{"id":6907,"date":"2013-07-22T08:26:40","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T08:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/another-dream-deferred\/"},"modified":"2013-07-22T08:26:40","modified_gmt":"2013-07-22T08:26:40","slug":"another-dream-deferred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/another-dream-deferred\/","title":{"rendered":"Another dream deferred"},"content":{"rendered":"
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THE revelation by President Goodluck Jonathan that the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is not feasible by the target date of 2015 is regrettable. Speaking at a press briefing during the closing ceremony of the African Union Heads of State and Government Special Summit on HIV\/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, in Abuja the President said no African country had attained the MDGs yet.<\/p>\n

This, to say the least, is a sad reflection on the commitment of African leaders to developing their countries. Thirteen years ago, in September 2000 to be precise, world leaders at the UN headquarters in New York adopted the Millennium Development Goals, committing their nations to reducing extreme poverty and setting out time-bound targets with 2015 as its deadline.<\/p>\n

The goals are : the eradication of poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality rates; improving maternal health; combating HIV\/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.<\/p>\n

To drive the achievement of the MDGs, the Nigerian government set up the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs.<\/p>\n

Thirteen years after the UN mandate, how has Nigeria fared? President Jonathan has delivered the verdict. African countries, the President declared, have fallen short of meeting the target.<\/p>\n

In order to appraise the current status of the MDGs in Nigeria, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs in 2012 commissioned the National Bureau of Statistics to conduct a national household survey to report on the level of achievement of the MDGs . The Bureau sampled 22,200 households with around 75,000 respondents. The results show a prevalence of underweight children. \u201cNet attendance levels for basic schooling has risen remarkably when compared with baseline data; the gender parity targets of primary and secondary education levels have been achieved. There has been a reduction for the less than five mortality rate of 157 deaths per 1,000 live births, to 94 deaths. This trend is similar to infant mortality rate.<\/p>\n

Data held by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS demonstrate that there is a continuation in the fall of the HIV prevalence, from figures as high as 5.8 to 4.1 in 2012″.<\/p>\n

President Jonathan confirmed this when he said Nigeria\u2019s commitment in the last 10 years was to halt and reverse HIV and AIDS in the country. The President, however, lamented that \u201cOf the 3.4 million people living with HIV in the country, only 491,021 HIV positive persons are accessing Antiretroviral Therapy. Furthermore, 1.6 million people are eligible for ART, meaning that an estimated 30 percent of the HIV populace is in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the clock ticks towards the finishing line of 2015; a lot more can be done towards the attainment of the MDGs. To achieve this, we have to drastically reduce the high level of corruption in the country. The effect of corruption is felt on inflated government expenditures, including contracts. The result is that funds meant for the development of education, healthcare, infrastructure and other vital sectors of the economy are diverted into private pockets.<\/p>\n

Perhaps pogrammes like the NEEDS of the Obasanjo presidency, the Seven-point Agenda of Yar\u2019Adua and Jonathan\u2019s Transformation Agenda might have gone a long way towards alleviating poverty and addressing the Millennium Development Goals but for the institutionalised corruption in the system.<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: The Nation Newspaper<\/p>\n

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