Project

PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:
A REvIEW 0F TBE NILLENNI0N BEvEL0PNENT u0ALS, IN RELATI0N T0 NIuERIA.

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CHAPTH 1: GNHAL tNTHOtCTtON.

1.1 BACKGROUND TO STUDY.
The word emancipation can be deIined as the act or an instance oI emancipating
1
or
the condition oI being emancipated
2
. It could also be said to be the act oI Ireeing or the state
oI being Ireed
3
or the act oI setting Iree Irom the power oI another, Irom slavery, subjection,
dependency or controlling inIluence, the state oI being thus set Iree, or the liberation oI a
state Irom tyranny.
4
Contextually however, emancipation will best be deIined as 'a term used
to describe various eIIorts to obtain political rights or equality, oIten Ior a speciIically
disenIranchised group, or more generally in the discussion oI such matters.
5

The cry Ior emancipation with the AIrican economic setting has not arisen out oI
oblivion, but emanates Irom the Iact that the AIrican economy is a Iar cry Irom where it
ought to be. Since independence the economies oI AIrican states have been dominated by a
series oI Iinancial crisis and largely characterised by sluggish perIormance
6
. A combination
oI internal and external Iactors has been responsible Ior this state oI aIIairs
7
. The internal
Iactors include the pursuit oI ill planned economic policies, lack oI adequate Iinancial
resources, deIiciencies in institutional and physical inIrastructure, insuIIicient managerial and
administrative capacities, corruption, inadequate human resource development, political

1
TIc Amcrican Hcriiagc Diciionary of iIc EnglisI Languagc, FouriI Ediiion, coyrigIi
2000 ly HougIion Mifflin Comany. Udaicd in 2009.
2
Ilid.
3
Collins EnglisI Diciionary Comlcic and Unalridgcd. HarcrCollins PullisIcrs 1991,
1994, 1998, 2000, 2003.
4
cn.wiliiionary.org/wili/cmanciaiion
5
cn.wilicdia.org/wili/Emanciaiion
6
Organisaiion of African Uniiy 1989, Dr. Naldi LL.D., LL.M., PID, Univcrsiiy of
DirmingIam.
7
FcscarcIcr, Erasmus Univcrsiiy, Foiicrdam.

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instability, and population boom
8
. External Iactors include adverse terms oI trade, a decrease
in Iinancial value oI commodities on which AIrican states largely depend, and high debt and
debt-servicing obligation
9
.
The result is the AIrican economy is cripplingly subjugated, and consequently highly
dispirited. This state oI aIIair has necessitated a need Ior emancipation. To be precise, it has
called Ior a need to Iree, and to obtain Ireedom Ior the AIrican continent economically. A
demand to re-enIranchise our continent and Iree it Irom the devises oI emasculation -both
internal and external- calculated towards Iurther destruction oI the AIrican heritage.
In the struggle Ior economic emancipation however, the battle lines are obscure and
always shiIting Iaster than those that we witnessed in the struggle Ior political
independence.
10
The aggressors and the means with which to Iight are ambivalent and
ambiguous. What this denotes thereIore is that AIrica`s struggle Ior economic emancipation
will be Iar more complicated than the struggles Ior independence. ThereIore the AIrican
leaders, technocrats and journalists, Ior instance need to look beyond the economic models oI
the West and think oI solutions that are AIrican` in nature. Indeed the models oI the West are
good examples oI the pathway, but we need not absolve them hook line and sinker, but we
need to tailor Iit them so that they are speciIic in their aim to solve the economic problem that
are unique to AIrica. The struggle Ior political independence required constant explanation
and consistent inIormation in order Ior the majority oI the people to understand the nature oI
the challenges they Iaced and the sacriIices they were expected to make beIore political

8
TIc Lagos Plan of Aciion Lcgal MccIanisms for Coocraiion Dciwccn iIc Organisaiion of
African Uniiy and iIc Uniicd Naiions Economic Commission for Africa, Fosc M. D'sa .
27, 1983.
9
TIc African Economic Communiiy. Emanciaiion for African Siaics or Yci AnoiIcr
Clorious Failurc? Cino J. Naldi and Kansianiinos D. Maglivcras
10
Zimlalwc, Africa's Sirugglc for Economic Emanciaiion Nccds Consiani Elanaiion.
AFFICAN FOCUS. Dy Tafaiaona P. MaIoso

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independence could be achieved. There should be similar and consistent explanations oI the
struggle Ior economic Ireedom.
This should be the time to envision, construct and mobilise a new kind oI policy
model Ior the economic emancipation oI AIrica. This new policy model must begin by
understanding that the crisis is global, but it must be tackled locally. It is the crisis oI what
David Korten called "corporate cannibalism" and the Committee Ior Academic Freedom in
AIrica called "the new enclosure movement"
11
.
An example oI such policy model is the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs),
which aims to alleviate poverty, eliminate child and maternal mortality, ensure women
participation in politics, protect the environment, etc. It is an embodiment oI the task the
world set beIore itselI to achieve beIore the year 2015; it indicates where the world Ieels it
should be by the turn oI this decade. It is where I Ieel AIrica should be by the year 2015, and
perhaps most importantly where I Ieel my Iatherland, Nigeria should be in the next 10years,
Ior she indeed Iaces the same problems that perennially aIIlict AIrica.
It is within the context oI the background above that this study has emerged with an
aim to discovering how the MDGs will aid AIrica especially Nigeria in achieving it dream oI
economic emancipation, the obstacles the MDGs Iace, and most importantly how to tailor Iit
it so that it becomes a policy model Ior AIrica. Hence the subject matter oI this research
project: 'Programs Geared Towards Achieving the Emancipation oI the AIrican Economy, A
Review oI the Millennium Development Goals, in Relation to Nigeria.

11
Ilid.

Page

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM.
There exists incontrovertible evidence that many a time since the independence oI the
various states oI the AIrican continent in the late 1950s to the early 1960s, a lot oI economic
policies that were intended to chart the pathway Ior economic growth have backIired and
resulted in to economic decay.
In the Nigerian situation a bounty oI policies has existed, they range Irom Operation
Feed the Nation
12
, Structural Adjustment Program
13
, Bank Re-Capitalisation
14
, etc. All these
programs have basically boomeranged and instead oI extricating Nigeria Irom her economic
abyss have led to more economic turmoil. However as stated above the problem is not
exclusive to Nigeria; other AIrican countries suIIer Irom the very same problem oI policy
miscalculation and implementation. From Zimbabwe`s programme oI National Strategic
Studies and it renunciation oI the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) in 2001without a
corresponding abandonment oI the knowledge base oI the SAP
15
, to Ethiopia`s policy to
borrow money Irom the Paris Club to correct its budget deIicits, etc.
As iI all this state engineered economic policies are not enough, today we have a
hybrid oI continental policies models which includes: the New Partnership Ior AIrica`s
Development (NEPAD), United Nation Economic Commission Ior AIrica`s guidelines Ior
economic growth, AIrican growth and Opportunity Act, etc. Still it does not stop there,
international organisations which include the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the

12
Miliiary govcrnmcni of Ccncral Olasanjo iniiiaicd iIc Ocraiion Fccd iIc Naiion (OFN}
rogrammc in 1980.
13
Iniroduccd ly IlraIim Dadamosi Dalaginda Adminisiraiion in iIc carly 1990 on advicc
from iIc World Danl and iIc IMF.
14
Iniroduccd ly Prof. CIarlcs Soludo undcr iIc dcmocraiic rcgimc of Ccncral Oluscgun
Olasanjo (Fid.} in iIc carly 2000's.
15
Ilid.

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International Bank Ior Reconstruction and Development (IBRD |aka World Bank|), the
World Trade Organisation (WTO), etc, are also continually giving their own views on
economic policies that AIrica should embark upon to see` iI it economic woes will improve.
The bottom line is that AIrica has become a guinea pig Ior experimenting all manner oI
economic policies which are not necessarily predicated on assurance oI success, but emanate
Irom a viewpoint oI trial and error.
The basic Iact is that most oI these policies are not working, their trials have led to
errors, and a variety oI reasons exist Ior this, they include: poor management, administration
oI policies by non-indigenes who do not really understand the nature oI these problems are
responsible Ior creating these policies, lack oI political will, etc. In the end however, the
assortment oI policies which AIrica can choose Irom will only led to conIusion, and more
economic misery.
However in September 2000, the United Nations created the MDGs which are
intended to set a target Ior and guide nations towards economic development. The MDGs can
be to as the mother oI economic policies and possible saviour oI AIrica. Thus the issue in
question or the problem we Iace is, are the MDGs another policy oI trial and error? Will it
solve the AIrican economic problems? Will the West highjack it and use it as a tool Ior carrot
and stick diplomacy? Will it provide proper direction Ior AIrica? In the end will the MDGs
led to economic emancipation?


Page

1.3 OB1ECTIVE OF STUDY
The aim oI this research project is to understand Iirst and Ioremost the concept and
workings oI an economy, and then next is to delineate the problems that are militating
against the development oI the AIrican economy.
It will go Iurther to narrow down the question oI economic problem to the AIrican
state oI Nigeria, and what the government is doing to alleviate these problems.
This project shall them aim to propound reasonable solutions to the economic
problem oI AIrica using the model oI the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
This research project will seek to tailor Iit the MDGs to the AIrican problems and
show how the MDGs will help to extricate AIrica Irom economic abyss.
This research project shall also make recommendations as to what the various
governments oI AIrican states should do to end the tyranny oI poverty.
I hope and intend to also contribute my own quota to the scholastic discuss oI the way
out Ior AIrica economically.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION.
In the process oI conducting and writing this research project, I shall aim to answer
the Iollowing questions:
What is an economy and what are the Iactors that lead to economic growth?
What brought about AIrica`s economic woes?
What are the MDGs, its history and development?

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How are the MDGs applicable in Nigeria and how Iar have we gone in implementing
them under various democratic administrations?
What are the problems with the MDGs and how can they be solved?
What is the image oI a prosperous AIrica?
How will the MDGs take AIrica to this prosperous dream?

1.5 METHODOLOGY
The major method to be used in this research project is secondary data collation. It
would involve: Consultations with a wide variety oI internet resources on the subject-matter,
consultations with articles and textbooks by proIessional and authorities on the subject-
matter, excerpts Irom the mass media which includes but are not limited to, radio, television,
journals, newspapers, etc. There will also be soundings with individuals who have previously
researched and written on the subject-matter and visitations to academic centres such as, the
Nigeria Institute oI International AIIairs (NIIA) and the United Nations InIormation Center
(UNIC).
The only primary data to be inputted will be the thoughts and opinions oI the
researcher. This research project is also a qualitative research.


Page 8

1.6 SCOPE OF STUDY
This research project is going to cover generally: the concept oI economy, the
problem oI the AIrican economy, the concept oI the MDGs, the application oI the MDGs in
Nigeria, and the MDGs as a tool to extricate AIrican Irom its economic problems.

1.7 LIMITATION TO STUDY
This study might be limited by a lack oI suIIicient and accurate data to back up some
claims on this research.
Other limitations will include the constraint oI time and the dynamic nature oI the
AIrican economy. Nonetheless all eIIort will be made to go beyond these limitations, and
assurance comes Irom the Iact that with God all things are possible.

1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
This research project is noteworthy due to the Iact that it would adequately explain to
a novice the meaning, workings, and structure oI an economy most especially the AIrican
economy. It will also serve the purpose oI give a brieI history oI the AIrican economy Irom
historic times. This study is signiIicant in espousing the problems oI the AIrican economy,
and the MDGs as a tool to aid economic recovery and development.

Page 9

It is also signiIicant as it provides a broad assessment oI the MDGs how well the
MDGs have Iared so Iar in AIrica, especially Nigeria and what a prosperous AIrica would
look like. This project will seek to delineate how the MDGs will get AIrica to the desire
promised land, but also what the various individuals, and leadership compositions within the
AIrican setting need to do to make the Promised Land a reality.
This study is also very signiIicant to my present Iield oI study, as it deliberates on the
issue oI inter-state cooperation within AIrica, and it would aid in improving my knowledge
base a regards AIrica`s economic problems and its solutions.

1.9 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS.
EMANCIPATION: emancipation will best be deIined as 'a term used to describe
various eIIorts to obtain political rights or equality, oIten Ior a speciIically
disenIranchised group, or more generally in the discussion oI such matters.
ECONOMY: Is the system or range oI economic activities in a country, region or
community, or the structure or conditions oI economic liIe in a country, area, or
period. Alternatively it could be said to be a system especially (realting to)
interactions and exchange. Then again it could be deIined as the economic system oI a
country or the production and consumption oI goods and services oI a community
regarded as a whole.
AFRICAN ECONOMY: The economy oI AIrica can be said to be consist oI the
trade, industry and resources oI the people oI AIrica.

