Introduction The millennium development goals are series of eight time-bound development goal s that seek to address issues

of poverty, education, equality, health and the en vironment, to be achieved by the year 2015. The turn of the last century ushered in a new millennium a millennium with its h opes, aspirations and fears for its billions of inhabitants. Towards the end of the last century, various far-reaching agreements were made at the numerous conferences of the Uni ted Nations with its collaborating agencies. The enormous burden of poverty, hunger, ill health, environmental degr adation and natural disease posed significant threat to peace, stability and dev elopment and hence continued human existence1. The fears were palpable and so we re the efforts at combating the problems. In September 2000, on the heels of the dawn of the new millennium, the world wit nessed the largest-ever gathering of Heads of State. This gathering, tagged the UN millennium summit in New York, USA, endorsed the UN millennium declaration wh ich was endorsed by the 189 countries including Nigeria. The declaration was the n translated into a roadmap setting out goals to be reached by 2015. These goals, eight in number, became known as the Millennium Development G oals (the MDGs). The MDGs represent a worldwide collaborative effort to reduce p overty and hunger, tackle ill-health, gender inequity, lack of education, lack o f access to clean water and environmental degradation The economy of Nigeria has been undergoing profound changes whose components inc lude greater openness to trade and investments, liberalization of the domestic m arkets and increased participation of the private sector in the provision of goo ds and services. But alongside these positive changes are appreciable weaknesses that the economy exhibits as globalization proceeds. These weaknesses, which ha ve endured for long despite Nigerias enormous resources, explain the countrys unde rdevelopment. An inquiry into the underlying causes of these weaknesses reveals that economic and social policies imposed on Nigeria by forces outside the count ry marginalized the local potential and stifled the initiative and zeal of the p eople towards development. Investments too are not adequately targeting poverty reduction, and so there is a growing lack of basic needs. Worse still, the struc tures sustaining Nigerias underdevelopment frustrate economic and social transfor mation, thereby solidifying the foundation that regenerates poverty in the count ry. The imperatives for change are, therefore, overwhelming and this calls for a ctions that would rekindle development in the country. The Millennium Developmen t Goals (MDGs) are a response to this call for actions. The MDGs are a United Na tions development strategy that targets poverty reduction in all its ramificatio ns as against prescriptions usually foisted on Nigeria by its development partne rs that seek growth at the expense of equity and development. The MDGs share the realism that development is about poverty reduction and once the people notice that development is targeted at them, their commitment will become easy to explo it and sacrifice for its success genuinely assured. And with the right policies and choices, domestic resources can be more effectively mobilized, capital fligh t minimized and consequentially, the economy can be strengthened as the capabili ties of the people are channeled to the cause of development. The situation in Nigeria does not fare better as the continents most populous cou ntry has been confronting with development challenges and crisis of governance e specially with the foray of military on its political scene. Nigeria, Africas cri ppled giant, was among the worlds 50 richest countries in the early 1970s but slu mped to find itself among the 25 poorest countries in the world at the dawn of t he 21st century. Despite its natural resource endowments and being the 6th large st oil exporter and 8th largest deposit of natural gas in the world (Soludo, 200 6), it has the majority of poor population after China and India. Africas crisis of development became compounded with the adoption of the Bretton Woods instituti

ons-inspired Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP), which enabled African gover nments development plans and planning to give way to the rule of the market. This situation, contends Oladele (2009), had devastating consequences for social sect ors such as education and health which served the public goods. Unfortunately, S AP failed to deliver on all it promised, this left both the state and the people worse offThe lesson learnt from SAP is that African states are unable to meet th e basic needs of their people when they externalize their economies and/or embra ce the market. Thus, the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)1 by the United Na tions (UN) Millennium Summit in September 2000 was hailed as it provides the Thi rd World countries, especially Africa, the new opportunity and drive to alleviat e poverty and reverse the deterioration in human developments. The MDGs also rep resents the international communitys commitment to provide an accountability fram ework and global partnership for progressively eradicating poverty in all its di mensions. With this declaration, developing countries are requested to prepare b old national strategies to achieve the MDGs for making measurable improvements i n the lives of the worlds poorest citizens. Developed countries for their own par t would increase their assistance to developing countries, particularly through high-level Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). Despite Nigerias huge resource potentials and claim of its commitment to the realisation of the MDGs by 2015, m eeting these fundamental eight goals is a daunting task. This challenge is not u nconnected with the uncoordinated policy actions in those vital areas that MDGs aim to achieve as well as the problems of heavy external debt burden, poverty, c orruption, etc. Following from the foregoing analysis, this paper uses descriptive approach to p robe the problems that are militating against the implementation and realization of the MDGs to improve the quality of life of average Nigerians through bridging the gap between social cl asses and gender. The paper puts emphasis on the roles of the multilateral agenc ies in assisting Nigeria to meet the MDGs. In the final analysis, the paper argu es that for Nigeria to meet these goals, the panaceas lie in the effective polic y coordination and the political will to match rhetoric with actions; implying t hat there is the need to formulate and implement policies that will promote