Last week in this column, it was stated that there is a nexus among leadership, governance and economic development. Accordingly, we discussed strategy and vision which are two out of the three words this writer considered key in the leadership definition by John P. Kotter of Harvard Business School. The third important word is empowerment. Let us quickly look at empowerment before delving into an assessment of Nigeria’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 2015.
Empowerment
Empowerment is about building capacity of individuals and groups of people. Empowerment cuts across all spheres of human endeavour from education and health care to governance and economic policies. Activities of government which seeks to empower the poor will increase development opportunities and improve quality of life. When people are empowered, they are better equipped to take decisions which affect their lives. It is the empowerment of our youths through quality education and job creation that is of concern to this writer. Enhancing the capacity of our youths through quality education and job creation will put the nation on the path of development. The best way to empower a child is through education after which job opportunities are provided by public and private sectors. When a child is not in a formal school or a vocational institution, be assured that he or she is likely to be on the street hawking cheap goods from developed nations. That our youths are not empowered in preparation for challenges of the future is due mainly to failure of strategy and impaired vision of political leaders occasioned by greed. Why have the MDGs not been successful? You may argue that the MDGs 2015 have been a success, while others may claim it is a failure.
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2015 have eight pillars of development. Fifteen years ago, Nigeria was one of the 189 countries that promised the United Nations to reduce poverty, hunger, child mortality and combat disease amongst other ambitious goals. A glance at the executive summary presented by Nigeria on the MDGs in 2013 reveals that “poverty is still at 62.6 percent; universal primary education is at 80 percent level; gender equality and women empowerment has recorded 90 percent success; child mortality lags behind the 2015 target of 63.7 death per 1000 live births. With respect to maternal health, the proportion of births attended by skilled health workers is 53.6 percent against the target of 100 percent, while antenatal coverage is currently 67.7 percent. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS has stabilized at about 4.10 percent, while environmental sustainability efforts are generally slow at 57.4 percent when compared to a target of 77 percent in 2015”.
If you doubt some of the figures reflected in the report you may be on the same page with me. But for the purpose of analysis, let us assume that these figures are correct. There are areas, however, where governments’ performance in the past has been satisfactory but just. Those areas include universal primary education, gender equality and women empowerment. The levels of poverty and child mortality are high, while antenatal coverage and environmental sustainability are low. The development aid of about $30 billion given to Nigeria through debt relief in 2005 has actually not engendered appreciable progress towards meeting the MDGs. The reason in my view is just due to a mismatch between goals to be achieved and strategies for implementation.
On paper, the people of Nigeria have been the focus of various policies of governments in the past. Unfortunately, these policies did not address the needs of the people. If 80 percent of success has been recorded with respect to Universal Basic Education, why then do we have 62 percent of secondary school students having less than 5 credits in the recently released 2015 May/June WAEC results? Was the level of achievement recorded in the UBE only to establish schools and increase the number of pupils who are in school? My view is that the UBE component of the goal was not to have educated students in our society but to enrol students for basic education. If this was not correct, why is it that for several years students’ WAEC results have not been impressive. Recently, media reports quoted the Nigerian vice president to have remarked that “governments have not been responsible to the people otherwise policies should have roots in the real conditions of the people”. It is beyond this writer’s comprehension how all policies, strategies, and visions of government have produced a poverty level of 62.6 percent. Though the poverty level is high, it is worthy to note that the president and vice president are aware. This means that when a cabinet is formed in September 2015, the Federal Executive Council to be headed by the president should not shy away from telling any cabinet member to re-strategize if his or her strategy will not lead to successful implementation of policies. This new government should depart from the past where governments engaged citizens through strategic deployment of deception, using tools of governance at their disposal. In the past, various reform programmes started well but ended poorly with governments resorting to propaganda to cover up their inadequacies. How I wish the federal government could set attainable milestones within the next 4 years to reduce poverty level, reduce child mortality to 2 per 1,000 births, while antenatal coverage should be 100 percent by resuscitating the health sector. The environmental sustainability should be improved to 60 percent. Achieving a higher level of environmental sustainability may be difficult due to environmental degradation, climate change, population and economic growths in our nation. environmental sustainability should be improved to 90 percent after tIt is possible to achieve set targets, but what are your thoughts on these suggestions?
In conclusion, the government should carry out a post-2015 MDG assessment with a view to achieving stated goals. Importantly, those pillars of the MDGs where government has not done well, such as reduction of poverty and child mortality to improved maternal health and environmental sustainability, should be revisited. The nation has ended up with an abysmal performance due to poor leadership supported by hangers-on in the corridors of power for 16 years of democratic governance. However, the failure of a leader is the failure of his or her followers. It is compulsory that leaders at all tiers of government in this era of change should have the desire, will, enthusiasm and commitment to do what is needful for the nation’s economic development. Accountability and transparency are key ingredients in good governance. And for the nation to be developed, leadership must be effective with abilities to scan global environment, develop appropriate visions and strategies, and align relevant and competent people behind those strategies in order to empower Nigerians. The whole world is waiting for Nigeria to succeed. In the words of US President Barack Obama, “I am looking forward to seeing Buhari put together his team so that we can do everything that we can to help him succeed and help the people of Nigeria succeed. Because if they are successful and doing well, that will have a ripple effect not only in West Africa but throughout the world.”
(Concluded)
MA JOHNSON
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