President Muhammadu Buhari has noted that the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic had threatened to derail the progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The president disclosed this on Friday at the virtual inaugural SDGs Moment, convened by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, during the high-level week of the 75th UN General Assembly.
He, however, noted that Nigeria is already addressing the threat by re-dedicating efforts towards economic diversification, focusing on agriculture and the mining sectors.
The president, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said, “Nigeria has made good strides in SDGs domestication processes, as we have commenced the re-alignment of the National Statistical System with the requirements and indicators of the SDGs.
“We have developed a novel home-grown ‘Integrated Sustainable Development Goals Model, as an analytical framework for assessing how policy making can better address the indivisible nature of the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Nigeria has also set up a Model Private Sector Advisory Group and an SDGs Donors’ Forum with a view to engaging critical stakeholders towards the attainment of the SDGs”, he said.
He also informed that Nigeria will engage the services of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members across the country and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ambassadors to champion the implementation of SDGs 2030 at the grassroots.
The President spoke Friday at the virtual inaugural SDGs Moment, convened by UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, during the high-level week of the 75th UN General Assembly.
Re-affirming Nigeria’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals, Buhari told the meeting that anti-corruption institutions have been strengthened to enable the administration effectively combat illicit financial flows and recover proceeds.
The president recalled that Nigeria presented its second Voluntary National Review on SDGs to the UN High-Level Political Forum in July 2020.
President Buhari also used the occasion of his address to pledge Nigeria’s commitment to mainstreaming the SDGs into subsequent development plans.