‘To Realise SDGs, Nigeria Should Learn from China’

Abimbola Akosile

To help realise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Nigeria has been urged to learn from China, which has advanced rapidly in its implementation of the 17 global goals.

The call was made by an-Abuja based journalist, Public Affairs Commentator and Editor-in-Chief of Prosports Media Limited, Mr. Victor Charles Ndubueze, in a release and a detailed report titled, ‘China: Unfolding National Plan for 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’.

Ndubueze noted that China as a country presents a best practice scenario in the local domestication, implementation and realisation of the SDGs, right from the days of the preceding Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to the current Agenda for sustainable development unfolded by the second largest economy in the world.

According to him, “As the largest developing country in the world, China attaches great importance to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 13th Five-Year Plan was reviewed and approved by the Fourth Session of the 12th National People’s Congress in March 2016, linking the 2030 Agenda with domestic mid-and-long term development strategies. Right now, implementation of the 2030 Agenda is in full swing in China.”

He noted “drawing on the achievements and experience of China’s development, the National Plan analyses challenges and opportunities in implementing the 2030 agenda, lays out the guiding thoughts, general principles and approaches for the implementation, as well as specific plans for the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets.”

To him, “In the coming years, China will earnestly fulfill the tasks in the National Plan under the guidance of the people-centred development concept featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development. It will work with other countries in seeking mutual benefit, win-win cooperation and common development and make unremitting efforts for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and realisation of the dreams of people across the world.”

Ndubueze asserted that Nigeria would do well to learn from China’s best practice on the SDGs, which has been largely successful despite the huge population size of the Asian country, adding that any lessons learnt from its national plan can be adopted to help Nigeria realise the SDGs before the deadline year of 2030.