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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, New York
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia has spoken on how states will benefit from the Nigeria Integrated National Financing Framework Report on Sustainable Development (INFF), launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, in New York, United States of America.
Ikpeazu, while fielding questions from journalists on Friday in New York on the NIFF, said states would be able to mobilise support for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Through INFF strategy, countries take forward financing reforms to mobilise and align public and private financing with their national sustainable development priorities.
According to Ikpeazu, INFF is a robust integrated framework that every state should use to mobilise support for the implementation of the SDGs.
“Funding education, for instance, is so critical that no government can do it alone, because it changes and there is a need to align outcomes from the laboratories in the various tertiary institutes with the industry.
“That is the only way we can complete the circle. So because we are bringing innovative knowledge of the academia, marketing it to solve specific problems, funding can come back to the university for research and all of that. That is a part of what you need to do to solve the problem going forward,’’ he said.
Ikpeazu said Nigeria had done the best by launching the document, noting that, that is the way to go because financing SDGs is challenging, noting that financing SDGs across the globe was partly challenged by issues of climate change, disruptions in supply chains, conflicts and diseases.
“The world should collaborate on finding innovative ways to finance SDGs for the benefit of the teeming population and is particularly important for Nigeria.
“It is important for Nigeria because we are a diverse country with so many challenges; we think that this is time for sub-national governments to become a little more proactive,’’ the governor said.
He said the sub-national governments can adopt the framework in terms of policy to match the zeal of the president to implement the SDGs.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, on his part said it would help in measuring achievements of SDGs when mainstreamed, while his counterpart and Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, said: “In all of the plans that have been mentioned and all of the agenda, this is the very first time we’re doing costing and also looking at how to finance, rather than just putting a plan in place, without necessarily thinking about where the money will come from and how it would come in.”
On his part, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said: “Well, the problem with the Nigerian education is funding. Whether you’re talking about condition of service for lecturers or infrastructure development, classrooms, library, laboratory, equipment for teaching, it is funding. So, we need to have an articulated framework for our educational sector to benefit from proper funding.”
Earlier in her remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire said the UN had particularly praised the Nigerian government for the implementation of its action plans which pit the country ahead of many countries.
She added that in August, Nigeria became the “first country in the Global South to have successfully completed a country-led Independent Evaluation of SDG-3 on ‘quality health and well-being for all’ and SDG-4 on ‘qualitative and inclusive education and lifelong learning for all.’”
She also added that her office collaborated with the National Bureau of Statistics to track progress on the 230 Key Performance Indicators on annual basis.