tran sparency/accountability; overcome institutional constraints; promote pro-poor gr owth; bring about structural change; enhance distributive equity; promote human development, etc The Millennium Development Goals: A Brief Overview Wherever we lift one soul from a life of poverty, we are defending human rights. And wherever we fail in this mission, we are failing human rightsKofi Annan addr essing the United Nations General Assembly on the MDGs, the United Nations, New York, 2000. The epigraph above by the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, a ptly captures the essence of the MDGs, which is to give meanings to human life. The MDGs has its origin in the September 2000 gathering of 189 Heads of State an d Government for the United Nations Millennium Summit where the Millennium Decla ration was ratified. Regarded by the Socialist International (2005) as part of t he social democratic approach to governance in a global society, MDGs represents an unparalleled global commitment to free human beings especially those in the Third World regions from the bondage of absolute poverty and wretchedness. The Millennium Declaration, se e by many as one of the most vital UN documents in recent time, offers the inter national society, both rich and poor the golden opportunity to have a common pos ition and integrated vision on the best ways to address and solve the multidimen sional problems facing humanity and to promote sustainable development. The Decl arations eight MDGs cover with the following issues, viz; 1. To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. The target is to halve the proportio n of people living on less than $1 daily and those suffering from hunger by 2015 , 2. To achieve Universal Primary (Basic) Education. The target is to achieve univ

ersal basic completion by 2015, 3. To promote gender equality and women empowerment. The target is to totally ov ercome gender disparities in both primary and secondary education enrolment by 2005 and achieve equity at all levels by 2015, 4. To reduce child mortality. The target is to reduce child mortality rate by 2/ 3 by 2015, 5. To improve maternal health. The basic target is to reduce by the proportion o f women dying in childbirth by 2015, 6. To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The grand target is to stop a nd commence to reverse the incidence of HIV/AIDS malaria and other diseases by 2 015, 7. To ensure environmental sustainability. The target is to reduce by half the p roportion of people without access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation, and lastly, 8. To develop a global partnership for development. This goal recognises the imp ortance of the collaboration between the have and have-nots to eradicate poverty and extreme hunger. To achieve this goal, world leaders recognised and emphasiz ed their shared responsibilities to eradicate poverty globally. In this regards, Third World countries, reaffirmed their commitments to strengthen governance, i nstitutions and policies, while developed countries for their own part, pledged an additional and more sustainable debt relief and increased trade and technolog y opportunities for the countries of Global South. MDG, FOOD AND AGRICULTURE: THE CURRENT SITUATION Agriculture is a vital tool for achieving the MDG that calls for halving by 2015 the share of people suffering from extreme poverty and hunger.4 About 70 percen t of people in developing countries live in rural areas and most of them depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for the livelihoods. Therefore any adverse effect on food and agriculture will affect their livelihood and the possibility of achieving the MDGs. Unfortunately; the quadruple (financial, food, energy an d climate) crisis has exacerbated the destruction of the livelihoods of the poor and pushed many more people into hunger. The MDG goal one among other things co mmits to reducing the number of hungry people by half by 2015. But the food cris is is increasing the number of people in hunger rather than decreasing it. The n umber of hungry people in the world increased by 75 million in 2007 and by 100 m illion between 2008 and 2009 hitting the one billion mark in 2009. This means th at one in every six person in the world is hungry. It is important to note that most of the one billion hungry people in the world live in rural areas and their main source of income and livelihood is agriculture. The adverse consequences of the quadruple crisis have the most significant effect on the poorest of the p oor and the most vulnerable who normally have limited entitlement and opportunit ies as well as capacity to cope or adapt. MDG AS FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT It is important to point out that there are limitations of utilizing the MDGs as a framework for delivering or measuring development.3 First, they risk simplify ing what development is about, by restricting the goals to what is measurable. M any aspects of development cannot be easily measured. Secondly, some of the goal s are very modest e.g. the goal to half the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day by 2015 and the target to achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. Finally, some of the targe ts do not address the problems holistically. For instance, the MDG on education talks only of a full course of primary schooling with no reference to secondary and tertiary education. Despite the limitations mentioned above, it is necessary for us to engage the MD Gs for many reasons. First, the MDGs draw together in single agenda issues that require priority to address the development question. Secondly, the MDGs have re ceived tremendous endorsement and backing by worlds governments. Thirdly, the MDG s have the advantage being more or less measurable, few in number, concentrated on human development and focused almost on a single date-2015. Another advantage of the MDGs is that it adds urgency and transparency to international developme

