Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has observed that this generation is at the threshold of history to effect positive change in the lives of the people.
He said: “we are, therefore, in a real sense, a generation at the threshold of history, saddled with the responsibility of bringing about the change that will alter our development trajectory for the benefit of our people and planet.”
Professor Osinbajo who spoke today, Friday, at the inauguration of the Presidential Council on the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that the SDGs, which is a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity, capture the urgency and range of the major challenges that confront humanity, especially the developing nations
“They underscore the reality that only a global partnership supporting home grown and inclusive solutions stands a chance of achieving the goals.
“Building on the millennium development goals, the SDGS open up new priorities such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice. The goals are interconnected.”
Osinbajo said that succeeding in one will involve dealing with issues fundamentally associated with another, adding that witg a number of time-bound targets and indicators against which national progress will be measured till 2030, the SDGs have begun to galvanize development planning and execution globally.
“Our government has taken the firm view that the implementation of the SDGs Agenda has and will have decisive implications for Nigeria’s development; which explains why the SDGs occupy a prominent place in our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, which the President launched in April to guide Nigeria along the path of inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Progress on the Goals will have a positive effect on our poverty and unemployment numbers. It will reduce the number of mothers who die during childbirth and our children who are unable to mark their fifth birthday, and, of course, the figures also of out-of-school children.
“It will empower our girls and women, and bridge the gender inequality gap. Success with the implementation of the SDGs will have an impact on our cities, and on the quality of the lives of those who live within them.
“It is, therefore, clear that the achievement of the goals equals a quantum socio-economic leap for Nigeria. Failure to achieve the SDGs will have existential implications for our generation and for those yet unborn.”
The Vice President said thst the Presidential Council on SDGs will provide policy direction for the implementation of the SDGs in Nigeria, and ensure that there is coherence at the national and sub-national levels.
He said that the council’s work will be crucial for resource mobilization, prioritization of interventions, periodic assessment, as well as the overall oversight of SDGs implementation.[myad]