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MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs): The Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that all 192
United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed
to achieve by the year 2015.
Some key economically terms that are commonly used in the study oI economics
includes, but are not restricted to: bilateralism; the practice oI promoting trade between two
countries through agreements concerning quantity and price oI commodities, carte||sm the
practice oI controlling production and prices by agreements between or among international
companies
16
.
Consumerism; the principles and practices associated with the utilization oI
economic goods, economese; language and jargon typical oI economists and the Iield oI
economics, industrialism; a system oI social and economic organization based upon highly
mechanized industry, Keynesianism; the economic theories oI John Maynard Keynes (1883-
1946), English economist, and his advocates, especially his emphasis upon deIicit spending
by government to stimulate business investment, macroeconomics; the division oI
economics dealing with broad, general aspects oI an economy, as the import-export balance
oI a nation as a whole, microeconomics; the division oI economics dealing with particular
aspects oI an economy, as the price-cost relationship oI a business
17
.
Mercantilism; a political and economic policy seeking to advance a state above
others by accumulating large quantities oI precious metals and by exporting in large quantity
while importing in small amounts, monetarism; an economic theory maintaining that
stability and growth in the economy are dependent on a steady growth rate in the supply oI

16
Ologics & Isms. CoyrigIi 2010 TIc Calc Crou, Inc. All rigIis rcscrvcd.
17
Ilid.

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money, or the principle put Iorward by American economist Milton Friedman that control oI
the money supply and, thereby, oI rate in the supply oI credit serves to control inIlation and
recession while Iostering prosperity, nationalization; the act or process oI the taking over oI
private industry by government, privatization; the act or process oI transIerring to private
ownership industry operated by a government to private individuals or a consortium oI
private individuals, protectionism; the theory or practice oI a method oI Iostering or
developing industry through restrictive tariIIs on Ioreign imports
18
.
Boom; is a period oI rapid economic growth, when production, consumption, and
employment are high and growing, capital; reIers to Iactories, equipment, and property other
than land, that can be used to produce wealth, it also includes money, capital goods; are
goods that can produce more goods in Iuture, competition; exists when a number oI people
try to sell similar goods to the same buyer, cost oI living; is the cost oI buying the goods and
services used in daily living, production; is the process by which goods and services are made
or prepared Ior use
19
.

1.10 CHAPTER ORGANISATION.
The Iirst chapter shall serve as general introduction to this research and contains, the
background to study, limitation to study, objective oI study, scope oI study, etc.
The second chapter which is the literature review shall seek to extensively deal with
the opinions oI authorities on the subject-matter, while also dealing with concepts such as the

18
Ilid.
19
Wold Dool Encycloacdia, Volumc 6, World Dool Incororaicd, CIicago. (2004}

Page

deIinition and types oI economy, Iactors that leads to economic growth, the Iactors that led to
AIrican`s economic decline, the need to solve these problems, and the United Nation`s
response to AIrica`s economic problems, etc.
The third chapter shall Iocus on the concept oI the MDGs, alongside its relations to
Nigeria. It will also look at the implementation oI the MDGs under various Nigerian
democratic administrations.
The Iourth chapter will look at the problems with the MDGs, and how to solve these
problems. It will also analyse the picture oI a prosperous AIrica and how the MGDs can get
us there.
The IiIth chapter will be a synopsis oI all the previous chapters; it will also include a
conclusion, and my personal recommendations.


Page

CHAPTH 2: LtTHATtH HVtW.

2.1 INTRODUCTION
The economy oI any state is very important to its overall progress both within its
boundaries and in its relationship with other states oI the world. A state`s degree oI economic
resilience determines the level to which it would be able to adequately cater Ior the needs oI
its citizens vis-a-vis the clout it would amass in the international system and the level to
which it can inIluence the decisions and actions oI other members oI the international
community which is the true deIinition oI power.
Historically the AIrican economy was never number one in the world, but it was
deIinitely viable enough to cater Ior the needs oI her citizenery. However as time elapsed, as
a result diverse reasons, the AIrican econmy lost its viablilty and began on an onward path oI
regression. The history and development oI the AIrican economy, the reasons Ior its
regression, the Iactors and policy programs that can stem the tide and cause a turn around,
and so on will be discussed in this chapter.

2.2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
2.2.1 DEFINITION OF ECONOMY AND ECONOMIC.
The origin oI the word economy can be traced back to the Greek word oikonomos,
"one who manages a household," derived Irom oikos, "house," and nemein, "to manage."
From oikonomos was derived oikonomia, which had not only the sense "management oI a

Page

household or Iamily" but also senses such as "thriIt," "direction," "administration,"
"arrangement," and "public revenue oI a state." The Iirst recorded sense oI our word
economy, would be Iound in a work possibly composed in 1440, "the management oI
economic aIIairs," in this case, oI a monastery. Economy is later recorded in other senses
shared by oikonomia in Greek, including "thriIt" and "administration." What is probably our
most Irequently used current sense, "the economic system oI a country or an area," seems not
to have developed until the 19th or 20th century
20
.
Like most issues within the academic world, the term economy does not possess a
single universally accepted deIinition, but has been deIined in many ways.
Conceptually economy can be deIined as the system oI production and distribution
and consumption
21
, or the eIIicient use oI resources
22
. It is also the careIul or thriIty
management oI resources such as money, materials or labour
23
, it could also be said to be
eIIicient, sparing, or conservative use
24
oI something, then again it could be deIined as the
arrangement or mode oI operation oI something
25
. It has also been deIined as activities
related to the production and distribution oI goods and services in a particular geographical
location
26
. Economy is also the careIul use oI money and resources to minimize waste or the
management oI Iinance and resources, etc oI a business, industry or organisation
27
.
However contextually i.e. Ior the context within which the term economy will be used
during the course oI the writing oI this project, economy could be deIined as, the system or

20
TIc Amcrican Hcriiagc Diciionary of iIc EnglisI Languagc, FouriI Ediiion coyrigIi,
2000 ly HougIion Mifflin Comany. Udaicd in 2009. PullisIcd ly HougIion Mifflin
Comany.
Wordnciwcl.rinccion.cdu/crl/wclwn
22
Ilid.
23
Dcfiniiion of Economy ly iIc Frcc Onlinc Diciionary, TIcsaurus and Encycloacdia.
24
Ilid.
25
Economy- Dcfiniiion and Morc from iIc Frcc Mcrriam-Wclsicr Diciionary.
26
Invcsiorswords.com. Dcfiniiion of Economy.
27
Wclsicr's Univcrsal Diciionary and TIcsaurus, Ccddcs & Crossci. (2002}.

Page

range oI economic activities in a country, region or community
28
, or the structure or
conditions oI economic liIe in a country, area, or period
29
. Alternatively it could be said to be
a system especially (realting to) interactions and exchange
30
. Then again it could be deIined
as the economic system oI a country
31
or the production and consumption oI goods and
services oI a community regarded as a whole
32
. From a legal point oI view economy could be
deIined as the socio-political organization oI a community`s wealth and resources or the
management or administration oI the wealth oI a community (such as a state or country)
33
.
However despite the erroneous use oI the words economy and economic
interchangeably, clear diIIerences exist as it reIers to the meaning and correct usage oI both
words. Conceptually economic can deIined as 'oI or relating to the science oI economics, or
using the minimum time or resources necessary Ior eIIectiveness, or concerning with worldly
necessities, or Iinancially rewarding
34
.
Contextually economic can be deIined as, 'oI or relating to an econmy, the system oI
production and management oI material wealth
35
. It could also be seen as pertaining to an
econmy or study oI money (but liquid and asset) and its movement
36
, or oI or relating, or
based on the production, distribution or consumption oI goods and services
37
.

28
Economy- Dcfiniiion of Economy ly iIc Frcc Onlinc Diciionary, TIcsaurus and
Encycloacdia.
29
Mcrriam-Wclsicr's Collcgiaic Diciionary, ElcvcniI Ediiion. (2003}.
30
Ilid
31
Wclsicr's Univcrsal Diciionary and TIcsaurus, Ccddcs & Crossci. (2002}.
32
Microsofi Encaria 2009. 1993-2008 Microsofi Cororaiion. All rigIis rcscrvcd.
33
Dlacl's Law Diciionary, EigIi Ediiion, Ediior-in-CIicf. Dryan A. Carncr. (2004}.
34
Wordnci.rinccion.cdu/crl/wclwn
35
Ilid.
36
cn.wiliiionary.org/wili/cconomic
37
Mcrriam-Wclsicr's Collcgiaic Diciionary, ElcvcniI Ediiion. (2003}.

Page

2.2.2 TYPES OF ECONOMY.
DiIIerent kinds oI economies have developed as nations have tried diIIerent
approaches to solving their basic economic problems. However all these various brands can
be categorized along two distinct economic models. These models are:
Capitalism
and Socialism or Central Planning
38
.
Capitalism calls Ior the ownership and control oI all major businesses by private
individuals. Many economies in the world today are based on the principles oI capitalism
39
.
These economies are also called Iree enterprise or Iree market economies because they allow
people to carry out most economic activities Iree Iorm government control. However even in
these countries, the government still owns some land and capital and exercises some degree
oI control over the economy. The Scottish economist Adam Smith Iirst stated the principles
oI capitalism in the 1700s
40
. He believed that the government should not interIere in most
businesses, but should allow people to earn proIit, so that competition regulates the market.
Smith`s philosophy is known as aisse: faire.
Socialism on the other hand calls Ior governmental control oI all major economic
activities and governmental ownership oI nearly all productive resources. It calls Ior giving
government planners control oI the production, pricing, and distribution oI goods and
services
41
. Here government oIIicials make key decisions on how goods are produced, priced
and distributed. This principle was propagated by Karl Marx in the 1800s. The highest point
oI socialism is known as communism.

38
Wold Dool Encycloacdia, Volumc 6, World Dool Incororaicd, CIicago. (2004}
39
Ilid.
40
Ilid.
41
Ilid.

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The diIIerence in economic principles was at the root oI the Cold War era, however it
is important to state that most countries oI the world now practice capitalism, even the states
that where created Irom the deIunct United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Nonetheless
some states practice an economic system that sees a blend oI the two economic systems.
2.2.3 FACTORS THAT FACILITATE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT.
Economic development is the increase in the standard oI living
42
in a nation`s
population with sustained growth Irom a simple, low income economy to a modern, high-
income economy
|43||44|
. The University oI Iowa`s center Ior International Finance and
Development states that 'Economic development' is a term that economists, politicians, and
others have used Irequently in the 20th century. The concept, however, has been in existence
in the West Ior centuries. Modernization, Westernization, and especially Industrialization are
other terms people have used when discussing economic development. Although no one is
sure when the concept originated, most people agree that development is closely bound up
with the evolution oI capitalism and the demise oI Ieudalism.
45
It embraces sociological
research on business organization and enterprise development Irom a historical and
comparative perspective
46
.

42
Siandard of Living usually rcfcrs io iIc cconomic lcvcl ai wIicI an individual, family, or
naiion livcs. Economisis somciimcs mcasurc iIis lcvcl ly dcicrmining iIc valuc of iIc
goods and scrviccs roduccd or consumcd ly iIc individual, family or naiion during a givcn
criod.
43
Alan Dcardoff, 'Economic Dcvclomcni', Dcardoff Clossary of Inicrnaiional Economics.
44
Hla Myini and Annc O. Krucgcr (2009}, 'Economic Dcvclomcni' Encycloacdia
Driiannica.
45
F. Conicras, How iIc Concci of Dcvclomcni Coi Siaricd" Univcrsiiy of Iowa Ccnicr for
Inicrnaiional Financc and Dcvclomcni E-Dool.
46
Iii.//cn.wilicdia.org/wili/Economic_Dcvclomcni

Page 8

Mansell and Wehn state that development has been understood since the Second
World War
47
to involve economic growth, increase in per capita income, and attainment oI a
standard oI living equivalent to that oI industrialized countries
48
. Its scope includes the
process and policies by which a nation improves the economic, political, and social well-
being oI its people
49
. In essence, iI the local quality oI liIe could improve, economic
development would be enhanced
50
. Today`s standard economics tends to see development as
largely being driven by accumulation, by investments in capital, physical and human
51
.
Economic Growth is caused by improvements in the quantity and quality oI the
Iactors oI production that a country has available.
52
An economy must grow to provide its
people with an increasing standard oI living i.e. more and better goods and services. In
general the Iaster an economy grows the Iaster its standard oI living rises. Implementation oI
various Iactors can Iacilitate the development oI an economy, but however all these Iactors
revolve around Iour main elements that make it possible Ior a nation to produce goods and
services. These elements are called productive resources
|53||54|
, and they are:

47
World War II was iIc dcadlicsi of iIc21si ccniury, ii wiincsscd iIc dcaiI of 15million
colc, and iIc Crcai Holocausi iIai saw iIc dcaiI of ovcr 6.5million Jcws. Ii also saw iIc
firsi usc of Nuclcar wcaons in warfarc ly iIc Uniicd Siaics on iIc Jaancsc ciiics of
HirosIima and Nagasali. TIc World was fougIi lciwccn iIc Allicd Powcrs comrising
majorly iIc Uniicd Kingdom, Francc, iIc Uniicd Siaics and USSF againsi iIc Ais owcrs
of Iialy, Ccrmany, and Jaan.
48
Manscll, F. & WcIn U. (1998}. Knowlcdgc Sociciics. Informaiion TccInology for
Susiainallc Dcvclomcni. Ncw Yorl. Oford Univcrsiiy Prcss.
49
O'Sullivan, AriIur, Sicvcn M. SIcffman (2008}. Economics. Princilcs in Aciion. Ucr
Saddlc Fivcr, Ncw Jcrscy 07458. Pcarson Prcniicc Hall . 471.
50
Dlair, JoIn and MicIacl Carroll. Local Economic Dcvclomcni. Analysis, Praciiccs, and
Clolalizaiion. Sagc Pullicaiion, 2009.
51
Dcvclomcni and Social Coals. Dalancing Aid and Dcvclomcni io Prcvcni 'Wclfarc
Colonialism', Prof. Eril S. Fcincri, iIc OiIcr Canon Foundaiion, Norway & Tallinn
Univcrsiiy of TccInology, Esionia.
52
Zamlia Viriual, TIc Causcs of Economic CrowiI (Diz/cd Viriual Dcvcloing Couniics},
CoyrigIi 2010.
53
Produciivc rcsourccs arc iIc main clcmcnis iIai malc ii ossillc for naiions io roducc
goods and scrviccs.
54
Wold Dool Encycloacdia, Volumc 6, World Dool Incororaicd, CIicago. (2004}.