nt. Finally, explicit resource commitments have been made to achieve the MDGs. W hile there is some progress towards some of the goals and targets of the Millenn ium declaration the one relating to hunger is in radical free fall spiraling bac kwards at a dramatic pace hence there is the need for a radical rethink of the p olicies programmes to address it. HEALTH IMPLICATION According to Dr. Lee Jong- Wook, the former Director-General of the WHO, improve ments in health are essential if progress is to be made with the other Millenniu m Development Goals2,5,8. Health and Education are squarely at the centre of the MDGs. Three out of eight goals, eigh t out of eighteen targets and 18 out of 48 indicators relate directly to health2 ,3. Health is also an important contributor to several other goals. The cross-se ctoral nature of health determinants has long been known. This knowledge has mor e recently evolved into a more comprehensive approach of health being addressed within a broad economic and political framework. Public health experts have long advocated that health be at the centre of development policies and efforts of r esponsible governments8,9. This, the MDGs have tried to achieve. GOAL 1 Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Recent economic growth, particularly in agriculture, has markedly reduced the pr oportion of underweight children, from 35.7 per cent in 1990 to 23.1 per cent in 2008. However, growth has not generated enough jobs and its effect on poverty is not y et clear (the most recent data is from 2004). The available data and the current policy environment suggest that the target will be difficult to meet. Growth needs to be more equitable and broad-based. Developing agriculture and cr eating jobs will require the public sector to create an enabling environment for business, including building critical infrastructure, making regulatory service s transparent and providing sustainable access to enterprise finance. Social pro tection and poverty eradication programmes need to be scaled-up and better coord inated. GOAL 2 Achieve Universal Primary Education In a major step forward, nearly nine out of ten children, 88.8 per cent, are now enrolled in school. Nevertheless, regional differences are stark. State primary completion rates range from 2 per cent to 99 per cent. In particular, progress needs to be accelerated in the north of the country if the target is to be met. Low completion rates reflect poor learning environments and point to the urgent need to raise teaching standards. The rapid improvement in youth literacy, from 64.1 per cent to 80 per cent between 2000 and 2008, appears to have reached a pl ateau. The Universal Basic Education Scheme is a promising initiative that needs to be reformed and strengthened. The Federal Teachers Scheme and in-service training by the National Teachers Institute have begun to address the urgent need to imp rove the quality of teaching. To accelerate progress and reduce regional dispari ties, these initiatives need to be rapidly expanded and improved. GOAL 3 Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women A gradual improvement in the proportion of girls enrolled in primary school, tho ugh noteworthy, is not yet enough to meet the target. There are still fewer girl s than boys in school. There are signs of backsliding in the number of girls in tertiary education. Measures to encourage girls to attend school, particularly by addressing cultura l barriers in the north of the country, and to provide the economic incentives f or boys to attend school in the south-east, are urgently required. Although few women currently hold political office, the new policy framework is encouraging. However, gradual gains in parliamentary representation for women ne ed to be greatly expanded in forthcoming elections. Confronting regional variations in the determinants of gender inequality require

s policies based on an understanding of the underlying socioeconomic, social and cultural factors. State and local government efforts will thus be critical to t he achievement of this goal. GOAL 4 Reduce Child Mortality Progress in reducing child mortality has been rapid. With sustained effort and i mprovement in related and lagging sectors, such as water and sanitation, there i s a strong possibility of achieving Goal 4 by 2015. Under-five mortality has fallen by over a fifth in five years, from 201 deaths p er 1,000 live births in 2003, to 157 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2008. In the same period, the infant mortality rate fell even faster, from 100 to 75 d eaths per 1,000 live births. Recent interventions including Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses that reflect the underlying causes of child deaths, have contributed to these succes ses. However, these need to be rapidly expanded and accelerated if Nigeria is to achi eve Goal 4. Access to primary health care needs to be improved by more investmen t in infrastructure, human resources, equipment and consumables, and better mana gement. Implementation arrangements must target local needs, which vary hugely f rom community to community and state to state. Routine immunisation is unsatisfa ctory but can be rapidly improved by building on the successes of the near-eradi cation of polio. GOAL 5 Improve Maternal Health Recent progress towards this Goal is promising and, if the latest improvements c an be sustained at the same rate, Nigeria will reach the target by 2015. Maternal mortality fell by 32 per cent, from 800 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2003 (at the time one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world) t o 545 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008. However, the proportion of births attended by a skilled health worker has remain ed low and threatens to hold back further progress. Government commitment is not in doubt. An innovative Midwives Service Scheme is expected to contribute substantially to ongoing shortfalls but its impact has ye t to be reflected in the data. If the scheme is expanded in proportion to the na tional gap in the number of midwives, this will further accelerate progress. In addition, more mothers will be covered by antenatal care as access to quality primary healthcare improves and incentives attract health workers to rural area s, indicating that Nigeria will turn progress to date on this goal into a MDG su ccess story GOAL 6 Combat HIV-AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases Nigeria has had striking success in almost eradicating polio, reducing the numbe r of cases by 98 per cent between 2009 and 2010. Another marked success was the fall in the prevalence of HIV among pregnant youn g women aged 15-24 from 5.8 per cent in 2001 to 4.2 per cent in 2008. Thus, nati onally, Nigeria has already achieved this target. However, some states still hav e high prevalence rates that require urgent policy attention. Successes have bee n buoyed by better awareness and use of contraceptives. There has been a sharp decrease in malaria prevalence rates. Nationwide distribu tion of 72 million long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets, although only in i ts initial stages, protected twice as many children (10.9 per cent) in 2009, com pared to 2008 (5.5 per cent). Similar progress has been made with tuberculosis. With sustained attention, tube rculosis is expected to be a limited public health burden by 2015. To consolidate and extend progress on Goal 6, challenges that need to be address ed include improving knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS, improving access to an tiretroviral therapies, and effective implementation of the national strategic f rameworks for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis control GOAL 7

