Development economist/Country Director of Policy House International and former chief of staff Edo state, Taiwo Akerele has listed the gains of Nigeria and the Nigerian government at the recently concluded UNGA and the IMF/World bank annual meetings 2022.
Mr Akerele who participated in his capacity as development and basic education reforms advocate hinted that Nigeria’s participation in the 2022 outings was not in vain. Mr President Mohammadu Buhari’s speech at the General Assembly was well received. Mr President, for instance, touched on his achievements, especially in the area of combating Boko Haram in the Northeast, his efforts at reviving the economy his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition. It was an emotional outing as this was the last attendance in his capacity as President.
Civil Society Organizations were particularly delighted that Mr President touched on the new electoral law that reduces the incidences of rigging and ballot snatching, his speech also touched on electronic transmission of results and the transparent elections in Anambra, Ekiti, and Ondo states as examples of how the country has transformed in election management.
At the launching of the Integrated Financing Framework (IFF) for the SDGs at the UN Plaza, it was gratifying to both the development partners, the private sector, and Civil Society Organizations that Nigeria has gone a mile ahead of other countries in the search for alternative financing for the SDGs. You will agree with me that any country that is desirous of meetings its SDGs and objectives must look beyond the normal annual appropriation for such.
Nigeria was well applauded for taking a bold step in this direction.
This event was well attended as Mr President was supported by the Hon Minster of State for Budget and Planning Prince Clem Agba, the SSA on the SDGs, and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa.
At the annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF held in Washington DC, the Nigerian delegation was sighted in several meetings arguing in support of more Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), IMF quota reforms, climate change support initiatives, support for education financing and extension of education-related projects such as the highly impactful Better Education Service Delivery Project (BESDA), etc. it is gratifying to note that the presence of top officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) led by the hard-working former IMF alternate director for Nigeria and Deputy Governor of the CBN, Dr Kingsley Obiora, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, Finance Minister Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed and Presidential Adviser Prof Doyin Salami was very enriching.
At the Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) of the World Bank where I participated as a panellist on SDRs reviews and education reforms, it was noted by the IMF and the world bank that Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world that is presently implementing the Gender-based budgeting system that prioritizes social inclusion, girl child education, and gender equality, this model was recommended by top world bank officials for other developing countries. We intend to follow up with the Federal Government on ways to sustain and domestic this initiative at both the State and Local Government levels.
It is however interesting to note that development partners expressed concern about the worsening out-of-school children crisis in Nigeria, the continued closure of schools in some northern states, and the abduction of children. The Nigerian delegation was very confident that the recent actions of the military have helped secure the release of most kidnapped victims. Nigerian Civil Society Organizations that participated in the two significant events pledged to continue to serve as third-party monitors to the multiple pro-citizens and pro-poor policies of the Nigerian government towards ensuring result-based implementation strategies.
Despite Nigeria’s huge and productive presence and the seemingly positive result, it must be stated that the Nigeran government has a lot of work to do especially around inflation control, climate change/flood management, sustainable basic education funding, and wrapping up its security architecture.