Page 9

Natural Resources
Capital
Labour Force
Technology
55

And Enterprise
56
.
Economists deIine natural resources as all land and raw materials, such as mineral and
water and sunlight. Capital includes Iactories, tools supplies and equipment, the word capital
also reIers to the money that can be used to buy these items. Labour Iorce means all people
who work or are seeking work, and their education and skills. Technology reIers to scientiIic
and business research and inventions
57
. Enterprise is a company or a business or large project
especially one that is diIIicult, it is also the ability to think oI new projects and make them
successIul or industrious, systematic activity especially when directed toward proIit
58
.
Basically enterprise is the accumulation oI eIIective and eIIicient entrepreneurial skills.
Having identiIied and explained the elements that are core to economic development,
the Iollowing are empirically proven Iactors that should guide policy Iormation in any given
state, so as to attain economic development and invariably improvement in the standard oI
living:
To develop, a nation must add to its productive resources or improve the way it uses
them. For example an economy could grow iI the nation used some oI its resources to

55
Ilid.
56
CoyrigIi 2010.
57
World Dool Encycloacdia, Volumc 6, World Dool Incororaicd, CIicago. (2004}.
58
Enicrrisc. Dcfiniiion, Answcr.com Molilc; Iii.//www.answcr.com/ioic/cnicrrisc

Page

build Iactories, heavy equipment, and other capital good
59
. These capital goods could
then help increase Iuture production
60
.
Improving the quantity and quality oI land resources will also lead to development
increases in the quantity oI land available Ior agriculture will increase economic
growth. However, the extent to which this happens is limited to the extent to which
bush land can be converted to agricultural land. All economic resources are scarce and
have an opportunity cost. As bush land is increasingly used Ior agricultural purposes it
is no longer a habitat Ior wildliIe. The relative scarcity oI land in the Iace oI a
growing population means that the law oI diminishing returns might also become
relevant. The law predicts that an increasing amount oI labour applied to a Iixed
quantity oI land the marginal productivity oI the labour will Iall. This was the basis oI
the argument put Iorward by the Reverend Thomas Malthus. To prevent this loss in
productivity the quality oI the land must be improved. This can be done through the
application oI better technology through improved irrigation, Iertilisers and pest
control
61

Economic growth can also be Iacilitated by structural changes which will break
equilibrium and thereby create rent. Insisting on the absence oI rents is insisting on a
steady and stationary state
62
.
So as to develop its economy a nation must train scientist, create new technologies,
educate workers, or train business managers to direct Iuture production. The

59
Caiial Coods arc goods iIai can lc uscd io roducc morc goods in iIc fuiurc, World
Dool Encycloacdia, Volumc 6, World Dool Incororaicd, CIicago. (2004}.
60
61
CoyrigIi 2010
62

Page

knowledge oI these people is known as human capital. New technologies and
improved human capital could increase productivity
6364
.
Improving the quantity and quality oI Capital Resources is also an essential catalyst,
one can distinguish between:
1. Directly productive capital - plant and equipment e.g. Iactories
2. Indirectly productive capital - inIrastructure or Iacilitating capital e.g. roads and
railways.
The process oI acquiring capital is called investment. The opportunity cost oI capital
investment is the current consumption Ioregone. The level oI investment and the
quality oI investment will directly aIIect the level oI economic growth. The eIIiciency
oI the labour Iorce and the other Iactors oI production will depend upon the amount
and quality oI capital they have. In Less Developed Countries (LDCs) some
investment comes Irom abroad in the Iorm oI Ioreign direct investment. This is
usually through multinational enterprises locating in a country. There has been
criticism oI some investment in LDCs as to whether it is appropriate. II production
moves Irom being labour intensive to capital intensive, unemployment and poverty
increases
65
.
Improving the quantity and quality oI enterprise resources will also aid in economic
development. The level oI economic growth may be slowed down iI there is a lack oI
entrepreneurial and risk taking managers. For growth to take place inventions and

63
Produciion of morc uniis of goods or scrviccs for cacI unii of rcsourccs consumcd in
roduciion.
64
65
CoyrigIi 2010.

Page

innovations must be encouraged. Again the role oI education is seen as being essential
here. Multinational enterprises also can provide training in management skills. In
countries like Zambia where Ior many years the government has taken a considerable
role in production through parastatals there might be a lack oI enterprise culture. In
addition, where traditional agriculture has been communally organised then the move
towards a private sector proIit making culture is likely to be slow
66
.
Improving the quantity and quality oI Human Resources. Increases in the supply oI
labour can increase economic growth. Increases in the population can increase the
number oI young people entering the labour Iorce. Increases in the population can
also lead to an increase in market demand thus stimulating production. However, iI
the population grows at a Iaster rate than the level oI Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
the GDP per capita will Iall. It is not simply the amount oI labour that will lead to
economic growth, it is oIten the quality oI that labour, and this will depend on the
educational provision in countries. Improving the skills oI the work Iorce is seen as
being an important key to economic growth. Many LDCs have made enormous eIIorts
to provide universal primary education. As more and more capital is used, labour has
to be better trained in the skills to use them, such as servicing tractors and water
pumps, running hotels and installing electricity. It should always be remembered that
education spending involves an opportunity cost in terms oI current consumption and
thus it is oIten reIerred to as investment spending on human capital
67
.

66
Ilid.
67
Ilid.

Page

Recognising development as a synergetic phenomenon and consequently the need Ior
a diversiIied manuIacturing economy sector
68
. Empirical evidence accumulated
showed that the manuIacturing sector solves three major policy questions endemic to
the Third World in one go: increasing national added value (GDP), increasing
employment and solving balance oI payment
69
problems.
70

Since World War II a large literature has emerged on economic growth and
development with special attention to agriculture
71
. A strong support Ior the
agricultural sector (will contribute to development, despite the Iact that) this sector
(is) clearly incapable oI independently bringing a nation out oI poverty
72
.
However, it is important to state that economic decline may occur iI the quantity and
quality oI any oI the elements oI production Ialls
73
.

68
Maimizing iIc Division of Lalour", Scrra 1643 + Olscrvaiions of iIc DuicI Fcullic
and Vcnicc.
69
Dalancc of Paymcni is a siaicmcni of all goods, scrviccs, and invcsimcnis or oiIcr moncy
aymcni iIai flow in and oui of a couniry during a givcn criod.
70
71
Causcs of Fural Economic Dcvclomcni", Drucc Cardncr. Dcarimcni of Agriculiural
and Fcsourcc Economics, TIc Univcrsiiy of Maryland, Collcgc Parl, MD 20742-5535.
72
73
CoyrigIi 2010

Page

2.2.4 DEFINITION HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF
THE AFRICAN ECONOMY
The economy oI AIrica can be said to be consist oI the trade, industry and resources
oI the people oI AIrica
74
. As oI 2006, approximately 922million people
75
were living in the
54 diIIerent countries oI the AIrican Continent
76
.
As it reIers to economic activity especially trade the continent oI AIrica has a very
rich history, a history that encompasses the beauty oI creativity, ingenious, some amount oI
evil all dating back to the beginning oI humanity. Humanity originated in AIrica
77
, and as
soon as human societies existed, so did economic activity. Earliest humans were hunter
gatherers
78
living in small Iamily groupings. Even then there was considerable trade that
could cover long distances
79
.
Ancient Egypt was one oI the world`s most prosperous and advanced civilizations,
which began around 3150B.C. with the political uniIication oI Upper and Lower Egypt under
the Iirst Pharaoh
80
, and it developed over the next three millennia
81
. While some level oI

74
Iii.//cn.wilicdia/wili/Economy_of_Africa
75
World Poulaiion Prosccis. TIc 2006 Fcvision". Uniicd Naiions (Dcarimcni of
Economic and Social Affairs, Poulaiion Division}.
76
77
Iii.//cn.wilicdia/wili/Economic_Hisiory_of_Africa
78
Hunicr-CaiIcrcrs, colc wIo livc ly Iuniing and gaiIcring wild food, wiiI liiilc or no
agriculiurc. TIousands of ycars ago, all colc livcd ly Iuniing and gaiIcring. In many
aris of iIc world small grous of Iunicr-gaiIcrcrs siill cisi. Uniil vcry rcccnily, iIcsc
colcs sulicd iIcmsclvcs wiiI food iIrougI a variciy of Iuniing and gaiIcring aciiviiics,
including Iuniing wild animals and lirds; fisIing; gaiIcring wild fruiis, nuis, and
musIrooms; digging u cdillc roois and iulcrs; and ciraciing Ioncy from iIc ncsis of wild
lccs.
79
80
Mcncs also lnown as Narmcr wIo rcigncd around 3100DC, was iIc firsi PIaraoI of
Egyi and was rcsonsillc for uniiing Ucr and Lowcr Egyi. Hc was iIc firsi rulcr
dcicicd wcaring iIc WIiic Crown of Ucr Egyi and iIc Fcd Crown of Lowcr Egyi
iogciIcr.
81

Page

trade had been ongoing, the rise oI cities and empires made it (i.e. trade) more central to the
AIrican economy. North AIrica was central to the trade oI the entire Mediterranean region.
Outside oI Egypt, this trade was mostly controlled by the Phoenicians who came to dominate
North AIrica, with Carthage becoming their most important city
82
.
However it would be erroneous to believe that trade and economic activities existed
only in Egypt, indeed, basically the entire continent was involved in trade and economic
activities.
AIrican traders had been selling things to West Asian and Indian traders and buying
things Irom them Ior at least 6000 years. One oI the Iirst things that AIrican traders sold was
ivory, Irom elephant tucks. People in Egypt
83
and West Asia liked to make jewellery and
Iancy Iurniture out oI ivory. They also sold ostrich eggs, because they were so big and were a
perIect decoration. They sold wood Irom the Iorest, and also sold hard stones like dionite and
granite, and perhaps the most lucrative commodity, gold. The traders oI Kush
84
also bought
linen and cotton cloth, glass, jewellery and perIume and wine Irom Egypt and West Asia (the
Phoenicians were the main glass-makers oI that time). Beginning in 600A.D, the traders sold
people they had enslaved to Fatimid Egyptians, and bought wheat and wine and cloth in
exchange. Their trade extended so Iar they sold ivory to the Byzantine Empire in exchange
Ior glass and jewellery
85
.

82
83
Dccausc iIcy also cngagcd in Inira-Coniincnial iradc.
84
Sirong rcgion wIicI grcw oui of Nulia, and was linlcd io Egyi ly iIc Fivcr Nilc and
wIicI could iradc wiiI iIc noriIcrn rcgions ovcr iIc Fcd Sca. From iIis rcgion idcas and
iccInologics from iIc Middlc Easi and Euroc rcacIcd Sul-SaIaran Africa.
85
African Economy - Hisiory for Kids. CoyrigIi 1998-2011; Dr. Korcn Carr, Associaic
Profcssor of Hisiory, Poriland Siaic Univcrsiiy. Ociolcr 19, 2010.

Page

New technologies and increasing scale oI production made trading easier. For most oI
the Iirst millennium A.D., the Axumite Kingdom
86
had a prosperous trade empire on the
eastern horn
87
. Axum had a powerIul navy and traded as Iar as the Byzantine Empire, India
and possibly China
88
.
In Southeast AIrica, the Swahili Kingdoms created a prosperous trade empire, which
occupies the territory oI modern day Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Swahili cities were
important trading ports Ior trade with the Middle East and Far East
89
.
It was the arrival oI the Islamic armies
90
that caused a paradigm shiIt in the economy
oI AIrica. Though Islam had a comparatively little impact on North AIrica (except in matters
oI religion) where large cities, literacy and centralised states had been the norm, Muslims
were Iar more eIIective at penetrating the Sahara than Christians had been
91
, making the
Arabs the Iirst pseudo-colonialists oI AIrica. Thus series oI states developed in the Sahel on
the Southern edge oI the Sahara which made immense proIits Irom trading across the Sahara.
Among these kingdoms were the Kingdom oI Ghana, the Malian Empire, and the Kanem-
Bornu, which all mainly traded in gold
92
.