Ensure Environmental Sustainability Nigerias natural resources, some of its most valuable national assets, are still seriously threatened. For example, between 2000 and 2010 the area of forest shra nk by a third, from 14.4 per cent to 9.9 per cent of the land area. Similarly, access to safe water and sanitation is a serious challenge for Nigeri a. Little progress was made up to 2005 but improvements since then have brought the proportion of the population accessing safe water to 58.9 per cent and the p roportion accessing improved sanitation to 51.6 per cent. The major challenge lies in translating substantial public investments in water into effective access. This requires more involvement by communities to identify local needs, and better planning to deliver holistic and sustainable solutions. In sanitation, efforts are falling short of the target. Rural-urban migration w ill add to the pressure on sanitation infrastructure throughout the country. It is doubtful that town planning authorities have made adequate preparations for s ustainable housing and sanitation. There is an urgent need for managerial, technical and financial resources to dea l with these challenges to be established at state and local government levels. Given the risks of over-exploitation of groundwater in the North and the influx of saline water in the South, innovative solutions are required across the count ry GOAL 8 Develop a Global Partnership for Development Debt relief negotiated by Nigeria in 2005 provided new opportunities for investm ent in the social sector. Debt servicing fell from 15.2 per cent of exports in 2 005 to 0.5 per cent in 2008. To build on these positive developments there is a need to take action to forest all a relapse into unsustainable levels of debt that could prevent the country f rom achieving the MDGs. The outlook for the broader partnership for development is not as bright. Trade agreements continue to be inequitable and constrain exports and economic growth. Development assistance has grown although, when debt relief is excluded, it is still very low on a per capita basis. Improving the quality of human and capital resources available is critical to at tracting the foreign direct investment that is needed to contribute to developme nt. As a result of the deregulation of the telecommunications sector in 2001, the pr oportion of the population with access to mobile telephones increased from 2 per cent to 42 per cent between 2000 and 2008. However, this has yet to bridge the digital divide and only 15.8 per cent of the population currently has access to the internet. LIMITATION OF MDGs The limitations of the MDGs and its targets are well documented.[i] First, they risk simplifying what development is about, by restricting the goals to what is measurable. Many aspects of development cannot be easily measured. Secondly, som e of the goals are very modest e.g. the goal to half the proportion of people li ving on less than $1 a day by 2015 and the target to achieve a significant impro vement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. Finally, some of the targets do not address some the problems holistically. For instance, the MDG on education talks only of a full course of primary schooling with no refer ence to secondary and tertiary education. Nigeria and the MDGs: Problems and Possibilities Putting the attainment of these goals in the Nigerian context, it is clear that they are real challenges. Flowing from our discussions on the MDGs above, the Ni gerian government is obviously overwhelmed by the tasks. The positive social imp acts that the implementation of the MDGs can make in the lives of Nigerians were considered by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in giving debt re lief to Nigeria. So far, the Nigerian government score sheet is unimpressive to the extent that the House of Representatives has threatened to stop financial al location to any Ministry or Parastatal that has failed to implement the MDGs (Th

e Vanguard, 2009). The real challenge that militates against the realization of the MDGs is those of policy implementation because adequate budgetary allocation s have been made by the government. Furthermore, the implementation of MDGs has been characterized by deeply entrenched corruption and gross inefficiency, and wastefulness. For example, the Senate report on MDGs des cribed the MDGs office as a cesspool of corruption and shady deals (The Guardian, 2009b). Corruption has been a major problem because it makes the country unattrac tive to investors as it raises the cost and risk of doing business in the countr y (UNDP, 2004). In addition, there is the problem of duplication of projects in t he same areas by the Federal Government, and multilateral donor agencies. Even t he Senior Special Assistant to President Umaru Musa YarAdua, Hajia Amina Az- Zuba ir is skeptical about the possibilities of Nigeria meeting the MDGs by 2015 in s pite of the huge funding which amounts to N320 billion deducted from the Debt Re lief Gains (DRG) devoted to MDGs projects all over Nigeria (Nwokeoma, 2009). Alt hough analysts believe that Nigeria can overcome the odds and achieve the MDGs i n the areas of universal primary education, the fight against the scourge of HIV /AIDS, and improve on the sustainability of its environment, and partner in glob al development, the fact still remains that reduction of child and maternal mort ality, as well as lessening poverty (NPC, 2007). Nigeria and the Millennium Development Goals: Prospects From the foregoing discussions, it is apparent that Nigeria is inundated with po verty and economic underdevelopment which, coupled with poor administration, lac k of political will, etc have made its yearning towards achieving the MDGs in 20 15 very unrealistic. Then, what can Nigeria do to overcome these problems? Put d ifferently, what are the ways out of the present predicaments to realizing the i deals and lofty goals of the MDGs by 2015? Let it be clearly stated here that de spite its (Nigeria) present challenges to the realization of the goals, the coun try has sufficient resources needed to meet the MDGs target by 2015 but what is of utmost importance and require for this to materialize is for the countrys lea dership to overhaul its