Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has highlighted that 63% of Nigerians, equivalent to 113 million people, continue to experience multidimensional poverty.
Adefulire made this assertion during an advocacy and sensitization campaign in Kano and Ondo states on Monday, July 1. She emphasized that the global community is falling behind in achieving the SDGs.
Her statement follows the findings of the Multidimensional Poverty Index Report (2022) and the National Bureau of Statistics’ Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Report (2022), which underscored high levels of poverty across states and geopolitical zones, with the northern regions experiencing greater poverty rates compared to the south.
Adefulire said: “The global community is lagging behind in efforts to attain the Sustainable Development Goals, and Nigeria is facing various challenges.
”Therefore, it’s imperative for all stakeholders, particularly state and local governments, to accelerate progress.
“Nigeria is committed to achieving the SDGs, but we’re faced with issues such as Triple C Crisis – COVID, Climate Change, and Conflicts, which have put implementation off-track globally. Only 15% of SDGs targets are on track as of 2023.
“In Nigeria, 63% or 133 million people are still multi-dimensionally poor, with poverty levels varying significantly across states and geopolitical zones. Multidimensional poverty is higher in rural areas, and 65% of poor people live in the north, while 35% live in the south.
“The Federal Government has demonstrated strong commitment to implementing the SDGs, and we need sub-national governments to match these efforts. Institutional frameworks have been established to guarantee effective implementation, but we require a whole-of-society approach to achieve the SDGs.
“As we approach the 2030 deadline, we must recommit to accelerating SDGs’ implementation, especially at the state and local governments level. We need expertise and resources from all sectors to deliver on the SDGs.
“The SDGs require a whole-of-society approach and clearly cannot be achieved with stand-alone policies and projects. They must be carefully integrated into national and sub-national policies and development plans.”