Nigeria in Pursuit of Global Goals

By Kayode Komolafe
kayode.komolafe@thisdaylive.com

0805 500 1974

The electoral season in Nigeria is usually a riot of agendas. Beginning with the party primaries, some politicians display their programmes in a manner similar to those of traders showcasing their wares in the market. They often call these random promises agendas. The packages could range from one-point agenda to a 10-point agenda. Some of these programmes are poorly articulated while others suffer severely from clarity of purpose.

To start with, it is the political parties that should own programmes and strategies of development. The candidates contesting elections on the platforms of the parties should articulate the policies. The candidates should be committed to implementing the programmes if elected into office.

The programmes themselves are supposed to be formulated by the parties on the basis of their loci on the ideological spectrum. After all, on the day of election, it is the name of the political party (and not that of the candidate) that appears on the ballot paper for voters to thumbprint.

The choice would be clearer, for instance, if in 2023 some parties are defined by social democratic programmes while others are associated with neo-liberal policies or conservative strategies of development. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Nigeria as the parties are ideologically indistinguishable. This lack of ideological boundaries, of course, makes it easy for politicians to move forth and back into different parties.

This trend in politics probably explains why a recent piece of news could not compete with the “hot’ political stories for headlines. It was, of course, not an exciting news item.

The story was that President Muhammadu Buhari signed a global agreement to end open defecation in Nigeria by 2025. The renewal of the commitment to put an end to open defecation was in the presence of the minister of water resources, Engineer Suleiman Adamu.

This was, in fact, a sequel to an Executive Order entitled The Open Defecation – Free Nigeria by 2025 and other Related Matters, which was signed by the President on November 20, 2019 .

The content of the important order was as follows:

“That by this Order, Nigeria is committed to being open defecation – free by 2025.
“ That the National Open Defecation Free (ODF) Roadmap developed by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources with support from other key sector players across Nigeria be put into effect.
“There is established in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources a National Secretariat called “Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat”.

“The Secretariat is authorized on behalf of the President to implement this Order by ensuring that all public places including schools, hotels, fuel stations, places of worship, market places, hospitals and offices have accessible toilets and latrines within their premises.

“All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government shall cooperate with the Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat.

“The National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly shall enact legislation on the practice of open defecation with appropriate sanctions and penalties.

“All development projects shall include construction of sanitation facilities as an integral part of the approval and implementation process.

“The Secretariat shall terminate when Nigeria is declared Open Defecation Free.

“All enforcement authorities are hereby directed to diligently collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in implementing this Order.”

The spirit and letters of this order constitute another crucial barometer for gauging the level of Nigeria’s development: the country is still grappling with the problem of open defecation almost at the end of the first quarter of the 21st Century!
The diminished human dignity of persons who are still left with only the option of open defecation in the society is indeed a central issue of development. So also is the enormous danger and indignity faced by members of the female gender who are compelled by material circumstances to engage in open defecation.

It is, however, remarkable that in announcing the signing of the executive order on January 25, 2022, the government was honest enough in the statement to admit the shame that Nigeria ranked second in the league of nations with the highest number of people practising open defecation. After all, It is said that a problem is half-solved when it is honestly defined. It is estimated that 46million out of the 494 million human beings who still practise open defecation live in Nigeria. This practice was one of the reasons why the country failed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Before the executive order, the President had expressed commitment to the implementation of the National Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Action Plan which is really the focus of the SDG Number 6. Buhari had also declared a State of Emergency in the water sector. The health implication of failure in this sector is obvious. The prevalence of water-borne diseases could simply be avoided by making clean water available to all.

On a positive note, the executive order against open defecation is a significant step towards the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proclaimed by the United Nations.

These fundamental targets of development are also known as Global Goals.

These goals towards human progress were set in 2015. And all countries are expected to work towards the achievement of the goals by 2030. In sum, the objective is to secure a better future for humanity.
In taking steps towards 2023, politicians are expected to proclaim their agendas and experts would also discuss development. They should do so within the context of these Global Goals.