conceptualization and implementation of policies and pro grammes to meet the 2015 targets. In specific terms, we recommend the followings : First, government should establish credible and efficient institutions for pro per public resource management, while the existing ones need to be strengthened. The imperative of this endeavour is to ensure efficient or better still, proper utilization of public resources (public goods) with the overall objective of pr eventing, or at least, minimizing waste and inefficiencies of the previous years the country witnessed especially under military rule (1983-1999). In addendum, this institutional re-engineering/restructuring, so to say, will give the opport unity of ensuring due process, diligence, accountability, etc. It is important t o state here that the Nigerian government, especially under the present civilian administration has embarked on this endeavour. One good example of this initiative to meet the MDGs targets under the Obasanjos administration (May 1999 -May 2007) is the creation of the Oversight of Public Expenditure in Nigeria (OP EN). OPEN is established with the oversight functions of monitoring the Debt Rel ief Gains (DRGs) and this could serve as a model for two major reasons. First, O PENs leadership is participatory, transparent, and involves government-civil soci ety partnership in that it recognizes and includes the participation of both pri vate and public sector (PPP). Second, the OPEN mechanism was established to trac k resources. Despite the exemplary model provided by OPEN, we should be very cau tious here because development is very broad in definition and it entails a lot of indices that transcend the allocation of DRGs to some ministries and Parastat als. This is because; according to Igbuzor (2006) development requires growth and structural change, some measures of distributive equity, modernization in social and cultural attitudes, a degree of political tr ansformation and stability, an improvement in health and education so that popul ation growth stabilizes, and an increase in urban living and employment. (See als o Kambhampati, 2004). Furthermore, establishing credible and efficient institutions are necessary but

not sufficient conditions for total transformation in order to realize the MDGs in 2015. This needs to be complemented with, or go side by side with, transparen cy and accountability of these institutions, and the entrenchment of good govern ance and rule of law. Lack of accountability and transparency have been major ch allenges of development in Nigeria, especially with the advent of military rule. The countrys financial experts have a great role to play in this regard. At anot her level, the Nigerian authority should embark on pragmatic socio-economic poli cy reforms for the interests of all and sundry. These reforms should address the problems of rising cost of doing business in the country, inefficiency, lack of transparency and accountability, macroeconomic stabilization. Also to be addres sed by such policy reforms are the problems associated with infrastructure, heal th, etc and reduce the risk of uncertainties characterized with business environ ment in Nigeria. Though, the Obasanjos government economic reform (NEEDS) is comm endable while the present YarAduas governments Seven Point Agenda is in its embryon ic stage, more of these reforms are needed with strong political will and sincer ity of purpose to achieve the stated goals. Also important is that such economic policy reforms should be Pro-Poor Growth oriented. It is equally necessary to p romote sound policy to increase productivity in the agricultural sector (NPC, 20 07). Though it is acknowledged that the Nigerian economy recorded some appreciab le growth rate in recent years (especially under the Obasanjos presidency) but it should be realized that such economic growth can only be sustainable and achieving the MDG s targets, if and only if, such growth is pro-Poor. What this connotes is that e conomic growth should leads to poverty alleviation and betterment of the lots of ordinary Nigerians (i.e. the masses). The essence of the pro-Poor economic grow th could be deciphered in President Obasanjos statement from the NEEDS document w hen he said: we must not continue to stress the pursuit of a high growth rate in statistical terms and fail to reduce the social and economic deprivation of a su bstantial number and group of our people. We must not absolutely pursue wealth a nd growth at the expense of inner wellbeing, joy, satisfaction, fulfillment, and contentment of human being. (See Federal Government of Nigeria, 2004). Another i mportant area that Nigeria needs to invest its energy on to meet the MDGs target s is to reinforcing its collaboration (i.e. partnership) with development partne rs. Though, we have argued earlier that Nigeria is blessed with human and materi al resources, but it still need additional external assistance to make adequate progress towards achieving the MDGs. According to the 2005 World Bank and the UK Department for International Developments Country Strategy Partnership Strategys document, it is estimated that Nigeria wou ld require external financing of about $6.4 billion annually between 2005 and 20 08. It is argued that Nigeria received during this period only $2 per capita in ODA which is marginal compare to the average for Africa of $28 per capita. This is why Nigeria is been regarded as been highly under aided. Furthermore partners hip with development partners which will also involve interaction between govern ment, public sector and the private sector at the external environment. Thus, th is will require transformists from the public sector, civil society, media and pu blic sector to build a critical movement of people advocating for and implementi ng change. (Igbuzor, 2006). Literature Review The situation of MDG in Nigeria can be seen from two main sources: the Nigeria M DG report 2004 and the Nigeria MDG report 2005. We can also assess the situation from MDG office especially the Debt Relief Gains as provided in the 2006 annual budget. The 2004 report which was Nigerias first report on the MDGs states that b ased on available information it is unlikely that the country will be able to me et most of the goals by 2015 especially the goals related to eradicating extr eme poverty and hunger, reducing child and maternal mortality and combating HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other diseases It further states that for most of the other go als (i.e apart from goal 1) up- to- date data exists which shows that if the cur rent trend continues, it will be difficult for the country to achieve the MDG ta rgets by 2015.