86
Lilc iIc KusI a Kingdom, sirong cmirc linlcd io Egyi ly iIc Nilc, lui cisicd in
EiIioia. TIcy also scrvcd as a mcdium for iIc imoriaiion of ncw iccInology.
87
WIcrc iIc modcrn siaics of EiIioia and Erciria lic ioday.
88
89
90
Onc of iIc mosi dramaiic and suddcn movcmcnis of any colc in Iisiory is iIc
cansion, ly conqucsi, of iIc Arals in iIc 7
iI
ccniury. TIcir naiural fcrociiy and lovc for
warfarc, iogciIcr wiiI iIc scnsc of moral rcciiiudc rovidcd ly iIcir ncw rcligion, form an
irrcsisiillc comlinaiion. TIc Aral conqucsi of Egyi and NoriI Africa lcgins wiiI iIc
arrival of an army in AD 640 in froni of iIc Dyzaniinc foriificd iown of Dalylon, and cndcd
wiiI iIc conqucring of Egyi in 969AD.
91
TIis was largcly duc io iIc camcl, wIicI carricd Aral cansion and would soon aficr
carry largc amounis of iradc across iIc dcsscris.
92

Page

The Atlantic Ocean had long been all but impenetrable to the galleys
93
that plied the
Mediterranean, but this problem was solved with the development oI the Caravel
94
in Europe.
Now Europe could trade directly with AIricans themselves and not through middlemen
95
. By
the IiIteenth century, the Portuguese arrived on the shores oI AIrica, traders Irom other
European countries
96
soon Iollowed. Their arrival boosted prosperity in Western AIrica.
States such as the Kingdom oI Benin, Dahomey, the Ashanti ConIederacy, etc Ilourished.
However it is important to note that this wealth was principally based on slave trade, and it
evaporated as soon as slave trade was abolished
97
.
Soon though, the colonial era started and although Europeans were ostensibly
committed to developing their colonies, colonial rulers employed a laissez-Iaire
98
strategy
during the Iirst decade. It was hoped that the European companies would prosper iI given a
secure operating environment, this only occurred in a Iew areas with rich resources. The
colonised economies hardly grew Irom the 1890s through to the 1920s. The colonies had to
pay their own way, receiving little or no development money Irom Europe
99
.
AIrican economies boomed during the 1950s as growth and international trade multiplied
beyond pre-war
100
levels. The insatiable demand Ior raw materials to aid in the rebuilding oI
the economies oI Asia and Europe and the strong growth in North America inIlated the price

93
A largc sIi rocllcd ly oars or sails or loiI, iIai was uscd in ancicni and mcdicval
iimcs, csccially in iIc Mcdiicrrancan.
94
A ligIi sailing sIi wiiI iwo or iIrcc masis, uscd in iIc Mcdiicrrancan from iIc 14
iI
io
iIc 17
iI
ccniurics.
95
96
Francc, Dcnmarl, iIc NciIcrlands, and Driiain. WIcrc among iIc counirics iIai iroocd
io Africa as soon as iIc Ailaniic Occan was conqucrcd. Mosi of iIcm cndcd u lccoming
colonial masicrs.
97
98
TIis is iIc iIcory iIai govcrnmcni sIould noi inicrfcrc in mosi cconomic affairs of iIc
siaic. TIc Eurocans adoicd iIis for sclfisI rcasons. TIcy draincd iIc cconomy of iIc
siaic, wIilc lciiing a dying cconomy run iisclf, so iIai iIc colc would lc ioo downiroddcn
io risc u in oosiiion io iIc cvils of colonialism.
99
100
i.c. World War II

Page 8

oI raw materials. By the end oI the colonial era in the 1960s, there was great hope Ior AIrican
selI-suIIiciency and prosperity.
101

From the end oI the colonial era till date the development oI the AIrica economy
would completely shame anyone one who predicted an era oI selI-suIIiciency. The world`s
economic decline oI the 1970s, rising oil prices, corruption, and political instability hit AIrica
hard. In subsequent decades AIrica has steadily become poorer compared to the rest oI the
world; South America experienced solid growth, and East Asia spectacular growth, during
that same period. According to the World Economic Forum, ten percent oI the world's poor
were AIrican in 1970; by 2000, that Iigure had risen to 50 percent. Between 1974 and 2000
the average income declined by $200. Beginning in 1976, the Lome Convention and Cotonou
Agreement between the European Union and AIrican Caribbean and PaciIic (ACP) countries,
including Sub-Saharan AIrica, have structured economic relations between the two regions.
While no AIrican nation has joined the ranks oI the developed nations in the Organization Ior
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) yet, the entire continent is not utterly
impoverished and there is considerable variation in its wealth. North AIrica has long been
closely linked to the economies oI Europe and the Middle East. South AIrica is by Iar the
continent's wealthiest state in total GDP
102
, and its neighbours have shared in this wealth. The
small but oil-rich states oI Gabon and Equatorial Guinea round out the list oI the ten
wealthiest states in AIrica
103
.

101
102
TIc CDP cr caiia in SouiI Africa is $5,384.10 cr ycar, wIicI malcs SouiI Africa a
middlc-incomc couniry. TIc modcrn indusirial and commcrcial cconomy givcs a minoriiy of
iIc oulaiion, including mosi wIiics, a siandard of living cquivalcni io iIai in Wcsicrn
Euroc; lui for many wIo arc wIolly or ariially ccludcd from iIc cconomy, incomcs and
lifcsiylcs arc cIaracicrisiic of dcvcloing counirics.
103
Africa's io icn ricIcsi siaics arc. Equaiorial Cuinca, Mauriiius, SouiI Africa, Lilya,
Doiswana, Tunisia, ScycIcllcs, Algcria, Namilia, and Calon.
Iii.//wili.answcrs.com/Q/WIai_is_iIc_ricIcsi_couniry_in_Africa

Page 9

The temperate northern and southern ends oI the continent are wealthier than tropical
sub-Saharan AIrica. Within the tropics, East AIrica, with its long pre-colonial history oI trade
and development, has tended to be wealthier and more stable than elsewhere. Islands such as
the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Cape Verde have remained wealthier than the continental
nations, although the unstable Comoros remains poor.
The poorest states are those engaged in or just emerging Irom civil wars. These
include the Democratic Republic oI the Congo
104
, Sierra Leone
105
, and Rwanda
106
. In recent
times, the poorest region has been the Horn oI AIrica, although it had historically been one oI
the wealthiest regions oI sub-Saharan AIrica. Ethiopia in particular had a long and successIul
history. The current poverty oI the region, and the associated Iamines and wars, has been a
problem Ior decades. There is considerable internal variation within countries. Urban areas,
especially capital cities, are generally wealthier than rural zones. Inequality is pronounced in
most AIrican countries; an upper class has a much higher income than the majority oI the
population.

104
TIc conflici in iIc DFC (formcrly lnown as Zairc} Ias involvcd scvcn naiions. TIcrc
Iavc lccn a numlcr of comlc rcasons, including conflicis ovcr lasic rcsourccs sucI as
waicr, acccss and conirol ovcr ricI mincrals and oiIcr rcsourccs and various oliiical
agcndas. TIis Ias lccn fucllcd and suoricd ly various naiional and inicrnaiional
cororaiions and oiIcr rcgimcs wIicI Iavc an inicrcsi in iIc ouicomc of iIc conflici.
105
Sicrra Lconc Ias sccn scrious and groicsquc Iuman rigIis violaiions sincc 1991 wIcn
iIc civil war cruicd. According io Human FigIis WaicI, ovcr 50,000 colc Iavc lccn
lillcd io daic, wiiI ovcr onc million colc Iaving lccn dislaccd. TIcrc Iavc lccn
numcrous faciors coniriluiing io rollcms sucI as iIc diamond conncciion, iIc gross
aluscs commiiicd ly loiI rclcl and govcrnmcni forccs, and iIc rollcms of iIc currcni
cacc ircaiy.
106
Ii sccms iIai iIc causc of iIc Fwanda gcnocidc Ias iyically lccn claincd in
simlificd icrms, sucI as ancicni irilal Iaircds, omiiiing many of iIc dcccr and also
modcrn causcs, sucI as inicrnaiional cconomic olicics, owcr oliiics and corruiion of
iIc cliic, cic. wIicI arc also common coniriluiing causcs of rollcms clscwIcrc in iIc
world ioday.

Page

The biggest contrast in terms oI development has been between AIrica and the
economy oI Europe. The AIrican Economic Outlook
107
report speciIically mentions that
AIrica`s trade with China has multiplied by 10 since 2001, reaching over $100billionUSD in
2008. The economies oI China and India have grown rapidly, while Latin America has also
experienced moderate growth, liIting millions above subsistence living. By contrast, much oI
AIrica has stagnated and even regressed in terms oI Ioreign trade, investment, per capita
income, and other economic growth measures
108
. Poverty has had widespread eIIects,
including low liIe expectancy, violence, and instability, which in turn have perpetuated the
continent's growth problems. Over the decades, there have been many unsuccessIul attempts
to improve the economies oI individual AIrican countries. However, recent data suggest some
parts oI the continent are experiencing Iaster growth. The World Bank reports the economy
oI Sub-Saharan AIrican countries grew at rates that match global rates
|109||110|
. The economies
oI the Iastest growing AIrican nations experienced growth signiIicantly above the global
average rates. The top nations in 2007 include Mauritania with growth at 19.8, Angola at
17.6, Sudan at 9.6, Mozambique at 7.9 and Malawi at 7.8.
111
Many international
agencies are gaining increasing interest in emerging modernizing AIrican economies
112
,

especially as AIrica continues to maintain high economic growth despite current global
economic recession
113
.

107
2008
108
Indust und Entcsc. un Intcnutonu Suuc o Modcnzuton und Dcuconcnt, ISF
Pullicaiions, 2nd cdiiion, 2003, CIaicr 12. "Indusiry and Enicrrisc Dcvclomcni In
Africa". ISDN 978-0-906321-27-0. Cooglc Dools alridgcd vcrsion.
109
'Fasi cconomic growiI' in Africa
110
African cconomy 'io cand 6.2%'
111
African growiI 'sicady lui frail'
112
Economic CrowiI and Tradc
113
Africa's cconomic growiI coniinucs uward ircnd.

Page

2.3 FACTORS THAT LED TO THE DECLINE OF THE AFRICAN
ECONOMY.
To say that the AIrican economy was never strong and Iirm and resilient enough to
adequately cater Ior the needs oI her people would be tantamount to heresy oI the highest
proportions. As clearly seen above there is undeniable evidence pointing towards the
existence oI a strong and virile economic system comprising majorly oI trade even beIore the
advent oI colonial rule. AIrica, as against popularly held belieI that she was a Dark`
continent, was indeed an active participant in world trade, and was perhaps the most
important market and hub center Ior the extraction and sale oI raw materials, which was
pivotal to the industrialization oI the West. ThereIore no one will be in error, iI claim is made
that AIrica contributed in no small amount to the Industrial Age.
Nonetheless a lot oI scholars have purported that the Colonial masters, majorly the
British and the French leIt post-colonial AIrica in a pile oI economic rumbles and disaster,
but I am oI the opinion that this would be a claim in error. By the late 1950s and early 1960s
over 70 oI the AIrican countries had achieved independence, and within the same period
speciIically between the 1950s and late 1960s, the AIrican continent experienced a great
economic boom. Economic prosperity and wealth abounded. There were basically Iour
critical reasons, Ior this unprecedented economic boom, they are:
The increase in demand Ior raw materials to rebuild the economies oI Europe and
Asia aIter the devastation oI World War II was a deIinitely an important reason.
AIrica possessed the best and most available raw materials, at the relatively cheapest
rates, and with the easiest means oI transport (which was through the Indian and
Atlantic Oceans). With the mounting economic advantage oI these Iactors the

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Europeans trooped en masse to AIrica to purchase raw material, this increased by
many Iolds the economic activity in AIrica, her ports were bussing continuously and
her wealth increasing geometrically.
Also the discovery oI huge deposits oI crude oil in certain AIrican states also
contributed immensely. The end oI World War II saw an explosion in technology and
an increase in the number oI cars all over the world, which accordingly increased the
demand Ior Iuel. The exportation oI crude oil served as a great source oI Ioreign
exchange, doubling and in certain states tripling the wealth oI the state, so much so
that General Yakubu Gowon, then the Head oI State oI the Federal Republic oI
Nigeria, is quoted to have said, 'our problem is not the money, but how to spend it.
The advent oI great technological advancement also contributed in no small measure
to the economic boom. Now production could be executed more eIIiciently, and this
inevitably increased productivity. Coupled with technological advancement was the
plus that a lot oI AIricans at the said time were already exposed to Western education,
and could thereIore operate eIIectively the heavy machinery needed Ior large-scale
production and also make wise economic decisions Ior their homeland.
Lastly the Cold War between the Eastern and the Western power blocs who adhered
to the principles oI communism and capitalism respectively also made its own
contribution to the economic boom. AIrican states who sympathised with the
principles oI communism were given numerous aid and welIare packages by the now
deIunct United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) e.g. Tanzania, and the same was
applicable to states with capitalist policies who were aided by the United States oI
America (USA). However it is important to state that some AIrican state maintained
the policy oI Non-Alignment e.g. Nigeria.

