to
provide the long-term foundation for transformation. While this is often location
specific, at a fundamental level, it will require all sectors in Nigeria to acquire new
skillsets and toolkits for sustainability. It requires training and education in systems
approaches to solutions, transdisciplinary initiatives, and co-design. What is required is
a new generation and category of sustainability professionals who can broker between
global, national, and local issues, between research and use, and between biophysical
and social aspects of sustainability; notably, this need is as acute in higher as in lower
income countries. This may be difficult for Nigeria due to the dearth of skilled
workforce. However, there is no better time than now for these countries to call upon
the skills and knowledge of their citizens in the diaspora.

Technology and data to drive improvement

The availability of quality data allows for an effective assessment of the outcome of
any intervention. The gathering of data on a massive scale and the analysis of the data
requires investment in technology. This allows for determination of trends and themes
and to allow for adjustments to be made when departing from agreed objectives. The
non-availability and reliability of data were the most often reported challenges with
regards to the implementation of the MDGs and subsequently in the interpretation of
progress reports. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) will be required to measure the
progress being made in attaining the goals. To date, these have not yet been defined.
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An identifiable problem with the SDGs is that a number of the targets proposed are not
quantifiable.
The task ahead of monitoring or evaluating the indicators for measuring progress
cannot be underestimated. It will require the availability of the data, the quality of the
data and the capacity to measure them. A quality improvement methodology which
adopts a stepwise improvement in attaining the goals over the coming years rather
than a quantum leap and unsustainable progress is recommended. This will measure
the pace of progress rather than difficult to attain specific KPIs or specific targets. It
also allows for improvement changes to be made where required. The implementation
of these will require commitment from governments and this will be achieved through
adequate funding, financial prudence and ensuring value for money.

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Conclusion
We live in times of wars and terrorism and a threat to national and international peace
and stability by non-state actors is emerging as a major factor for both developed and
developing countries. At the heart of the SDGs are people are at the heart of what we
do. These wars and acts of terrorism result in internally displaced people and refugees
and do not augur well for development. Maintaining peace becomes a critical success
factor. Sustaining the momentum and advancing the gains made under the MDGs will
therefore require new approaches which embrace all three dimensions of
sustainability – environmental, economic and social. In this context, African countries
will need to adopt more inclusive growth strategies that create decent jobs for broad
sections of society, promote equity and meet the development needs of present
generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.
The defining challenge of our era is to accelerate development that is economically
sound, socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. The Sustainable
Development Goals embody nothing less and represent the best possible opportunity
of all the complexities of economic development that we face today. The looming
challenges in Africa are wide and deep and will require innovative responses that are
embedded in partnerships and rooted in our shared values of justice, fairness, equity
and solidarity. The time is now to ensure that Africa is not left behind in achieving the
SDGs and the beneficiaries of this will be Africans and the people of the world at large.
The measure of our success in implementing the sustainable development goals in
Africa will be the attainment of the components of the 17 goals by 2030. It can be
done, provided the key factors important for successful implementation of SDGs, high
level of political support, ownership by the countries, institutional and human capacity
development, inclusive of development process, mutual accountability, and policy
reform are established and sustained. The success of the sustainable development
goals in Africa will hinge on a credible means of implementation.

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