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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION<br />
The MDGs and <strong>Nigeria</strong><br />
<strong>Nigeria</strong> is an active member <strong>of</strong> the global<br />
community that acceded <strong>to</strong> the United Nations<br />
Millennium Declaration <strong>of</strong> 2000, which is the<br />
basis <strong>of</strong> the Millennium Development Goals<br />
(MDGs). The eight MDGs are time-bound (<strong>to</strong> be<br />
achieved by the year 2015) with specific<br />
miles<strong>to</strong>nes (18 targets and 48 technical indica<strong>to</strong>rs<br />
agreed by the international community) for<br />
measuring progress. The Millennium Declaration<br />
is thus one <strong>of</strong> the more progressive initiatives <strong>of</strong><br />
the global community, with a results-based<br />
approach for alleviating poverty and improving<br />
living standards, focusing not only on inputs,<br />
activities and outputs but, more importantly, on<br />
outcomes.<br />
Even though <strong>Nigeria</strong>‘s poverty reduction<br />
strategies have entailed significant investments in<br />
MDGs sec<strong>to</strong>rs for decades especially at State and<br />
Local Government levels where constitutional<br />
responsibility for poverty reduction lies, the<br />
volume <strong>of</strong> the financial resources on <strong>of</strong>fer have<br />
been inadequate and the management and impact<br />
<strong>of</strong> these investments have not <strong>of</strong>ten been very<br />
effective. In the socio-political environment,<br />
demands for good governance, accountability and<br />
transparency, greater development effectiveness,<br />
and delivery <strong>of</strong> tangible results, in the face <strong>of</strong> the<br />
country‘s huge oil revenues had swelled up.<br />
For many developing countries, mustering the<br />
relatively huge financial outlays necessary for<br />
moving <strong>to</strong>wards adopting development<br />
management systems geared <strong>to</strong>wards achieving<br />
the MDGs in an effective and transparent way has<br />
constituted enormous challenge. For <strong>Nigeria</strong>, this<br />
challenge lingered until the nation got debt relief<br />
from the Paris and London Clubs in 2005, nearly<br />
half a decade after acceding <strong>to</strong> UN Millennium<br />
Declaration. The DRGs and the conditionalities<br />
associated with how they should be invested<br />
provided the government with a new opportunity<br />
<strong>to</strong> demonstrate its willingness and ability not only<br />
for reforms but, above all, for showing results. It is<br />
this quest for both reform and development results<br />
that led <strong>to</strong> the establishment <strong>of</strong> a cabinet-level the<br />
Office <strong>of</strong> the Senior Special Assistant <strong>to</strong> the<br />
President on MDGs (OSSAP-MDGs) charged<br />
The eight goals <strong>of</strong> the Millennium<br />
Declaration<br />
Goal 1:Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger<br />
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education<br />
Goal 3:Promote gender equality and empower<br />
women<br />
Goal 4:Reduce child mortality<br />
Goal 5:Improve maternal health<br />
Goal 6: Combat HIV & AIDS, malaria and other<br />
diseases<br />
Goal 7:Ensure environmental sustainability<br />
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for<br />
development<br />
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