As part of the strategic efforts towards making substantial progress in the actualisation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Lagos State Government has encouraged local authorities to promote coherent and integrated policies and initiatives that will support the targets of SDGs.
This was made known at a forum organised by the Office of Sustainable Development Goals and Investment with the theme; Activating Broad Enlightenment and Capacity Building on Sustainable Development Goals for Critical Stakeholders in Local Government in Lagos State, held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, GRA, Ikeja.
Addressing the stakeholders at the forum, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals and Investment, Mrs Solape Hammond described local authorities as purveyors of SDGs who has the ultimate space to ensure government initiatives towards the goals have a significant impact on the lives of the people.
She explained that the Office of Sustainable Development Goals and Investment is garnering relevant stakeholders across the State to push the all-inclusive Agenda 2030 and make our communities resilient.
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In his remark, the Chairman, House Committee on SDGs & Investment, Hon. Sylvester Ogunkelu stated the delivery of SDGs is a shared responsibility that humanity has placed on everyone irrespective of socio-political affiliation, religious or ethnic belief because poverty, hunger, conflict, environmental disaster does not recognise an individual or societal sentiment.
“No one must be left behind in the attainment of these goals. As an institution with several interdependent entities, all LGAs and LCDAs in the State will be empowered to galvanise resources and create an agenda towards achieving these goals”, the Chairman said.
Hon. Ogunkelu encouraged participants to be the torch bearers in their local communities by influencing the government’s decisions and policies in responding to the needs of the people at the grassroots.
While providing an insight into government’s inclusive approach to fastening the SDGs targets on local needs, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on SDGs, Mr Lekan Fatodu pointed out that local stakeholders have a huge commitment towards the attainment of these goals.
Fatodu revealed that the SDGs is an ideology that the government has embraced to get every citizen to live a fulfilled and impactful life, adding that the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda is also helping in scaling developmental efforts.
“The office of SDGs and Investment has established a participatory structure that encourages ideas, principles, policies, efforts towards these goals. Definitely, gatherings like this provide an opportunity for structured dialogue that will make our local stakeholders become more proactive’, he asserted.
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Speaking on the topic: Mobilising the Grassroots in Lagos State for Sustainable Development Goals: A Pathway Forward, Mr. Temitope Ajayi, a Government Relations and Marketing Communication Expert, submitted that all of the SDGs targets are directly indirectly related to the daily work of local governments.
According to him, SDGs is set out to create opportunities and prosperity for people to live a better life. Local authorities must secure political support for LGAs SDGs related advocacy work and obtain domestic resources for SDGs implementation activities.
In acknowledging the State Government stride towards strengthening local stakeholders to be an agent of change towards the delivery of the global goals, Ajayi described local efforts as germane to the SDGs stride, stating local stakeholder must be creative in identifying and providing solutions to dynamic challenges that are peculiar in local communities.
While speaking on the relevance of localising the SDGs, a Human Right Advocate, Mr Femi Aganra, disclosed that Lagos remain the amphitheatre of sustainable actions in Nigeria and its relevance in Africa development provides an opportunity for the government to build a direct partnership with local and international institutions in solving local issues.
He argued that there are pressures on the government’s resources towards meeting the global goal, hence, need to strategize and leverage on the interest of local stakeholders to make meaningful progress.
In his paper presentation, the Principal Consultant, Enviromax Global Resources Limited, Mr Gboyega Olorunfemi gave a perspective on the necessity of stakeholders engagement at the Local level adding that there is so much that can be done when the local government swing into action and bring the best out of the challenges in need of system thinking and innovation.
“If we must set up Lagos for success, we must focus on systems, root causes and connections between changes, not just thematic sectors to build solutions that respond to people’s daily realities through the lenses of SDGs integrated into the procedural framework of T.H.E.M.ES. Lagos must reclaim the socio-economic space put up by implementing the SDGs for social, political and economic prosperity”, Olufemi affirmed.
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