ASSESSMENT OF THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which had been earlier discussed in the previous chapters are objectives set out by the United Nations (UN) in the year 2000 to upgrade its member states especially those that are classified as Third World Countries (TWCs) in the area of social and economic development.

Nigeria is classified as a country in the Third World and therefore the MDGs were created to address the socio-economic problems which have been discussed in the previous chapter that Nigeria has faced in the past and is still facing in the present. So many of the problems should have been a thing of the past but factors such as bad governance and corruption have made the problems persist and if these problems are not properly attended to, they will creep into the future.

Nigeria adopted the MDGs with other UN members in the year 2000 and has taken up various developmental plans/strategies such as National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) and the Nigeria Vision20:2020 (NV20:2020). Most of these strategies fall in line with the MDGs. The MDGs are eight and each goal has a target and each target have indicators. The MDGs have eight goals with 21 targets and about 60 indicators.

MDG TARGETS AND INDICATORS

These goals with its targets and indicators are listed below:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Target 1A: Halve the proportion of people living on less than US$1 a day. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) values

• Proportion of population below US$1 per day (PPP values)

• Poverty gap ratio

• Share of poorest quintile in national consumption

Target 1B: Achieve Decent Employment for Women, Men, and Young People

• GDP Growth per Employed Person

• Employment Rate

• Proportion of employed population below US$1 per day (PPP values)

• Proportion of family-based workers in employed population

Target 1C: Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

• Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age

• Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption 1

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Target 2A: By 2015, all children can complete a full course of primary schooling, girls and boys

• Enrollment in primary education

• Completion of primary education

• Literacy of 15-24 year olds, female and male 2

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Target 3A: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015

• Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

• Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

• Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament 3

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rates

Target 4A: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

• Under-five mortality rate

• Infant (under 1) mortality rate

• Proportion of 1-year-old children immunized against measles 4

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Target 5A: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio

• Maternal mortality ratio

• Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel

Target 5B: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health

• Contraceptive prevalence rate

• Adolescent birth rate

• Antenatal care coverage

• Unmet need for family planning 5

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

Target 6A: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS

• HIV prevalence among population aged 15–24 years

• Condom use at last high-risk sex

• Proportion of population aged 15–24 years with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS

Target 6B: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it

• Proportion of population with advanced HIV infection with access to antiretroviral drugs

Target 6C: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

• Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria

• Proportion of children under 5 sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets

• Proportion of children under 5 with fever who are treated with appropriate anti-malarial drugs

• Prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis

• Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short Course) 6

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Target 7A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs; reverse loss of environmental resources

Target 7B: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss

• Proportion of land area covered by forest

• Consumption of ozone-depleting substances

• Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits

• Proportion of total water resources used

• Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected

• Proportion of species threatened with extinction

Target 7C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

• Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural

• Proportion of urban population with access to improved sanitation

Target 7D: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers

• Proportion of urban population living in slums ensure that the habitat of a species to be more protected 7

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

Target 8A: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system

• Includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction – both nationally and internationally

Target 8B: Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

• Includes: tariff and quota free access for LDC exports; enhanced program of debt relief for HIPC and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous Official Development Assistance (ODA) for countries committed to poverty reduction

Target 8C: Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and Small Island developing States

• Through the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the outcome of the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly

Target 8D: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term

Official development assistance (ODA):

• Net ODA, total and to LDCs, as percentage of OECD/DAC donors’ GNI

• Proportion of total sector-allocable ODA of OECD/DAC donors to basic social services (basic education, primary health care, nutrition, safe water and sanitation)

• Proportion of bilateral ODA of OECD/DAC donors that is untied

• ODA received in landlocked countries as proportion of their GNIs

• ODA received in small island developing States as proportion of their GNIs

Market access:

• Proportion of total developed country imports (by value and excluding arms) from developing countries and from LDCs, admitted free of duty

• Average tariffs imposed by developed countries on agricultural products and textiles and clothing from developing countries

• Agricultural support estimate for OECD countries as percentage of their GDP

• Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade capacity

Debt sustainability:

• Total number of countries that have reached their HIPC decision points and number that have reached their HIPC completion points (cumulative)

• Debt relief committed under HIPC initiative, US$

• Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services

Target 8E: In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries

• Proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis

Target 8F: In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications

• Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population

• Personal computers in use per 100 population

• Internet users per 100 Population 8

From the Data that is available, Nigeria adheres to 15 MDG targets and nearly 50 indicators. This chapter with the available data tends to assess the MDGs from the year 2000 to 2010. It will start by looking at the situation of MDG targets in 1990 followed by the year 2000 to 2010 and reveals the set targets of 2015. From the assessment based on available data, one would be able to comprehend if Nigeria is going on the right track as regards the MDGs.

