Bridging the Gap Between

Policy and Research: How

the Academia Can Support

the Implementation of the

SDGs in Nigeria

Laobode Popoola, PhD, FFAN

Professor of Forest Economics & Director, UI Centre for Sustainable

Development

Co-Director, Sustainable Development

Solutions Network, Nigeria (SDSN-Nigeria)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS:

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THAT IS

SOCIALLY INCLUSIVE, AND

ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE

Sustainable Development

Three Objectives of Development

1. Raising peoples’ living levels, i.e. incomes and consumption, levels of food, health/medical services, education through relevant growth processes, energy, water

2. Creating conditions conducive to the growth of peoples’ self-esteem through the establish- ment of social, political and economic systems and institutions which promote human dignity and respect

Three objectives of

development...

3. Increasing peoples’ freedom to choose by enlarging the range of their choice variables, e.g. varieties of goods and services, and

even who rules them

To be meaningful and impactful development must be sustainable

Sustainable Development

Sustainable development suggests an enduring, remarkable, non-terminal improvement in the quality of life, standard of living and life chances of the people. Such development must be capable of surviving generations over a prolonged period of time.

It involves the maximization of the net benefits of economic development, subject to maintaining or enhancing the service and quality of natural resources over time.

The post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda

is not necessarily an extension of the millennium

development goals (MDGs)

Unmet development aspirations

The African continent missed most of the targets

of the MDGs

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were

informed by the limitations of the MDGs

From MDGs to SDG

GLOBAL ECONOMIC GROWTH IS NOT YET

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:

• There is GROWING INCOME INEQUALITY,

SOCIAL EXCLUSION, AND YOUTH

UNEMPLOYMENT

• EXTREME POVERTY continues in much of

AFRICA AND PARTS OF ASIA AND LATIN

AMERICA

• The WORLD faces PROFOUNDLY

THREATENING ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS

AND CRISES

NIGERIA’S GROWTH, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS

BEEN FAR FROM SOCIALLY INCLUSIVE

NIGERIA’S INCOME INEQUALITY IS VERY

HIGH, WITH A GINI COEFFICIENT OF

ROUGHLY 0.45-0.50 (DEPENDING ON THE

SOURCE AND DEFINITIONS)

NIGERIA’S YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IS ALSO

VERY HIGH, THOUGH PRECISE ESTIMATES

ARE ELUSIVE.

Source: Rockström et al 2009a)

HUMANITY IS ALSO VIOLATING THE

“PLANETARY BOUNDARIES”

JULY 2015 WARMEST IN 136-YEAR RECORD

2015 WILL LIKELY BE WARMEST YEAR ON

RECORD

DROUGHT RISK IN NORTHEAST NIGERIA

THIS YEAR

THE SDGs CALL FOR, AMONG OTHER

OBJECTIVES:

ENDING POVERTY AND HUNGER (SDGS 1, 2)

UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE (SDG 3)

UNIVERSAL SECONDARY EDUCATION (SDG 4)

GENDER EQUALITY (SDG 5)

DECENT EMPLOYMENT FOR ALL (SDG 8)

REDUCED INEQUALITIES (SDG 10)

SUSTAINABLE CITIES (SDG 11)

FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE (SDG 13)

PROTECTING THE OCEANS (SDG 14)

PROTECTING TERRESTIAL ECOSYSTEMS (SDG

15)

PEACEFUL AND INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES (SDG 16)

The SDGs at Glance

Pillars of The SDGs

People

Planet

Peace

Partnership

Prosperity

Cardinal Issues of The SDGs

Source: Godwell Ihamo,2015

Phases and Faces of

Underdevelopment

Flooding in Northern Nigeria

Gully erosion in a Savanna terrain

Drought in an Arid terrain

Akinima oil spill in Rivers State

Oil spills in Ejema Ebubu and Bodo West, Bayelsa State

Oil spill- devastated Mangrove Swamp

Fire hazards, devastated and contaminated Mangrove Swamp communities

Devastated environment

Lives & Livelihoods of Rural

Dwellers

Development needs to look at the producer more than the product

Majority of Nigerian farming households are small-scale and resource-poor

Limited capacity to scale-up agricultural enterprises

Complexity of Livelihoods:

Multiple modes of activities

Typical Niger Delta family

What a way to haul farm

produce in the C21st!

The Okada and hawking

syndrome

Making Babies Africa’s/Nigeria’s

pastime?