The Nigeria Millennium Development Goals 2005 report is the second in the series of annual reports on the MDGs in Nigeria. The report which addressed the eight MDGs highlights the current status and trends of each of the MDGs, the challenge s and opportunities in attaining the goal, the promising initiatives that are cr eating a supportive environment and priorities for development assistance. The r eport concluded that: There is high potential to attain some of the Millennium Development Targets nam ely, Achieving universal primary education Ensuring environmental stability Developing a global partnership for development Given the current policy environment and strong political will, there is also th e likelihood of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. However, based on available information, there is the need for sustained efforts to ensure that the country meets the following goals by year 2015: Achieving gender equality and women empowerment Reducing child mortality Improving maternal health; and Combating HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases The conclusion of the MDG 2005 report is very remarkable and gives hope that the re is possibility for achieving all the MDGs in Nigeria with sustained effort. T his conclusion is quite different from the conclusions reached by the first repo rt in 2004. It is intriguing that without providing the basis and reason for the dramatic change, the 2005 states that there is high potential to achieve 3 of t he goals (Goals 2,7 and 8) likelihood to achieve one with strong political will( Goal 1) and the need for sustained efforts to ensure that the country meets the remaining four goals(Goals 3,4,5, and 6). The details of the situation in Nigeria as captured in the 2005 MDG report with regard to each of the goals is shown below: 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (2015 target Halve proportion of people living on less than $1 a day, and tho se suffering hunger): The current rate of reduction in poverty is too slow to me et the targets set for 2015. if the current rate of poverty reduction is maintai ned, poverty incidence would reduce to 43 percent as opposed to 21.4 percent by 2015. 2. Achieve Universal Basic Education (2015 target Achieve universal primary completion): The efficiency of primary education has improved over the years, as the primary six completion rate incre ased steadily from 65 percent in 1998 to 83 percent in 2001. It however declined in 2002 only to shoot up to 94 percent in 2003. Literacy level in the country has steadily and gradually deteriorated, especiall y within the 15 -24 years group. By 1999, the overall literacy rate had declined to 64.1 percent from 71.9 percent in 1991. The trend was in the same direction for male and female members of the 15-24 years age bracket. Among the male, the rate declined from 81.35 percent in 1991 to 69.8 percent in 1999. The decline am ong the female was from 62.49 percent to 59.3 percent during the same period. 3. Promote Gender equality (2005/2015 target Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary ed ucation enrolment by 2005, and achieve equity at all levels by 2015): At the pri mary school level, enrolment has been consistently higher for boys (56 percent) than for girls (44 percent). 4. Reduce Child Mortality (2015 target Reduce by two thirds the child mortality rate): Infant mortality rate was 91 per 1000 live births in 1990 which later declined to 75 in 1999 but became worse in 2003. It rose to 100 per 1000 live births in 2003. 5. Improve maternal health (2015 target Reduce by three quarters the proportion of women dying in childb

irth): The 1999 multiple indicator cluster survey reported a maternal mortality rate of 704 per 100,000 live births. The maternal mortality is more than twice a s high in the rural areas. The report did not give comparative statistics. 6. Combat AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases (2015 target Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of HIV-AIDS, malaria and other major diseases): Since the identification of the first HIV/AIDS case in m id 1980s, the HIV prevalence rate has continually been on the increase from 1.8 to 5.8 percent in the period between 1991 and 2001. In 2003, the rate decreased to 5.0 percent and in 2005, it decreased to 4.4 percent. 7. Ensure environmental sustainability (Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and p rogrammes and reverse the loss of environmental resources 2015 target reduce by half the proportion of people without access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation By 2020 achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million s lum dwellers): The country is endowed with abundant environmental resources. How ever, high population growth rate and increasing demand for these resources thre aten environmental sustainability. The environmental situation is challenged by myriad of problems, which impact negatively on the utilization of the resources for development and poverty alleviation. 8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development (Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and p rogrammes and reverse the loss of environmental resources 2015 target reduce by half the proportion of people without access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation By 2020 achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million s lum dwellers): The level of Official Development Assistance is increasing but s till very low. The problem of market access for products of developing countries including Nigeria still persists. A review of the Nigeria Millennium Development Goals 2005 report will reveal a n umber of problems. We shall focus on only three of them. First, there is the cha llenge of accurate, reliable, credible and believable statistics. The draft of t he first Nigeria MDG progress report prepared by NISER stated that at the primar y school level by 2002, the gender ratio was 1:04 in favour of girls . This was se riously criticized by CSOs as not reflecting reality. When the final report cam e out, it stated that at the primary school level, the gender ratio increased fro m 0.76 in 1990 to 0.78 in 1995 and 0.96 in 2000 The statistics had changed. In t he past two and a half decade, statistics in Nigeria have always indicated incre asing levels of poverty over the past two and a half decades from 28.1% in 1980 to 65.6% in 1996 (MDG Report ,2004). In the early 2000s, there were many estimat