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Having enumerated the Iactors that aided in the a post-colonial boom and having
proven that there was indeed an economic boom, the question becomes how did AIrica Iall
Irom such an elevated economic position, to the state oI acute poverty, economic regression,
and an awIul standard oI living that she now occupies? The seemingly intractable nature oI
AIrica's poverty runs counter to modern economic theory, leading to debate concerning its
root causes
114
. Hence the Iactors that led to the initial decline oII the AIrican economy
include:
WAR: There have been over 9 million reIugees and internally displaced people Irom
conIlicts in AIrica
115
. Hundreds and thousands oI people were slaughtered Irom a
number oI conIlicts and civil wars. II that scale oI destruction and Iighting were to
have happened Europe, then people would have been calling it World War III. Since
independence, AIrica has seen dozens oI wars, both civil and international. This has
contributed to poverty because states have spent their scarce resources on military
equipment and supplies. Development has suIIered, since warIare has scared oII
Ioreign investors, destroyed inIrastructure, and created lasting animosities. Much
conIlict was also enabled by the Cold War, the countries oI the Western and Eastern
blocs leveraged Ioreign aid money to coax countries into their camp. Aid was tied to
the purchase oI military weapons, and donor countries ignored misappropriation oI
the Iunds. Corruption became endemic, hampering economic development. Proxy
conIlicts erupted in AIrica when each bloc would Iund and assist rebel or sectarian
groups under the control oI the opposing bloc. Civil wars raged throughout the
AIrican Great Lakes region, Somalia, Sudan, Mozambique, Liberia, Sierra Leone,

114
115
SIaI, Anu. Conflicis in Africa." oIu Issucs, Udaicd. 21 Aug. 2010. Acccsscd. 28
Jan. 2011. Iii.//www.glolalissucs.org/issuc/83/conflicis-in-africa>

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Ivory Coast, and Guinea-Bissau all Ielt its sting and some till date are still enmesh in
war. International wars include the First and Second Congo Wars between the
Democratic Republic oI the Congo and its neighbours, and conIlict between Ethiopia
and its neighbour Eretria over border.
THE PROBLEM OF BORDERS: In the Scramble Ior AIrica, national boundaries in
sub-Saharan AIrica were established by Europeans using latitude and longitude rather
than natural borders. This miscalculation separated population centres Irom their
supplies oI Iood and natural resources. The artiIicial borders oI independent AIrican
states cut across cultural, tribal, linguistic and religious boundaries, creating ethnic
and religious cleavages which then impeded national unity and induced internal
violence.

However, those states that preserved pre-colonial boundaries were not more
successIul. Few countries in AIrica have more troubled recent histories than Rwanda
and Burundi, although their borders are almost identical to those oI the prosperous
kingdoms Irom which they are descended. The ancient and only brieIly occupied state
oI Ethiopia is one oI the poorest on the continent.

AIrica is a much divided continent
with many small countries. SuccessIul economic growth would then have required
regional cooperation, which political tensions made diIIicult.
116

GOVERNANCE: The political situation in independent AIrica perpetuated the
intractable nature oI AIrican poverty. Democracy in AIrica has not been historically
successIul, almost always supplanted by centralized authoritarian rule such as military
dictatorships. Although some oI the early rulers worked to improve the lot oI their
nation's citizens, others used power purely Ior their own beneIit. Among the most
notorious was Mobuto Sese Seko oI Zaire, whose regime has been called a
kleptocracy due to its looting oI the nation's wealth. According to international

116

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measures today, the economies oI AIrica generally rank among the most corrupt.
Bribery and graIt abound, due to poverty and poorly handled decolonization. And the
superpowers' (Soviet Union and United States) practice during the Cold War oI
supporting any ruler with the desired political alignment, regardless oI their
managerial practices or human rights records also aided in getting worthless
individuals into power, who in turn devastated the economies oI AIrica. Added to the
problem oI governance was the preponderance oI wrong and misleading economic
decisions made by the early rulers oI independent AIrica. The oIten naive and
impressionable leaders oIten surrendered the economic policy to various international
organizations which were oIten time controlled by the Iormer colonial masters.
Conspiracy theory or not, oIten times these organization oIIered solutions that looked
good on paper but on the long run led to degeneration oI the AIrican economy.
DISEASES: Closely linked to geography is the problem oI disease in AIrica. The
tropics are more hospitable to disease than the colder climates. The most signiIicant
illness has long been malaria; malaria kills three children per minute
117
. This amounts
to a quiet global catastrophe. Quiet, because it has been taking place Ior millennia and
it Iast became a Iact oI everyday liIe. Its impact is especially Ielt in AIrica. In
Mozambique, malaria patients occupy 40 oI the nation's hospital beds. And these
are just the people Iortunate enough to make it to a health centre. Since the tropical
regions are poorer, pharmaceutical companies were reluctant to invest in curing the
diseases oI the region. Disease reduces productivity and created a health care cost
burden. As iI that was not enough, a new problem oI vast magnitude is the rise oI

117
Africa's Economic Prollcms Has a Mcdical Soluiion. Dr Fcgina FalinovicI is dirccior of
iIc Malaria Vaccinc Iniiiaiivc ai iIc Program for Aroriaic TccInology in HcaliI,
Foclvillc, Maryland. rralinovicImalariavaccinc.org

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HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan
118
AIrica also cropped up, AIDS whose spread correlates
with that oI poverty. AIDS decimated the working-age population oI many states. As
parents die or became unable to work, their children were Iorced to Iind care
elsewhere, adding to the burden oI already struggling Iamilies and states. The costs oI
HIV/AIDS, including importation oI anti-retroviral AIDS drugs Irom the West,
became a new burden on many AIrican states, leading to the challenging oI drug
prices and the manuIacture oI cheap generic alternatives.

2.4 FACTORS CURRENTLY MILITATING AGAINST AFRICA`S
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
Post-colonial AIrica was blessed with the bounty oI economic boom, down the road
oI our collective journey as independent states, certain Iactors (highlighted above), stole this
boom and replaced it with acute poverty. Nonetheless those Iactors are not the only problems
that have led AIrica on the pathway to economic catastrophe and landed the continent in such
a colossal impoverishment.
Since the late 1980s, as a result oI the dynamic nature oI the international system
other Iactors or problems have systematically dragged AIrica down the tunnel oI economic
troubles. I have tagged these new` problems, current Iactors militating against AIrica`s
economic development. They include:
THE STATE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Low IT literacy, inadequate
human resource capacity Ior IT development, inadequate inIormation and

118
FAO. "AIDS - a iIrcai io rural Africa". ocus on tIc ssucs.
Iii.//www.fao.org/FOCUS/E/aids/aids6-c.Iim. Fciricvcd 26 Augusi 2006.

Page

communication inIrastructure, absence oI action oriented national IT policies, poor IT
delivery by vendors, and lack oI cooperation among countries
119
, are only but a Iew oI
the problems that AIrica Iaces in terms oI inIormation technology. In a world that is
now controlled and ruled by computers, and that is Iast becoming a global village
simply as a result oI inIormation technology, AIrica is not helping herselI by being a
million light years away. Her inability to move with the trend has contributed
immensely to her economic misery.
LACK OF FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS: Money is a major driving Iorce Ior any
nation`s economy, and as Dr. Kalu Idika, Iormer Nigerian Ambassador to the
European Union rightly identiIied, low investments, lack oI Ioreign savings, and low
economic growth is (AIrica`s) major problem militating against her economic
development
120
.
EDUCATIONAL NACROLEPSY: The issue oI the poor state oI the Nigerian
educational sector has been extensively hammered upon. The level oI quality
education in AIrica, with reIerence to particular states such as Nigeria is exceedingly
low. Poor learning environments, excessively theoretical teaching methods, poor
curricula, etc are some oI the problems militating against the development oI the
educational sector. The result is that year in year out, the quality oI the sector`s turn
outs, which directly aIIects the human resource or the labour Iorce, which in turn is
very critical to economic development keeps depreciating. In essence there will be a
scarcity oI quality personnel to man the essential areas oI the economy and iI this
trend continues, we remain on the path to cataclysmic economic devastation.

119
Informaiion TccInology Siraicgics for Africa's Survival in iIc Twcniy Firsi Ccniury. (IT
all Pcrvasivc}, Moyo Lcslcy. Informaiion TccInology for Dcvclomcni, Vol. 7, no L, . 17,
January 1996.
120
Vanguard Ncwsacr; Nigcria. Envoy Idcniifics Faciors Miliiaiing Againsi Economic
CrowiI, Mariina Ogu, 3rd Augusi, 2000.

Page 8

COLLASPE OF THE MANUFATURING SECTOR AND MEDIUM SCALE
ENTERPRISES (MSEs): These two sectors (i.e. the manuIacturing sector and
MSEs) are very pivotal to the development oI any economy, but in the case oI AIrica,
the manuIacturing sector in most countries is already extinct. Factories close down on
a weekly basis Ior a variety oI reasons ranging Irom lack oI power, to lack oI quality
personnel, to lack oI loans, to escalating cost oI production. In the case oI MSEs,
miscalculated Iinancial policies are the major cause oI their demise. For example the
re-capitalisation oI banks in Nigeria, led to a drastic increase in interest rates which
the owners oI MSEs could not aIIord, the Central Bank oI Nigeria (CBN) has moved
in with the establishment oI MicroIinance Banks, but as a result oI the poor handling
oI this new policy, the MSEs cannot still gain access to loans. And iI their troubles are
not enough, the protectionist policies oI most AIrican countries is at ground zero, the
consequence is that, Ioreign companies with better Iinancial base and more
international clout come in and compete with the local producers which eventually
kills them oII. II these two sectors are dying in this manner little hope is leIt Ior our
economic development.
LACK OF ADEQUATE CONTROL OVER FOREIGN INVESTORS: Indeed
there is no argument to the Iact that an underdeveloped nation needs a lot oI Ioreign
direct investment to grow economically, however when adequate regulation in terms
oI policy legislation is not put in place to regulate the activities oI Ioreign investors
the result could be catastrophic. For example, millions oI people live in and around
the oil producing region oI Nigeria. They live in small villages without adequate
access roads, without the beneIit oI sewerage, potable water, even electricity. The
inIant mortality rate and liIe expectancy in the Niger Delta where these people live is
below the average Ior the rest oI Nigeria and certainly Ior much oI the continent oI

Page 9

AIrica. Much oI the land they grew crops on Ior generations is no longer arable and
the creeks, rivers and streams that used to provide precious protein in the Iorm oI Iish
are dead zones clogged with crude. Little compensation, certainly not enough to repay
the tribes Ior this raping oI their land, waters and natural resources, has been provided
by the multinational oil companies and Nigerian government corporations that beneIit
Irom the misery oI these millions oI people
121
. As iI this is not suIIicient, these
multinational corporations engage in audacious tax evasion, and rather than contribute
to the land Irom where they make their proIit, cart the entire Iunds to the home state.
II the dividends oI Ioreign direct investments do not stay within AIrica, then what is
the point Ior it in the Iirst place?
THE INFLUENCE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION: The Structural
Adjustment Program introduced in Nigeria in early 1990s by the administration
General Ibrahim Badamosi Babaginda (Rtd.) them military President oI Nigeria, is
perhaps the worst economic policy Nigeria has witnessed since its independence till
date. It can be unequivocally stated that Nigeria is where it is today because oI that
policy. This is one example oI many other policy advices that have been given by
international organisations (especially the Brett Wood Companies i.e. the
International Monetary Fund and the International Bank Ior Reconstruction and
Development |World Bank|) to AIrican countries that have led to them towards more
economic misery. The Dependency Theory asserts that the wealth and prosperity oI
the superpowers and their allies in Europe, North America and East Asia is dependent
upon the poverty oI the rest oI the world, including AIrica. Economists who subscribe
to this theory believe that poorer regions must break their trading ties with the

121
Africa's cconomic rollcms. An Insidcr's Pcrscciivc on Counirics in iIc SouiIcrn Pari
of Africa, ly Macc Surlocl. CoyrigIi 2002-2011 Hclium, Inc. All rigIis rcscrvcd.

Page

developed world in order to prosper
122
, and there is no gainsaying the Iact that these
international organisations are controlled by Iorces in Europe and America. ThereIore
I would not advice AIrica to break ties with these countries, but to do trade
objectively and not blindly with their minds Iocused Iirst on their national interest.

2.5 IS THERE A NEED TO URGENTLY SOLVE THESE
PROBLEMS?
Most oI the literature I have encountered during the courses oI research Ior this
project that relates to the AIrican economy, tends usually to point towards the problems that
the AIrican economy is Iacing. Even this research project has amply enunciated on a how
AIrican got to where she is and the Iactors that got her to this point. Nonetheless there are
some vital questions that we collectively have Iailed to ask, the questions are -Is there a need
to solve the preponderance oI problems that militate against AIrica`s development? Why
should attempts be made at remedying the situation? Why should the AIrican community not
just seat watch and wait Ior the West to continually come to our aid or better still anticipate a
divine solution? II we do not actively search Ior a solution now, what would be the
consequence?-
As to whether there is an urgent need to solve the AIrican economic problems, these
are the reasons why I believe so:

122
Scc, for camlc, Franl, A. C. (1979}, Dccndcni Accumulaiion and Undcrdcvclomcni,
Ncw Yorl. MoniIly Fcvicw Prcss.; KIlcr, C. and TauscI, A. (2001}, Clolal Kcyncsianism.
uncqual ccIangc and glolal cloiiaiion, Nova PullisIcrs; Amin, S. (1976}, Uncqual
Dcvclomcni. An Essay on iIc Social Formaiions of PcriIcral Caiialism, Ncw Yorl.
MoniIly Fcvicw Prcss.

