November 20, (THEWILL) – A United Nation Chief, Mr.Philippe Baudin-Auliac, in charge of political affairs and Partnerships Section, Office of the Director-General in Geneva, and the Permanent Representative of Centre for Convention on Democratic Integrity (CCDI) to the United Nations, Mr Olufemi Aduwo, have commended the Minister of Niger Delta, Mr Godswill Akpabio, for restoring peace to the once-fragile region.
In a statement jointly signed by both envoys, they affirmed that the region deserves sustainable support from development agencies in order to consolidate the peace achieved so far.
Baudin-Auliac and Aduwo participated in the just-concluded 4-day conference alongside President Obasanjo and other world leaders to deliberate on the theme: “The Right To Development And The 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development” held at the United Nations in Geneva.
They applauded Akpabio for his commitment to the goal 16 of SDGs development in the Niger Delta, which provides for promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provides access to justice for all and builds effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
The statement reads in parts: “The second side of democracy is development and development would be imaginary without peace.
“Transparent, accountable and inclusive public institutions serve as the cornerstones for the state to provide the citizens their basic human rights. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development.”
They called on the federal government to initiate a dialogue process with all the agitators across the country and submitted that a united Nigeria remains the only alternative for sub-Saharan development.
Aduwo, in the paper presented at the conference noted that the first four years of implementation of the SDGs in many sub Saharan countries have not been entirely promising.
The report records that progress on its implementation since 2015 have been off the track with respect to most goals.
“The available data points to the fact that instead of making progress,indicators on many targets have worsened compared to previous years.
“The downward spiral in sub Saharan Africa is only expected to exacerbate in 2022 with the world brought to its knees by covid-19 pandemic.
“With implementation proceeding in a manner reminiscent of the MDGs era, it ppears unlikely that the SDGs will be realised by 2030 with business as usual.”
About the Author
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
