A Mid-Term Review of Nigeria’s Progress Towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations were adopted in September 2015 as a follow-up to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which had ended with very little success in Nigeria. Though the 17 ambitious goals of the SDGs are expected to be achieved in 2030, evidence shows that Nigeria did not only carry the goals of MDGs into the SDGs era but also began the implementation of the SDGs late, after the first Voluntary National Review (VNR) in 2017. This study reviewed Nigeria’s progress towards sustainable development with consideration to the international treaty signed by UN member countries for achieving the SDGs in 2030. A descriptive historical research design was adopted for the study, while data were gathered from the official websites of government and inter-governmental organizations and national newspapers that were purposively selected and compared to ensure data quality. Two research questions were answered in a content review analysis. Findings revealed that Nigeria has a structure in place across levels of government to ensure the smooth implementation of the SDGs; compared to the SDGs baseline report of 2016, and the SDGs index rankings from 2019 to 2022, Nigeria’s progress towards achieving the SDGs in 2030 has been slow and poor; and that corruption among public officials, poor budgetary allocations to health and education, rising poverty and youth unemployment rates, and weak development policies and programs, are the major challenges affecting the progress of SDGs implementation in Nigeria. The study recommended the urgent need to review and strengthen government institutions and policies, introduce stringent laws against corruption, establish mechanisms for public transparency and accountability in governance, and promote reward good behaviours in public offices.