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THE DEBT BURDEN: the World Bank has a group known as the Heavily Indebted
Poor Countries (HIPC), which is a group oI the 40 least developed countries, with the
high level oI poverty and debt overhang, which are eligible Ior special assistance Irom
the IMF and World Bank
123
. As oI September 2009, oI the 40 countries identiIied, 29
were in Sub-Saharan AIrica
|124||125|
. It is demanding oI immediate action that out oI
the 47 countries oI Sub-Saharan AIrica
126
a whopping 29 are classiIied under the
HIPC countries. It is indeed a clarion call all AIrican leaders to Iind immediate
solution to our collective economic misery.
BRAIN DRAIN: 'In 25 years AIrica will be empty oI Brains
127
the dire warning
Irom Dr. Lalla Ben Barka oI UNECA. This warning reIlects the growing alarms over
AIrica`s increasing exodus oI human capital. The ECA estimates that between 1960
and 1989 alone, some 127,000 highly qualiIied AIrican proIessional leIt the
continent
128
. According to the International Organisation Ior Migration (IOM) AIrica
has been losing 20,000 proIessionals each year since 1990
129
, the people she needs
most Ior economic, social, scientiIic, and technological progress. The trend has
sparked claims that the continent is dying a slow death Irom brain drain and belated
recognition by the UN that 'emigrating oI AIrican proIessional to the West is one oI
the greatest obstacles to AIrica`s development. It is costing the continent $4billion

123
Iii.//wilicdia.org/wili/Hcavily_Indclicd_Poor_Conirics
124
FacisIcci Dcli Fclicf Undcr iIc Hcavily Indclicd Poor Counirics (HIPC} Iniiiaiivc TIc
IMF acccsscd, January 13, 2010.
125
Afrol Ncw African Ncws Agcncy,
Iii.//www.afrol.com/Iiml/caicgorics/Economy_dcvclo/laclgr_Iic_dclirclif.Iim
126
Iii.//wilianswcrs.com/Q/How_man_counirics_arc_in_sul_saIaran_Africa
127
Iii.//ullicwclsiic.idrc.ca/EN/Fcsourccs/Pullicaiions/Pagc/AriiclcDciails.as?Pulli
caiionID-704
128
Ilid.
129
Ilid.

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dollars a year to replace the departed proIessionals with expatriates Irom the West
130
,
which nurtures poverty and delays economic development
131
. We thereIore need to a
make a conscious and conscientious eIIort to develop our economy iI we want to keep
our experts, and put the money used in importing expatriates to better use.
INFLATION: This is another critical reason why we need to solve our economic
problem. The inIlation rate in Zimbabwe alone is as high as 10,500
132
, however
with deliberate economic planning this could be reversed. It is also important to state
that AIrica needs to develop Irom within and rely less on Ioreign aid, because when
aid is juxtaposed with the scale oI an economy and its budget, and aid turns up as too
large, Ioreign exchange increases too Iast and courses a 'macroeconomic shock
133
,
which will cause Iar more inIlation rather than solve it.
ENVIROMENTAL CHALLENGES: Little data is available concerning the
environmental problems Iacing AIrica such as land degradation, however anyone who
has travelled through the continent has observed that this problem abounds
134
. The
wealth oI AIrica depends on her ability to conserve and manage her land resources
135
.
It is a well known Iact that soil degradation not only results in decreased Iood
production but also in drought
136
. In AIrica the most conspicuous symptoms oI the
negative impact oI land degradation on Iood production are stagnating and declining
yields and increasing levels oI poverty. DesertiIication oI arable land is also a serious
problem in the continent, it is estimated that 319million hectares oI AIrican land is

130
DDC Ncws/AFFICA/DFAIN drain cosi Africa lillions.
Iii.//ncws.llc.co.ul./1/Ii/world/africa/1605242.sim
131
Ilid.
132
Zimlalwcan Dollar, Iii.//cn.m.wilicdia.org/wili/Zimlalwcan_dollar
133
WIai Would Doulling Aid io for Macrocconomic Managcmcni in Africa? Dricfing Pacr;
Aril 2006.
134
Land and Environmcnial Dcgradaiion and Dcscriificaiion in Africa.
Iii.//www.fao.org/docrc/5318c/5318c02.Iim
135
Ilid.
136
Ilid.

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vulnerable to desertiIication hazards
137
and the Food and Agricultural Organisation
(FAO)/UNEP claim that the desert encroachment runs at an annual rate oI 5km in the
semi-arid areas oI West AIrica
138
. All in all our economy rests on our natural
resources derived Irom our land, and iI we lose the land too, we are doomed.
These are not the only reasons why we urgently need to move to salvage our
economy, others include: the Iact that our economy is becoming a dumping ground Ior the
West and its counterparts; also an escalating in moral decadence is being experienced,
increased in prostitution and drug sale and use Ior survival will see an increase in HIV/AIDS,
which will in turn debilitate our economy; also increase in vices will eventually lead to
economic Iraud, robbery, etc which will Iurther destroy our economy.
In conclusion there is deIinitely overwhelming reasons why we need to work on our
economy, and the earlier we start the better Ior us.

2.6 THE UNITED NATIONS RESPONSE TO THE AFRICAN
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS.
Although most people associate the United Nations with the issues oI peace and
security, the vast majority oI the Organization's resources are in Iact devoted to advancing the
Charter's pledge to "promote higher standards oI living, Iull employment, and conditions oI
economic and social progress and development"
139
. United Nations development eIIorts have
proIoundly aIIected the lives and well-being oI millions oI people throughout the world.
Guiding the United Nations endeavours is the conviction that lasting international peace and

137
Ilid.
138
Ilid.
139
Prcamllc of iIc Uniicd Naiions CIaricr, 1945.

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security are possible only iI the economic and social well-being oI people everywhere is
assured.
140
As the global centre Ior consensus-building, the UN has set priorities and goals Ior
international cooperation to assist countries in their development eIIorts and to Ioster a
supportive global economic environment.
141
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is
the principal body coordinating the economic and social work oI the United Nations and its
operational arms. It is serviced by the Department Ior Economic and Social AIIairs. The
entire Iamily oI United Nations organizations works Ior economic, social and sustainable
development.
142

In Southern AIrica, as elsewhere in the continent, the AIDS epidemic is not just a
health crisis. It is also 'a major threat to development and to human society, a statement
made by Peter Piot Executive Director oI the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS
(UNAIDS), at a conIerence in Nairobi in April 2011. While wreaking havoc on the present
generation, the disease jeopardizes the Iuture as well, undermining AIrican economies and
societies in ways that oIten are not immediately apparent
143
. Also, numerous studies agree
that AIDS can seriously slow down economic growth, to varying degrees. UNAIDS has
estimated that when HIV prevalence rates rise to more than 20 per cent, gross domestic
product (GDP) in those countries can be lowered by as much as 2 per cent a year. In South
AIrica, the investment bank ING Barings has projected that HIV/AIDS could drag down
GDP by 0.3-0.4 per cent a year. Another study has indicated that by the end oI the decade,
AIDS could have knocked South AIrica's GDP by 17 per cent, or $22bn
144
.

140
Uniicd Naiions. Aloui Dcvclomcni.
Iii.//www.un.org/cn/alouiun/aloui_dcvclomcni
141
Ilid.
142
Ilid.
143
AIDS ialcs and Economic and Social Toll. Imaci on HouscIolds and Economic CrowiI
Mosi Scvcrc in SouiIcrn Africa, Dy. Dclinda Dcrcsford in JoIanncslurg.
144
Ilid.

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Households which otherwise might have remained above the poverty line are pushed
below it
145
. This in turn Ieeds the epidemic. As the UN programme, UNAIDS, has pointed
out, at least two oI the behavioural responses to poverty can exacerbate the epidemic:
migration in search oI work and employment in the sex trade. When people are mired in
poverty, "taking care to avoid HIV/AIDS may seem a less immediate concern Ior many
people than simple survival." Many poor households aIIected by AIDS may not be able to
aIIord to send their children to school. Even in countries where schooling is Iree, there are
other costs such as uniIorms and books. SpeciIically to address this problem, the World Food
Programme has proposed that "take-home rations" should be added to school Ieeding projects
to give Iamilies an incentive to send their children to school. Such a programme could
particularly help Iemale children, since cultural conditioning means that girls are more likely
to be kept out oI school to become caregivers. Where HIV inIection rates are lower, school
attendance, especially oI girls, tends to be higher.
ThereIore a Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, called Ior by the
Secretary-General in 2001 is in Iull swing. This is a partnership between governments, civil
society, the private sector and aIIected communities. By 2009, it had committed some $15
billion in 140 countries to support aggressive interventions against these three diseases,
which kill over 6 million people every year. Joint initiatives to expand immunization and
develop new vaccines have enlisted the support oI business leaders, philanthropic
Ioundations, Non-Governmental Organizations and governments, as well as United Nations
Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World
Bank.
146
It is also the UN`s believe that combating poverty, in turn, can help make people

145
Ilid
146

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less vulnerable to AIDS. A study in Bushbuckridge, South AIrica, Iound that providing
micro-loans to groups oI women gave the women some Iinancial autonomy, enabling them to
better negotiate saIer sex.
In marking its 50th anniversary, heads oI state and government Irom every part oI the
world met at the United Nations headquarters to celebrate the UN's many accomplishments.
They also called Ior Iurther reIorm and activism by the United Nations - a call the UN
Secretary-General himselI has been making within the system. The United Nations Economic
Commission Ior AIrica (UNECA/ECA) has already seriously embarked upon its own
reIorms
147
. AIrica is in the midst oI several transitions political, economic and social. As the
regional arm oI the United Nations in AIrica, ECA aims to provide intellectual leadership and
build partnerships Ior the journey. The challenges in AIrica's development are well known,
enormous and numerous, but ECA believes they are not insuperable. A renewed ECA holds
much promise and, indeed, will be an active contributor to the accelerated development oI
AIrica. The Iive programme directions on which ECA aims Iocus on over the next six years
are:
O Facilitating economic and social policy analysis and implementation
O Ensuring Iood security and sustainable development
O Strengthening development management
O Harnessing inIormation Ior development
O Promoting regional cooperation
148
.

147
Scrving Africa Dciicr. Siraicgic Dircciion for iIc Economic Commission for Africa.
Communicaiion Tcam, Economic Commission for Africa, P.O. DOX 3001, Addis Alala,
EiIioia.
148
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In the range oI policy priorities, reducing poverty is the overarching goal
149
.
SuccessIul strategies are in promoting labour-demanding growth, investing in education and
health, and saIety nets Ior the poor. Good governance is important to giving space Ior the
private sector as an engine oI economic growth, and to civil society as a Iorce Ior popular
participation and democracy. Empowering women socially and economically, through
education, legal rights, access to credit and strengthening the inIormal sector is the most
direct way to invigorate AIrican communities, where women are the key producers and
distributors, and where the Ieminisation oI poverty is a symbol and a cause oI the AIrican
development malaise. In the end ECA aims to build or strengthen cooperation with the Iive
main categories oI partners. These are: AIrican intergovernmental organizations, including
the AIrican Union (AU), AIrican Development Bank (ADB), Economic Community oI West
AIrican States (ECOWAS), the Common Market Ior Eastern and Southern AIrica
(COMESA), the Southern AIrican Development Community (SADC), the Arab Maghreb
Union (UMA) and the Economic Community oI Central AIrican States (ECCAS); agencies
oI the UN system; AIrican universities and research institutions; bilateral donors; and civil
society groups in AIrica, to try and stimulate -cooperatively- the AIrica economy to immense
greatness.
The Global Environment Facility, a $3.1 billion Iund administered by United Nation
Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the
World Bank, helps developing countries especially AIrica to carry out environmental
programmes. And the UN system works closely with the New Partnership Ior AIrica`s

149
Ilid

Page 8

Development (NEPAD), an AIrican Union initiative that serves as a Iramework Ior
international support Ior AIrican development
150
.
Finally at the Millennium Summit in September 2000, world leaders adopted a set oI
Millennium Development Goals aimed at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving
universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing
child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases; and ensuring environmental sustainability through a set oI measurable targets to
be achieved by the year 2015. Among these are: cutting in halI the proportion oI those who
earn less than a dollar a day; achieving universal primary education; eliminating gender
disparity at all levels oI education; and dramatically reducing child mortality while increasing
maternal health
151
. This is currently the most important reaction oI the UN to the AIrican
economic problem, and the main thrust oI this research projecL

2.6.1 THE UNITED NATIONS RESPONSE TO THE
NIGERIAN ECONOMIC PROBLEMS.
The economy oI Nigeria is a middle income, mixed economy emerging market with
well-developed Iinancial, legal, communications, transport, and entertainment sectors. It is
ranked 31st in the world in terms oI GDP as oI 2009
152
, and its emergent, though currently
underperIorming manuIacturing sector is the second-largest on the continent, producing a
large proportion oI goods and services Ior the West AIrican region. The largely subsistence
agricultural sector has not kept up with rapid population growth, and Nigeria, once a large net

150
151
Ilid.
152
Iii.//cn.wilicdia.org/wili/Economy_of_Nigcria

Page 9

exporter oI Iood, now imports some oI its Iood products. In 2006, Nigeria successIully
convinced the Paris Club to let it buy back the bulk oI its debts owed to the Paris Club Ior a
cash payment oI roughly $12billionUSD.
153
Nigeria`s economy is struggling to leverage the country`s vast wealth in Iossil Iuels in
order to displace the crushing poverty that aIIects about 70 percent oI its population
154
.
Economists reIer to the coexistence oI vast wealth in natural resources and extreme personal
poverty in developing countries like Nigeria as the 'resource curse
155
. Outside oI the energy
sector, Nigeria`s economy is highly ineIIicient, moreover, human capital is
underdevelopedNigeria ranked 151 out oI 177 countries in the United Nations
Development Index in 2004and non-energy-related inIrastructure is inadequate.
156
Due to
inIlation, per capita GDP today remains lower than in 1960 when Nigeria declared
independence. In 2008, Nigeria`s external debt was an estimated US$3.3 billion
A longer-term economic development program that has been implemented by the
Nigerian government is the United Nations (UN)-sponsored National Millennium Goals Ior
Nigeria. Under the program, which covers the years Irom 2000 to 2015, Nigeria is committed
to achieve a wide range oI ambitious objectives involving poverty reduction, education,
gender equality, health, the environment, and international development cooperation. In an
update released in 2004, the UN helped Nigeria discover that it was making progress toward
achieving several goals but was Ialling short on others. SpeciIically, Nigeria had advanced
eIIorts to provide universal primary education, protect the environment, and develop a global

153
Ccnicr for Clolal Dcvclomcni . Pullicaiions. Fcsolving Nigcria's Dcli TIrougI a
Discounicd Duylacl
154
Prof. Fcmi Ajayi, Conflici and Dargaining Lcciurc, 400lcvcl Inicrnaiional Law and
Dilomacy, Dalcocl Univcrsiiy. 3
rd
Fclruary, 2011.
155
Iii.//cn.wilicdia.org/wili/Economy_of_Nigcria
156
Tci uscd in iIis ciicd scciion originally camc from. Nigcria rofilc from iIc Lilrary of
Congrcss Couniry Siudics rojcci.