These challenges call for new and

ingenious approaches to development

The Academia as SDGs Leading Driver

Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)

was announced by the United Nations Secretary-

General Ban Ki-Moon in 2012 to lead the driving forces

engaged in Post-2015 development process following

the expiration period of Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs).

The Network was charged to mobilise leaders from the

academia, business, civil society, government,

development organisations and relevant stakeholders to

promote problem solving and practical solutions for

pressing challenges of sustainable development.

The Nigerian chapter was inaugurated in 2013 as a

consortium of Nigerian universities.

Members of the Sustainable Development

Solutions Network (SDSN)

THE HIGHEST PRIORITY OF THE SDSN-

NIGERIA IS TO WORK WITH THE

FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS

TO PREPARE SDG-BASED

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES AT THE

NATIONAL AND STATE LEVELS

THROUGHOUT NIGERIA

THE GLOBAL UN SDSN WILL SUPPORT

THIS CAUSE

ARE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENTS

READY?

The Government and Academia

Scenario in Nigeria

SOME PRIORITIES FOR NIGERIA’S SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT NATIONAL STRATEGY INCLUDE:

• ENDING EXTREME POVERTY BY 2030

• CREATION OF DIGNIFYING JOBS

• PROVIDING UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE

• PROVIDING UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO QUALITY

SECONDARY EDUCATION

• SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND RECOVERY OF

THE NIGER DELTA AND THE POORER NORTHERN

STATES

• RISK RESILIENCE AND DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

• URBAN SUSTAINABILITY OF NIGERIA’S MAJOR CITIES

• AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND RESILIENCE

• PROMOTION OF ICT-BASED SMART SYSTEMS FOR

HEALTH, EDUCATION, FINANCE AND

INFRASTRUCTURE

The Need for Government and

Academia Cooperation in Nigeria

Policy makers need research evidences for making informed decisions on growth and development of the country

Academic researches produce evidences from scientific investigations which demand funding and resources

Sustainable Development

Progress

People Practice

The SDSN-Nigeria Activities Progress

Since inception the Network has organised 3

National Workshops (2013 in PH, 2014 in

Ilorin and 2015 in Owerri) and the Ibadan

Sustainable Development Summit since 2010 ( 2013,

2014 & 2015 with NSDSN) attracting hundreds of

participants from over 10 countries across continents.

The Network has developed a Niger-Delta

Development Proposal and Waste Management

Proposal for communities in the South East.

A Resettlement and Rehabilitation Project proposal is

at focus as mitigation to security challenges in the

North East.

SDSN-Nigeria is hosted at University of Ibadan

Centre for Sustainable Development (CESDEV).

Inaugurated in 2010 with a vision to be Africa’s Centre

of Excellence for Sustainable Development.

The Centre’s activities focus on teaching, research

and development programmes.

The Centre also organises Annual badan

Sustainable Development Summit (ISDS) for the

Academia, Researchers, Governments, Industries,

NGOs and CSOs, Policy makers etc to come together

and deliberate on issues of Sustainable Development.

SDSN-Nigeria Working / Research

Groups

The Network has successfully formulated 5 Working and Research Groups on SDGs as an initial step towards effective domestication and implementation of SDGs for the country. These are:

Group 1: Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved

nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Group 2:

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and

promote life-long learning opportunities for all.

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and

girls.

Group 3:

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and

sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,

resilient and sustainable.

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production

patterns.

Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for

sustainable development, provide access to justice

for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive

institutions at all levels.

Group 4: Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water

and sanitation for all

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas

and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Group 5:

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and

revitalize the global partnership for sustainable

development.

“Governance is everything. Without governance we have nothing” - Mo Ibrahim (Mo Ibrahim Foundation, 2015)

Therefore, Government should work priorities on the following:

Leadership and Inclusive Economic Policies

Conflict Resolution, Peace-building and Security

Healthcare, Clean Environment and Well-being

Agriculture, Business, Trade, Tourism and Infrastructures

Education, Equality and Human Capital Development

Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Priorities for Government Actions

on Sustainable Development

Moving Forward…

We extend our hands of fellowship to our

governments, and a good starting point is

the NASS

Governments own our institutions, fund

them (no matter how low), so they should

challenge us, use and demand results

from us

We propose a committee comprising

NASS and NSDSN members to chart the

way forward

Partnering is not an option, it is the only

way out

In the years ahead, we envisage a

synergy that works between the

academia and governments

May GOD of creation direct our noble

cause and guide us and our leaders right

Amen…

Thank you…