MDGs record successes in Nigeria

Mr Okezie Nwanjoku, the Special Adviser to Gov. Sullivan Chime of Enugu, said the government had achieved a lot in the area of education, health care delivery, water and sanitation sectors and purchasing of drugs for various health centres.

He said more than 50 health centres were constructed, noting that the dilapidated ones had been renovated in different local government areas.

He said 17 ambulances and different drugs were also distributed to the health centres for efficient and effective service delivery.

Nwanjoku said that mosquito nets and drugs were distributed to different hospitals and citizens to fight malaria and other diseases.

“As a way of scaling up MDGs programmes, we renovated many primary schools and constructed toilets in many primary schools in the state.

“In 2011, Aninri, Isiuzo and Igbo-Etiti local government areas benefited from the scheme and we spent N200 million in the construction.

“In 2012, four other communities of Nkanu East, Ezeagu, Uzo-Uwani and Oji River local government areas also benefited with a sum of N800 million.

“Presently, we have slated six local government areas of Enugu East, Awgu, Udi, Igboeze South, Nsukka and Nkanu West in the state, to benefit from the same projects, which will cost N1.2 billion,” he said.

In an interview with NAN, Alhaji Sani Talata-Mafara, the Special Adviser to the Governor on MDGs in Zamfara, said the state government had executed more than 5,000 MDGs projects across the 14 local government areas of the state.

He said hand-pumps and solar powered bore-holes were constructed while many residents of the state were provided with jobs and capital to start businesses.

He said out of the eight points of the MDGs, nothing was left out due to the government commitments to the MDGs.

He explained that, most of the projects executed were in the rural areas where they were most needed.

According to him, the only difficulty experienced while executing the projects was the failure of some people to understand the importance of the projects.

The Director in Charge of MDGs in Gombe State, Alhaji Umar Gombe, said in an interview that the Federal Government and the state government had spent N9 billion in the provision of 1,440 projects across the state on the platform of MDGs.

He said the money was used in providing facilities and programmes aimed at addressing either directly or indirectly all the issues outlined in the blueprint of MDGs.

According to him, the state and Federal Government identified 1,500 poorest of the poor families in the state and assisted them through the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme.

Gombe said many members of the selected families benefitted from the scheme which was aimed at alleviating poverty, while another batch of 1,000 youths were trained in various skills.

“Generally, we have provided more than 1,440 facilities in the areas of health and agriculture,” he said.

The director advised the authorities to focus more attention on poverty alleviation and health aspects of the MDGs in the post 2015 dateline.

He urged the beneficiaries to maintain the facilities to serve them better and make living easier.

NAN reports MDGs are eight international development goals that were established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration.

The goals are to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality and improve maternal health.

Others are to combat HIV and AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development.