Uduaghan: Recording Successes With MDGs, Calls For Collective Action For Sustenance BY FIDELIS EGUGBO IN the year 2000, the United Nations organised the Millennium Summit and the outcome of that sum¬mit was the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which are eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achievement of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women, reduction in child mortality, improvement of maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development by the year 2015. In Nigeria, have we made progress? Today, it is no lon¬ger achieving the MDGs but, MDGs and beyond which goes to show that apart from achieving the MDGs, it is also, important to sustain the goals. Though, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has peace and security, infrastructure development and human capital development as the programmes of his admin¬istration in Delta State since 2007, a critical look at what his administration has achieved will make it ob¬vious that the eight goals of the MDGs and more were encompassed in the three-point agenda of the admin¬istration. Many people may not appreciate the successes re¬corded by the Governor Uduaghan administration but, if the eight MDGs are used as yardstick to measure the success of the administration of the governor, certainly, even critics would appreciate the fact that Governor Uduaghan has delivered. On assumption of duty, he carefully outlined pro¬grammes to tackle more than the eight goals of the MDGs and today, Deltans cannot be said to be living in abject poverty as they have ready access to fund through the state micro-credit programme. It is only those who are lazy and unwilling to engage in meaning¬ful activities that are not earning money or are employ¬ers of labour in the state. Also, education was made available to everybody in the state from the primary to the tertiary level. While there is free education at the primary and secondary levels which also boasts of first class infrastructure, Deltans who are in tertiary institutions are supported financially through bursary and any graduate with first class certificate bags automatic scholarship to study in any university of his choice in any part of the world for his or her doctorate degree. It is also a fact that there is no state in the federation that has encouraged women participation in politics like the Dr. Uduaghan administration and women can be found holding key positions in the state while child mortality rates have been reduced. To Dr. Uduaghan, “prior to the introduction of the programme (free maternal health care pro¬gramme in November 2007), ma¬ternal mortality rate stood at an alarming 456 per 100, 000 live births – which was unacceptable to us. However, today even with more women availing themselves of the opportunities of the pro¬gramme, the maternal mortality rate has reduced to 188 per 100, 000 live births in 2013 and we are still working hard to reduce these figures.” In the area of health care delivery and disease control, Dr. Uduaghan was at home in tackling such challenges as a passionate medical doctor while he has attracted a lot of international organisations to partner with Delta State in different fields that will encourage the growth and development of the state. But, with the successes the governor of Delta State has recorded in the area of MDGs; including making the state environment-friendly and being a champion for the creation of awareness about climate change, as Deltans, individuals or corporate organisations carry¬ing out our economic or private activities in Delta State, what have we contributed to making life worth living for the people? Can we comfortably say that we are also championing good environment, good neighbour¬liness and protecting government property? Recently, Governor Uduaghan disclosed that private organisations also, deserve to partner with govern¬ment for targets of MDGs to be realised. The governor who was speaking when the President of Society of Gy¬naecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), Dr Fred Achem and members of the society paid him a courtesy visit in Asaba, noted that meeting the MDGs was not the challenge of government alone but that private organi¬sations must play active roles in the efforts to reduce poverty in the country. “Until we are able to deal with the challenges of pro-poor in this country, we cannot be comfortable because, a poor man can make you to be very uncomfortable un¬til you attend to his or her needs,” Governor Uduaghan said. There is a saying that the rich cannot sleep be¬cause the poor is awake that is why one can comfort¬ably commend the governor for his efforts in the re-distribution of wealth. How much money does a man really need to be comfortable? A friend once refused to switch on his generator set because he be¬lieved that the noise from the gen¬erator constituted nuisance to his neighbour. He was afraid that his neighbours could conspire and even attack him if he continued using his generator set in an envi¬ronment where the power supply from the national grid had failed. There is no reason why the su¬per-rich cannot live comfortably with their wealth when levels have changed positively for the pro-poor in the society. It is very important for everybody to be in¬volved in the reduction of poverty. It will make the economy to be more buoyant but, it is also, important that the pro-poor in the society be in¬volved in economic activities that will make their lives better. The gradual but, steady development of Delta State by the Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration should be applauded as the administration has gone further to look beyond the MDGs by engaging in actions that will make the people sustain the economy of the state without depending on revenue from oil through the Delta Beyond Oil initiative. As Deltans and as corporate organisations and indi¬viduals who are living in Delta State, we should engage in actions that will make the state safer, where people are engaged in economic activities with great reduction or non-existent of societal ills such as armed robbery or kidnapping.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 09:03:42 +0000
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