es that poverty rate was above 70%. But President Obasanjo has always insisted w ithout any study that the poverty level was much lower. Expectedly, when the NPC conducted a survey in 2004, the poverty level was put at 54.4%. Before this rep ort was released the 2004 MDG report stated that it is unlikely that the country will be able to meet most of the goals by 2015 especially the goals related to e radicating extreme poverty and hunger. After the release of the report, the 2005 MDG report stated that given the current policy environment and strong political will, there is also the likelihood of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger p.vi ii. The second problem with the report is that it is development assistance focused. The 2005 MDG report highlights the status of the MDGs, the challenges, opportun ities and priorities for development assistance. This is not surprising for deve lopment strategy planning in Nigeria has been essentially external focused. Acco rding to the Nigerian draft interim poverty reduction strategy paper prepared in November, 2001 (the precursor of NEEDS), Nigeria has embarked on preparing its own PRSP as a requirement for concessional assistance from its development partners abroad, including the World Bank, the

IMF, the bilateral donors and other sources of such assistance. Given the import ance of the subject and the tight timetable, the Nigerian authorities fully reco gnize the need to move forward expeditiously to the timely completion of the c ountries PRSP of which this interim PRSP (IPRSP) is the preliminary step. The final drawback of the report that we will like to point out is that the repo rt did not indicate the policies and practices that need to change to attain the goals. Meanwhile, scholars and agencies have documented what needs to be done t o tackle poverty and achieve the MDGs. In this review, we shall outline the reco mmendations of three agencies: the World Bank, UNDP and ActionAid International. The World Bank in its 2001 report titled Attacking poverty points out that physi cal capital was not enough, and that at least as important were health and educa tion and proposed a strategy for attacking poverty in three ways : 1. Promoting opportunity Encouraging effective private investment Expanding into international markets Building the assets of poor people Addressing asset inequalities across gender, ethnic, racial and social divides Getting infrastructure and knowledge to poor area-rural and urban 2. Facilitating Empowerment Laying the political and legal basis for inclusive development Creating public administration that foster growth and equity Promoting inclusive decentralization and community development Promoting gender equity Tracking social barriers 3. Enhancing Security Formulating a modular approach to helping poor people manage risk Developing national programs to prevent, prepare for, and respond to macro shock s-financial and natural Designing national systems of social risk management that are also pro-growth Addressing civil conflict Tackling the HIV/AIDS Epidemic The UNDP in its Human Development report of 2003 titled Millennium Development G oals: A Compact Among Nations to end Human Poverty pointed out that to achieve t he MDGs require policy responses to structural constraints on several fronts alo ng with stepped up external support. The report recommended six policy clusters to help countries break out of their poverty traps: 1. Invest early and ambitiously in basic education and health while fosteri ng gender equity. These are preconditions to sustained economic growth. Growth i n turn can generate employment and raise incomes- feeding back into further gain s in education and health gains. 2. Increase the productivity of small farmers in unfavourable environmentsthat is, the majority of the worlds hungry people. A reliable estimate is that 7 0 percent of the worlds poorest people live in rural areas and depend on agricult ure. 3. Improve basic infrastructure- such as ports, roads, power and communicat ions- to reduce the costs of doing business and overcome geographic barriers. 4. Develop an industrial development policy that nurtures entrepreneurial a ctivity and helps diversify the economy away from dependence on primary commodit y exports- with an active role for small scale and medium size enterprises. 5. Promote democratic governance and human rights to remove discrimination, secure social justice and promote well being of all people. 6. Ensure environmental sustainability and sound urban management so that d evelopment improvements are long term. ActionAid International in its report titled Changing Course: Alternative Approa ches to Achieve Millennium Development Goals and Fight HIV/AIDs shows that there is a yawning gap between MGD needs and spending realities in poor countries and that macroeconomic policies enforced by the IMF block poor countries from being able to spend more on education, health and economic development. The report

argued that for the MDGs to be achieved, the world must start to change course n ow and adopt at local, national and international levels alternative economic po licies that allow for much higher long-term public investments in health, educat ion and development. CAN NIGERIA MEET THE GOALS? The question of whether Nigeria can or cannot meet the MDGs is a crucial one tha t should agitate the minds of politicians, government bureaucrats, civil society activists and development workers. In our view, there is no straightforward ans wer. It can be answered either in the negative or the affirmative. The NEEDS do cument clearly states that if present trend continues, the country is not likely to meet the Millennium Development Goals. On the other hand, the 2005 report gi ves the conditions for meeting the goals: strong political will and sustained ef forts. Perhaps, a better way to frame the question is what can Nigeria do to mee t the MDGs in 2015?. In our view, Nigeria has sufficient resources to meet the MDGs in 2015. But for this to happen, as argued above, the country will have to change course in the conceptualization and implementation of policies and progra mmes to achieve the MDGs. One good initiative in Nigeria designed to meet the MDGs is the Oversight of Pub lic Expenditure in Nigeria (OPEN) set up to monitor the Debt Relief Gain(DRG). T wo issues make this initiative unique. The first is the leadership of the proces s which has been participatory, open, transparent and all inclusive with partici