The pursuit of the Global Goals would lead Nigeria to the road of genuine development in the interest of the poor people. In any case, in the absence of a revolution, these goals constitute the irreducible minimum for socio-economic justice in any society. The aspect of the goal that directly relates to ending open defecation is the Goal Number 6: Clean Water and Sanitation.

The other goals are an end to poverty; zero hunger; good health and well-being; quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry innovation and infrastructure; reduced inequalities; sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production; climate action; life below water; life on land; peace, justice and strong institutions; and partnership for the goals.

The Office of the Senior Special Assistant, to the President on SDGs, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope – Adefulire, has coordinated interventions in parts of the country in pursuit of these goals especially in the areas of healthcare , education and sanitation. In order to further demonstrate commitment to the attainment of these universal goals, such interventions should be intensified in the remaining months of the Buhari administration.

Indeed, all the ministries, departments and agencies relevant to the attainment of the SDGs should be active in policy implementation till the end of the administration despite political activities. For instance, to meet the target of farewell to open defecation by 2025, the next 15 months should not be lost.

Open defecation is, among other things, a consequence of the lack of access to clean water and poor sanitation. It is axiomatic that you cannot put an end to open defecation in a state of underdevelopment in which access to clean water is still a luxury to millions people. The Buhari executive order has made it compulsory that construction of buildings should include provision of water closets. Therefore, as the name goes, clean water must be made available to all.

The campaign for the use of toilets would become facile without adequate provision of clean water to all parts of the country – rural and urban. There should be a synergy of purpose between the federal ministry of water resources and the state governments for a coordinated implementation of the policies on water. The water resources of the river basins should be optimally harnessed.

One policy obstacle, however, is the perception of our neo-liberal policymakers for whom water should be just another commodity. It would be difficult especially in the rural areas for the poor to access water if it is made available only at an expensive rate. The federal and state governments should rather increase their investments in massive water schemes in the interest of the people. In fact, an international organisation led by the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev once proposed that water should be universally declared a human right.
Such a proposition will, of course, sound utopian in the ears of our neo-liberal economic managers and their experts. Meanwhile, the experts are busy with the calculation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other statistics of development. However, in the graphs and charts often displayed during their power-point presentations at numerous fora, the material conditions of the 46 million people still condemned to open defecation are hardly captured.

Indeed the GDP hardly tells the story of the failures or successes recorded in the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in clear terms. Take a sample. Does the expansion of the GDP automatically mean a reduction in the number of people who are materially compelled to practise open defecation? In any case, that does not seem to be the focus of the experts who are fixated on GDP instead of the well-being of the people in their economic thoughts. Indeed, not enough attention is paid in the public sphere to the economic thoughts informing policies in this country. All you see on display is a repetition of neo-liberal shibboleths, not minding if they are working in practical terms or not.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economists, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics for their anti-poverty works The couple shared the prize with Professor Michael Kremer. Below is what Professors Banerjee and Duflo, who are called “anti-poverty fighters,” say about GDP in their 2019 book, Good Economics for Hard Times:

“The key ultimately is not to lose sight of the fact that GDP is a means and not an end. A useful means, no doubt, especially when it creates jobs or raises wages or plumps the government so that it can redistribute more. But the ultimate goal remains one of raising the quality of life of the average person and especially the worst-off person. And quality of life means more than just consumption… Most human beings care about feeling worthy and respected, they suffer when they feel they are failing themselves and their families. While better lives are indeed partly about being able to consume more, even very poor people also care about the health of their parents , about educating their children, about having their voices heard, and about being able to pursue their dreams. A higher GDP may be one way in which this can be given to the poor, but it is only one of the ways and there is no presumption that it is always the best one.”

So much for the fetishisation of the GDP and other figures!

To be sure, the people who are left with only the option of open defecation in matters of sanitation cannot feel “worthy and respected” regardless of the growth of GDP as the Nobelists put it in the foregoing.
Reflections on the SDGs should feature in the build-up to the choices that will be made in 2023.