Page

development partnership. However, the country lagged behind on the goals oI eliminating
extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child and maternal mortality, and combating diseases
such as Human Immuno-DeIiciency Virus/Acquired Immune DeIiciency Syndrome
(HIV/AIDS) and malaria
157
. Also the UN responds to the Nigerian economic problem s in
many other ways, starting Irom it UNICEF program, to its UNAID programs. Also ECA has
planned a vital role in inIluencing Nigerian economic policies especially through its
relationship with NEPAD.

Also in a surprising and welcome move, the United Nations Special Rapporteur's
report on Nigeria (released 4/15/98) accused Nigeria and Shell oI abusing human rights and
Iailing to protect the environment in oil producing regions, and called Ior an investigation
into Shell. The report condemned Shell Ior a "well armed security Iorce which is
intermittently employed against protesters." The report was unusual both because oI its
Irankness and its Iocus on Shell, instead oI only on member countries. This was repeated in a
November 1998 visit by the same oIIicial to Nigeria and the Niger Delta region
158
. On this
note also the UN has been working with and sending aid through NGOs to those heavily
aIIected in the Niger Delta.
The bottom line is, in the case oI Nigeria iI she can adequately implement the MDGs,
then her economy may yet smile. In the next chapter we shall be critically reviewing how Iar
Nigeria has gone with the implementation oI the MDGs, and the prospects oI her meeting the
2015 UN deadline.

157
Ilid.
138
SIcll in Nigcria. WIai arc iIc issucs? Doycoii SIcll, Frcc Nigcria.

Page

CHAPTH 3: A SYNOPStS OF TH MGs, A
NtGHtAN OtTLOOH.

3.1 INTRODUCTION.
September 8
th
, 2000, at the New York Millennium Summit, where the Millennium
Development Goals were adopted, the world committed itselI to development like never seen
beIore. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world`s biggest promise a
global agreement to reduce poverty and human deprivation at historically unprecedented rates
through collaborative action
159
. Nigeria was a part oI and represented at this historic summit,
and like the other states oI the world committed itselI to the very same goals oI poverty
alleviation, decrease in maternal and child mortality, attainment oI environmental stability,
etc.
However beIore progressing, it should be remembered that at the said time, Nigeria
had just emerged Irom a gruelling 10years oI military rule and was just over a year in the
democratic process. There is no gainsaying the Iact that the entire polity had been deIiled and
ravaged by the men in khaki`. Under their guardianship, politically Nigeria was declared a
pariah state, legally Nigeria was the hub oI all manners oI human rights abuse, extra-judicial
killings, etc. However most importantly, economically Nigeria was at ground zero, this was
so because oI the spectacle oI misinIormed and miscalculated economic policies
implemented by the government, audacious corruption, and wanton looting oI the public
treasury.

159
TIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals (MDCs}. A SIori Hisiory of iIc World's Diggcsi
Promisc. David Hulmc, Scicmlcr 2009, DWPI Worling Pacr 100. Drools World Povcriy
Insiiiuic, ISDN. 978-1-906518-58-5.

Page

On May 29
th
, 1999 however, General Olusegun Obasanjo (Rtd.), took over the helms
oI aIIairs in a democratically elected government. Nigerians were joyous because their
opinion, the messiah in Iorm oI democracy had arrived and their economic woes were soon to
be over. To make the 'soup sweeter, in September 2000, Nigeria consented to be part oI the
Millennium Development Goals, and even committed herselI to be one oI the world`s top 20
economies by the 2020.
These commitments might look like a tall order, but in the case oI Nigeria it is not,
because oI the preponderance oI resources both human and natural- at her disposal. The
question though is, 10years aIter Nigeria committed to achieve these goals or objectives, and
5years beIore she is supposed to have IulIilled them, where is Nigeria in the pursuit Ior the
actualisation oI the MDGs. Has she moved towards success, or tilted towards Iailure. These
are the questions we will be asking and attempting to answer in this chapter.

3.2 DEFINITION HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE
MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs).
The MDGs can be deIined in simple terms as 'The eight international development goals
that all 192 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to
achieve by the year 2015
160
they include eradicating extreme poverty, reducing child mortality rates,
Iighting disease epidemics such as AIDS, and developing a global partnership Ior development
161
.
They could also be deIined as the 'goals targeted at making measurable improvement in the lives oI

160
cn.wilicdia.org/wili/Millcnium_Dcvclomcni_Coals
161
Daclground agc, Uniicd Naiions Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals wclsiic, rciricvcd 16
Junc 2009.

Page

the world`s poorest citizens
162
or 'a blueprint agreed on by the world`s countries and developing
institutions to halve poverty, halt the spread oI HIV/AIDS and provide Universal Primary Education,
all by the target date 2015
163
. They can also be said to be, the world's time-bound and quantiIied
targets Ior addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions -income poverty, hunger,
disease, lack oI adequate shelter, and exclusion- while promoting gender equality, education,
and environmental sustainability. They are also basic human rights, the rights oI each person
on the planet to health, education, shelter, and security
164
.
The eight MDGs as adopted in the year 2000 at the Millennium Summit are:
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty.
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education.
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women.
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality.
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health.
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability.
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership Ior Development
165
.

While the MDGs have a warm aura around them, there have been and still are Iierce
debates in academic and proIessional circles about their value. These range Irom the high
modernists, who take them (i.e. the MDGs) at Iace value and are optimistic that they are a
blueprint Ior the transIormation oI the human condition; the strategic realists, who do not

162
TIc Folc of iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals in Allcviaiing Povcriy in Africa. Nigcria As
A Casc Siudy. Dy Oladcjo FuiI Kofoworola.
163
Ilid.
164
Millcnnium Projcci, Commissioncd ly iIc UN Sccrciary Ccncral and Suoricd ly iIc
UN Dcvclomcni Crou. 2002-2006, CoyrigIi 2006 Millcnnium Projcci |Hisioric Siic|
165
Ilid.

Page

believe the MDGs are a blueprint Ior action but believe they are essential to stretch ambitions
and mobilise political commitment and public support; the critics, who see them as well-
intentioned but poorly thought through distracting attention Irom more appropriate targets
and more eIIective policies and actions; through to the radical critics, who view them as a
conspiracy obscuring the really important millennial` questions oI growing global inequality,
alternatives to capitalism and women`s empowerment.
166

However, the MDGs are not the Iirst time that global promises have been made about
eradicating or rapidly reducing human deprivation. Antecedents can be Iound stretching back
to President Franklin D. Roosevelt`s Four Freedoms`
167
speech oI January 1941 and to the
Declaration oI Human Rights oI 1948 and its stipulation that Everyone has the right to a
standard oI living adequate Ior the health and well-being oI himselI and oI his Iamily
including Iood, clothing, housing and medical care`
168
.
The 1960s was declared unanimously in the General Assembly to be the Iirst UN
Development Decade, sparking oII a rash oI target setting, but enthusiasm to set targets ran
ahead oI commitment to action. Processes Ior monitoring targets and mechanisms Ior
producing plans oI action were not created and the results oIten Iell Iar short oI the rhetoric.
The 1980s saw the stalling oI global summitry and goal-setting, and a dramatic
change in the global intellectual environment. The UN`s inIluence waned, while that oI the
IMF and World Bank increased as they imposed Structural Adjustment policies on the
increasing numbers oI poor countries coming to them Ior loans. The Bank and Fund imposed
a recipe oI liberalisation, privatisation and reduced government participation and interIerence

166
Insiiiuic, ISDN. 978-1-906518-58-5.
167
TIc iIird frccdom is frccdom from wani wIicI iranslaicd inio univcrsal icrms, mcans
cconomic undcrsiandings wIicI will sccurc io cvcry naiion a IcaliIy cacciimc lifc for iis
inIaliianis cvcrywIcrc in iIc world.
168
UN Dcclaraiion of Human FigIis (UDHF} 1948, Ariiclc 25

Page

to get the prices right`, leading to what many have seen as development`s lost decade`.
Towards the end oI the 1980s, more and more evidence began to emerge that Structural
Adjustment and the associated conditionalities were not delivering on the promise oI growth
and prosperity and that the Iiscal restraint they called Ior were damaging education, health
and other essential services. This was particularly true in AIrica and Latin America. Political
space began to open up Ior those with alternatives to Structural Adjustment, and in the 1990s
UN summitry returned
169
.
The year 1995 was the peak year Ior summitry, with the World Summit on Social
Development
170
in March and the UN Fourth World ConIerence on Women
171
only six
months later. AIter this peak in 1995 the UN summits continued with the Second UN
ConIerence on Human Settlements (known as Habitat II) in Istanbul and the World Food
Summit in Rome in 1996. However, ... despite signiIicant progress in each conIerence ...
there was a sense oI overload, over engagement and summit Iatigue with too many
recommendations on too many subjects ...`
172
, the juncture Ior global target-setting was about
to shiIt Irom the vast and diverse UN jamborees that moved Irom continent to continent to
much smaller, Iormalised meetings mainly oI men Irom industrialised countries in Paris,
at the OECD`s Development Assistance Committee (DAC)
173
.

169
Insiiiuic, ISDN. 978-1-906518-58-5.
170
WIicI iool lacc in CocnIagcn, wIicI is iIc caiial ciiy of Dcnmarl.
171
WIicI cqually iool lacc in Dcijing, CIina.
172
Insiiiuic, ISDN. 978-1-906518-58-5.
173
TIc DAC is a sulsidiary lody of iIc OECD. Ii comriscs of a commiiicc, of iIc
rcrcscniaiivcs of iis mcmlcr govcrnmcnis, and a sccrciariai io scrvicc iIc commiiicc. Iis
IigIcsi lcvcl of dccision maling is iis council, comriscd of iIc Minisicrs for Inicrnaiional
Dcvclomcni (or iIcir cquivalcni}. Howcvcr, for Iisiorical rcasons iIc DAC Ias morc
auionomous sianding iIan any of iIc oiIcr OECD commiiiccs. Ii Ias a crmancni CIair,
wIo can crcss Iis/Icr oinions wiiIoui gaining iIc aroval of iIc OECD Council. TIc
DAC sccrciariai is lascd in Paris and Iad 30 siaff in iIc carly 2000s.

Page

At the DAC meeting in 3
rd
to 5
th
oI May, 1995, the representing ministers showed
their support to the European Union`s proposal (under the French Presidency
174
) .to set up a
roupe de Refexion with a view to review the Iuture oI development aid and the role oI the
DAC
175
. Jan Pronk, the highly-respected Netherlands Minister Ior International Development
(as he then was), took up this point but he argued that this . should be a roupe de
Refexion at the political level, and not an expert group` which was equally accepted by the
ministers.
Three weeks later the roupe de Refexion was launched at a breakIast meeting oI the
OECD ministerial group. The roupe did not yet have a big idea, but it understood that it
needed to come up with something that would appeal to politicians, would be understood and
supported by OECD publics and would contain a vision oI the Iuture that would mobilise
action. The roupe met several times over the next year to discuss ideas and draIts. It was
supported by staII Irom the DAC secretariat. One task allocated to these junior bureaucrats`
was to draw up a list oI the declarations agreed at UN summits and see iI these could be
pulled together into something more coherent
176
.
The Iinal document which rose out oI comprehensive deliberations and a series oI
meetings and negotiations oI the member states oI the OECD was tagged, Shaping the 21st
Century: The Contribution oI Development Co-operation. It was launched at the High Level
Meeting oI Ministers oI Development Cooperation oI 6
th
to 7
th
May, 1996. This document
and event was immediately successIul in terms oI attracting media attention in Europe and

174
TIc Prcsidcni of Francc in 1995 was Jacqucs CIirac. Hc was Prcsidcni of Francc from
1995-2007, wiiI a rc-clcciion in 2002.
173
Insiiiuic, ISDN. 978-1-906518-58-5.
176
Paul Niclson, iIc DAC dclcgaic for Dcnmarl, Iad suggcsicd ai iIc 1995 DAC HigI Lcvcl
Mcciing iIai'.a lciicr framcworl for inicrnaiional coocraiion and oliiical discussion is
nccdcd. TIis framcworl musi cncomass rccommcndaiions for all iIc UN confcrcnccs and
musi lc csiallisIcd from wiiIin iIc UN sysicm.'