pation of private sector and civil society. The second and perhaps most importan t is that systems have been put in place to track resources. This is perhaps th e model that should become the norm in every ministry, department and agency at all levels of government. It must be however be recognized that development is a complex issue and goes be yond allocation of Debt Relief Gains to some MDG Ministries. A scholar once argu ed that development requires growth and structural change, some measure of distr ibutive equity, modernization in social and cultural attitudes, a degree of poli tical transformation and stability, an improvement in health and education so th at population growth stabilizes, and an increase in urban living and employment. In our view, social transformation will require good change and progress in th e following areas: Transparency and accountability: Several analysis of the challenges of developme nt in Nigeria has identified lack of transparency and accountability as a major obstacle. Accountants in Nigeria have a great role to play in this regard. They must change the way auditing is done from financial auditing of certifying payme nts and receipts to systems auditing and examining the whole concept of value fo r money. Otherwise, accountants and auditors will just be certifying corruption. Tackling institutional constraints: To deliver services to the people require ef fective and efficient institutions that follow due process and standards. Pro-Poor Growth: It is clear that there has been economic growth in Nigeria in t he last few years above 5 percent. But economic growth alone cannot lead to achi evement of the MDGs unless the growth is pro-poor. As President Obasanjo said, We must not continue to stress the pursuit of a high growth rate in statistical te rms and fail to reduce the social and economic deprivation of a substantial numb er and group of our people. We must not absolutely pursue wealth and growth at t he expense of inner well being, joy, satisfaction, fulfillment and contentment o f human beings. Structural Change: To achieve the MDGs in Nigeria, there is the need to change t he structure of the economy in such a way that the economy is not dependent on o nly one product but diversified economy and expanding the industrial sector. Distributive Equity: Deliberate efforts and policies must be put in place to red istribute income. The MDGs will be meet if the poor and excluded in society are empowered to meet their basic needs. Social and cultural Re-orientation: There is the need for social and cultural re

-orientation to meet some of the goals. For instance, the goals on women and gir ls require a new kind of mindset to achieve them. Political Transformation: The political system and the way it engenders commitme nt, participation and patriotism by the people contributes immensely to national cohesion, peace and stability and development. Human Development: Development implies the fulfillment of basic human needs incl uding those for education and health. Urban Development: The growth of urbanization is definitely increasing and there will probably be more people in urban areas than rural areas by 2015. There mus t be urban development process that is inclusive and not based on dislocation of slum dwellers without alternatives. Employment: Employment is the surest way of achieving the MDGs because individua ls will receive income and will contribute to the economy. Transformation of Power Relations: Whenever power is concentrated in the hands o f a few, they will utilise such powers to accumulate wealth. To achieve the MDGs will require transformation of power relations and challenge of patriarchy. Partnership with development partners: It has been documented that in order to m ake adequate progress towards achieving the MDGs, Nigeria will require additiona l external financing averaging about US $6.4 billion annually between 2005 and 2 008. Even if the resources in the country are used effectively there will still be challenges in meeting the MDGs. Meanwhile, Nigeria is seriously underaided. Nigeria receives only US $2 per capita in ODA compared to the average for Africa of US $28 per capita. In addition, meeting the MDGs will require partnership be tween government, the public sector and the private sector. In particular, it wi ll require transformists from the public sector, civil society, media and privat e sector to build a critical movement of people advocating for and implementing change. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE WAY FORWARD In future editions of the report, it will be necessary to address the problems o f the 2005 report discussed above. For the MDG/GCAP working group in Nigeria, th ere will be the need to address the following issues: Engage more robustly with the process of producing the report and make critical input Nigerianise the MDGs and advocate for what needs to be done to eradicate poverty in Nigeria. Monitor the achievement of the MDGs in Nigeria. In particular, monitor the Debt Relief Gains. Monitor the Budget and track resources with special attention to achievement of the MDGs in particular and poverty eradication in general. Broaden the campaign to include faith based organisations, labour, farmers, diff erently abled people, women groups and other social movements Advocate for the return of the return of the $6.4 billion paid by Nigeria to the rich countries inspite of challenges that it face in meeting the MDGs. CONCLUSION The problem of development is a global challenge and the MDGs is a response by w orld leaders. There are limitations to utilizing the MDGs as a framework for del ivering or measuring development. But they provide a platform to engage the deve lopment process. The situation in Nigeria indicates that there are challenges in meeting the goals by 2015. For Nigeria to meet the goals in 2015, there is the need to formulate and implement policies that will promote transparency and acco untability; overcome institutional constraints; promote pro-poor growth; bring a bout structural change; enhance distributive equity; engender social and cultura l re-orientation; engineer political transformation; promote human development; practice inclusive urban development; generate employment and transform power re lations. It must be noted that there has been preceeding discrepancy between the setting of international goals and the interpretation and implementation of policies and

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