THE ASSESSMENT

GOAL 1: ERADICATION OF EXTREME HUNGER AND POVERTY

Poverty has been one of Nigeria’s biggest socio-economic problems. Poverty levels have been increasing over the years and it has become a difficult problem for the government to tackle. The governments that have existed never showed enough effort to tackling poverty and it led to more people not having a means of livelihood. Lack of basic amenities like electricity, housing, water, food healthcare, access to education, employment among others which define a good life have led to some premature deaths as a result of frustration from not meeting these ends. Those who survive poverty give birth to offspring who at childhood are born into poverty and if there is no light at the end of the tunnel to bring hope for the future, will face poverty in adulthood. The following tables give an analysis of poverty levels in Nigeria.

TARGET 1A: Halve the proportion of people living on less than US$1 a day.

Table 1

|Indicator |

From Table 13, the number of telephone line users was 0.3 per 100 people in 1990. From 2000 when it was 0.44, it kept increasing from 0.47 in 2001, 0.54 in 2002, 0.66 in 2003, 0.75 in 2004, 0.87 in 2005 and 1.17 in 2006. It came down to 1.07 in 2007 and 0.86 in 2008. The data on this looks impressive but with the introduction of cellular phones, cellular phones replaced telephone lines and it has made telecommunications much easier and Nigeria as one of the fastest growing telecommunication markets in the world. There was no cellular phone subscription in 1990 but with the introduction of the mobile phones in 2000, it kept increasing and never dropped. It was 0.002 cellular subscribers per 100 people in 2000, 0.21 in 2001, 1.20 in 2002, 2.35 in 2003 and 6.65 in 2004. By 2005, it went up to 13.99 and 22.40 in 2006. It went up again to 27.35 in 2007 and 41.66 in 2008. This by far is the most impressive of all MDG indicators. This indicator has encouraged Foreign Direct Investment in the telecommunications sector of the Nigerian economy and as the years go by, the number of cellular phone subscribers will definitely continue to increase. The number of internet users has recorded slow growth. The figures were 0.006 per 100 people using the internet in 2000. It rose to 0.009 in 2001, 0.32 in 2002, and 0.56 in 2003. It rose to 1.29 in 2004 and continued with the same trend in 2005, 5.55 in 2006, 6.77 in 2007 and peaking to 15.86 in 2008. Although the figures never dropped, the figures have been slow. Internet facilities should be provided nationwide so that people could have access to it. The number of personal computer users has also been slow based on data. Data available only reveals figures between 2000 and 2004. It was 6.38 per 1000 people in 2000 and 6.74 in 2004. It recorded slight increase of 6.65 in 2001 and 6.93 in 2002 but dropped down to 6.83 in 2003. Based on those figures, only a few people use the computer. This is the age where computers rule the world of information. Provision of more computers should be made available to ensure majority of Nigerians use it and allow for the free flow of information. Tele-density levels have also been increasing since the telecommunication sector is growing rapidly. Tele-density was 0.73 in 2001 and fro then figures never dropped. It was 1.89 in 2002, 3.35 in 2003, 8.50 in 2004, 16.27 in 2005, 24.18 in 2006, 29.98 in 2007 and 45.93 in both 2008 and 2009. Private sector investment has been very good. The amount poured into the sector has been increasing and helpful in reshaping the economy to an extent. Investment was US$50million in 1990. It rose to 75.7 in 2000 and soared higher to 971 in 2001. It dropped to 848 in 2002 but went up again to 1674 in 2003. It dropped down to 1070 in 2004 but from 2005 when it was 2312, it never came down as it was 8100 in 2006 and a record high 11500 in 2007. If more investment is made into the private sector, it would be of great benefit for the future of the Nigerian economy as well as its citizens.

NOTES

1. http://www.mdgmonitor.org/goal1.cfm

2. http://www.mdgmonitor.org/goal2.cfm

3. http://www.mdgmonitor.org/goal3.cfm

4. http://www.mdgmonitor.org/goal4.cfm

5. http://www.mdgmonitor.org/goal5.cfm

6. http://www.mdgmonitor.org/goal6.cfm

7. http://www.mdgmonitor.org/goal7.cfm

8. http://www.mdgmonitor.org/goal8.cfm

9. Nigeria MDG Report, (2010). The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, Abuja. 2010, p.37.

10. Ibid. p.40.

11. Ibid. p.49.