Page

the US. The International Herald Tribune ran a Iront page story under the headline Richest
Outline a Plan to Help World`s Poorest` and summarised the document as ...an ambitious
20-year plan`. The Iinal document was 20 pages long, but it could be easily summarised by a
simple listing oI its International Development Goals` (IDGs) that all OECD members had
approved. However there was a hiccup, in the objects oI development cooperation between
the governments oI developing countries and their poor the Shaping the 21st Century and
the IDGs had little or no recognition or resonance. Unlike the UN Summit agreements, this
was a document produced entirely by rich countries. Poor country representatives attended
consultation conIerences in The Hague and Okinawa but the document`s promises and
promotion oI partnership` sounded like standard aid agency rhetoric
177
.Despite this little
drawback, by late 1998 the progress oI the IDGs was much more than delegates at the May
1995 High Level Meeting oI DAC might reasonably have expected when they had debated
establishing a roupe de Refexion
178
.
The UN was now about to energetically re-enter the game oI global target setting,
during the course oI the year 1998 it had started to lay plans Ior the Millennium Assembly oI
the United Nations`, which would be the mother oI all summits`, to be held in New York in
September 2000. The Secretary General, KoIi Annan
179
, was well aware that an event that
happens only once every thousand years creates an unprecedented opportunity to raise
ambitions and open up political space Ior key issues that have not made enough progress. He
was keen to put UN reIorm IorceIully back on the agenda and a series oI meetings with
member states and NGOs was held to select topics that should be the Iocus oI the Millennium

177
Insiiiuic, ISDN. 978-1-906518-58-5.
178
Ilid.
179
Koffi Annan was iIc scvcniI Sccrciary-Ccncral of iIc Uniicd Naiions, Ic scrvcd as
Sccrciary Ccncral from 1997-2006.

Page 8

Assembly and oI a Millennium Declaration.
180
Over the Iollowing period, international
agencies, NGOs and activists began to try to shape the processes and the content oI the
Millennium Assembly. Individuals, organisations and networks strove to get the declarations
they valued into the Millennium Declaration in September 2000. II your goal` was in the
Declaration, then you could put it on the agenda at national and international meetings Ior
years to come. As Sinding expressed it some years later: II you`re not an MDG, you`re not
on the agenda.
KoIi Annan thought careIully about how to ensure that the Millennium Assembly
would produce a coherent Declaration. He decided that he would take responsibility Ior this
by producing a document Ior all UN members, and the global public, to examine. The plan
was that revisions to this document would Iorm the basis Ior the Declaration. He appointed
his senior advisor, John Ruggie, a distinguished US academic, to prepare the draIt document.
He had to craIt a document based on the UN conIerence and summit declarations, to which
all UN members would agree. This document came to be known as 'We the Peoples On the
3
rd
oI April 2000 KoIi Annan launched We the Peoples: The Role oI the United Nations in
the 21st Century.
However when the UN draIt document was properly analysed by experts it was
discovered to have some Iundamental diIIerences Irom the IDG as released by the DAC, A
comparison oI the goals prioritised in We the Peoples and those in Shaping the 21st Century
and the Human Development Report 1997 reveals a number oI goals that had disappeared or
had been watered down (the losers`) and others that are winners` (i.e. they appeared on
Annan`s listing but not in the DAC listing
181
). There were three big losers gender equality

180
Scc Uniicd Naiions, May 1999, 'TIc Millcnnium Asscmlly of iIc Uniicd Naiions.
TIcmaiic Framcworl for iIc Millcnnium Summii' (UN A/53/948} for dciails of iIc
mcciings.
181
Ilid.

Page 9

and women`s empowerment, reproductive health and more generally the goals Ior the health
sector. Arguably, the winners` were economic growth, technology, the setting oI goals Ior
the rich countries, the environment and the highlighting oI AIrica`s problems.

However Annan also Iaced a bit oI a hurdle, apart Irom keeping the UN`s
membership on board with his proposed goals, Annan needed to Iind a way oI demonstrating
that he was coordinating UN agreements on global poverty reduction with those oI the other
big players the World Bank, IMF and the OECD. He did this by signing up to the DAC`s
IDGs, which already had Bank and IMF endorsement. As a result in June 2000 the leaders oI
the Iour major development multilaterals demonstrated just how coordinated they were by
launching a common document, '2000 A Better World Ior All: Progress towards the
International Development Goals
182
. This was an unprecedented show oI solidarity Irom
these Iour agencies. The document was careIully presented to show that there was no lead
agency Ior this agreement agencies were listed alphabetically (IMF, OECD, UN and World
Bank), as were the signatures oI their leaders
183
.
The IDGs had evolved between 1996 and 2000. The most obvious change was the
separation oI the inIant/child mortality goal Irom the maternal mortality goal: the original six
bullet points had turned into seven numbered targets. The list now consisted oI Iive social
development goals sandwiched between an economic wellbeing goal and an environmental
sustainability goal. The last and most controversial target was the issue oI women equality,
aIter rancorous debates it was Iinally adopted, and the name oI the goals were now made the
Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Declaration was unanimously approved on

182
IMF, OECD, UN and World Danl, 2000
183
Annan for iIc UN, JoInson for iIc IMF, KoIlcr for iIc OECD and WolfcnsoIn for iIc
World Danl.

Page

8th September 2000, Iollowing short speeches Irom most oI the world`s heads oI state and
government aIIirming their commitment.
The MDGs have since become a major part oI the UN programs and the economic liIe
oI the world as a whole. At basically all UN summits and conIerences, reIerence is usually
made to continued commitment to the success and progress oI the MDGs, due to the Iact that
its eight goals cuts across basically all the realms oI development which includes education,
human rights, environmental sustenance, etc.
However since the start oI the millennium in the year 2000, three major summits have
been held with the sole agenda oI the MDGs, with the aim oI analysing how Iar the world has
gone with the implementation oI the MDGs. These summits were held in the years 2000
184
,
2005
185
, and 2010
186
. They were all High-Level Plenary Meetings oI the General Assembly
oI the UN.

3.3 IMPORTANCE AND PURPOSES OF THE MDGs.
The reasons or purpose why the MDGs was created abound, the intent in the mind oI
the draIter oI the Millennium Declaration includes:
To establish a new set oI guidelines under which the states oI the world will cooperate
or mattes such as aid, debt relieI, education, or health issues, etc.
The MDGs also aim to set time bounds by which time the world is expected to have
achieved the targets set by the MDGs.

184
Scc Fcsoluiion adoicd ly iIc Ccncral Asscmlly |tIout cccncc to u Mun Connttcc
(A/55/L.2)|55/2. Uniicd Naiions Millcnnium Dcclaraiion.
185
Scc Fcviscd Drafi Ouicomc Documcni of iIc HigI-lcvcl Plcnary Mcciing of iIc Ccncral
Asscmlly of Scicmlcr 2005, Sulmiiicd ly iIc Prcsidcni of iIc Ccncral Asscmlly
(A/59/HLPM/CFP.1/Fcv.2}.
186
Scc Drafi Fcsoluiion rcfcrrcd io iIc HigI-Lcvcl Plcnary Mcciing of iIc Ccncral Asscmlly
ai iis SiiI-FouriI Scssion (A/65/L.1}. Kccing iIc Promisc. Uniicd io AcIicvc iIc
Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals.

Page

They also aim to lend support to issues that are perennially discussed at the UN level,
issues such as protection oI human rights, the need Ior globalisation, etc.
The MDGs also aim to improve generally the standard oI living oI the earth`s people
without distinction as to race, religion, age, or nationality.
Also to ensure that human development reaches everyone, everywhere
187
.
They also provide concrete, numerical benchmarks Ior tackling extreme poverty in its
many dimensions
188
.

Having highlighted the purposes oI the MDGs, the importance which they serve as it
relates to human development and the growth oI mankind are copious. Since the MDGs are
people-centric participating countries are expected to articulate policies, strategies and plans
which will Iacilitate the achievement oI the eight MDGs
189
, the advantage oI this is that states
are allowed to Iorm policies that are particularly suited to their regional problems, while the
United Nations Development System only works closely with countries to Iacilitate their
national eIIorts
190
.
Also the MDGs are based on global partnerships which stress the responsibilities oI
developing countries Ior getting their own houses in order
191
, not creating a haven where they
shy away Irom the truth, while the developed nations support their eIIorts. Also because the
MDGs are time bound, the world especially developing countries are honour bound to
achieve these targets beIore 2015, and this requirement spurs them towards eventual
attainment oI the goals.

187
Uniicd Naiions Dcvclomcni Programmc. Dasic Facis Aloui iIc MDCs.
188
Ilid.
189
TIc Folc of iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals in Allcviaiing Povcriy in Africa. Nigcria As
A Casc Siudy. Dy Oladcjo FuiI Kofoworola.
190
Ilid.
191
Ilid.

Page

As a result oI the MDGs, the world has made signiIicant progress in achieving many
oI the targets, this is because states are not leIt on their own but International Non-
Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other International Organisations are all aiding
states in any way possible to IulIil these goals, also the Iact that the entire world is moving in
the same direction
192
has made the dream oI actualisation a little more real.
The MDGs has also gotten nations thinking on alternative ways oI getting to the Iinish
line that are not necessarily expensive and complex, Ior example Bangladesh have shown that
it is possible to reduce child mortality rates with only modest growth rates, by rolling out
inexpensive but eIIective interventions such as measles immunisation widely
193
. Perhaps the
most essential importance oI the MDGs to the AIrican continent would be the massive debt
cancellations necessitated by Goal 8, these cancellations allows AIrica to reinvest the monies
that it would have used in servicing debt, to develop her ailing economies to Iurther spur
growth.

3.4 A GENERAL REVIEW OF THE MDGs IN NIGERIA.
Nigeria is the continent oI AIrica`s most populous country
194
, and was a member oI
the world`s top 50 richest countries in the early 1970s, but has now slumped to Iind itselI
among the 25 poorest countries in the world
195
. Thus, the adoption oI the Millennium
Development Goals by the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000 was
applauded as it provides the Third World countries, especially AIrica, and in particular

192
Howcvcr noi ncccssarily ai iIc samc acc.
193
Iii.//cn.wilicdia.org/wili/Millcnnium_Dcvclomcni_Coals
194
Mcciing iIc CIallcngcs of iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals in Nigcria. Prollcms,
Possililiiics, and Prosccis. Dy 'Dclc Ogunmola and Isiala Alani Dadmus, Ccnirc for Pcacc
Siudics, ScIool of Humaniiics, Faculiy of Aris and Scicnccs, (E11} Univcrsiiy of Ncw
England, Armidalc, NSW 2351, Ausiralia.
195
Ilid.

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Nigeria, the new opportunity and drive to alleviate poverty and reverse the deterioration in
human developments. The MDGs also represents the international community`s commitment
to provide an accountability Iramework and global partnership Ior progressively eradicating
poverty in all its dimensions, which will aIIord Nigeria the opportunity to partner with the
rest oI the world in a common drive to achieve the goals as enumerated in the Millennium
Declaration, with speciIic reverence to eradicating poverty.
With this declaration, developing countries are requested to prepare bold national
strategies to achieve the MDGs Ior making measurable improvements in the lives oI the
world`s poorest citizens. Developed countries Ior their own part would increase their
assistance to developing countries, particularly through high-level Overseas Development
Assistance (ODA).
Following the Millennium Declaration oI 2000, Nigeria began the systematic
implementation oI several policies and programmes to help it attain the diIIerent targets set
Ior the MDGs by 2015. Over the years, stakeholders have modiIied a Iew targets and
reIocused them to reIlect local peculiarities as well as target more speciIic and measurable
problems
196
. ProoI oI the importance that has been given to the MDGs and the Iact that
Nigeria has been seeking to elevate the position oI the MDGs, and the importance oI the need
Ior to achieve the MDGs by the set date, is the creation oI the OIIice oI the Senior Special
Assistant to the President on the Millennium Development Goals.

196
Mid-Poini Asscssmcni of iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals in Nigcria 2000-2007.
Produccd ly iIc Covcrnmcni of iIc Fcdcral Fcullic of Nigcria. PullisIcd ly, TIc Officc of
iIc Scnior Sccial Assisiani io iIc Prcsidcni on MDCs TIc Prcsidcncy Aluja, Fcdcral
Caiial Tcrriiory. CoyrigIi Novcmlcr, 2008.

Page

According to Hajiya Amina J. Ibrahim OFR (then Senior Special Assistant to the
President on the MDGs), on the Mid-Point Report, she read and I quote:
n the one hand, there are bright prospects that the MDs woud be met,
especiay in areas ike Universa Primary Education, HIJ & AIDS, environmenta
sustainabiity, and the buiding of a goba partnership for deveopment Yet, the task on the
other hand is sti daunting, especiay as we face the heath-reated goas Indeed, the
pressure is stronger now to use avaiabe resources to make significant impact in the ives of
miions of peope And so, whie some sectors ook quite hopefu, we see great chaenges
that demand greater commitment than ever before from our deveopment partners and friends
as they demand from us"
197

However despite Nigeria`s huge resource potentials and claim oI its commitment to
the realisation oI the MDGs by 2015, meeting these Iundamental eight goals is a daunting
task. This challenge is not unconnected with the uncoordinated policy actions in those vital
areas that MDGs aim to achieve as well as the problems oI external debt, poverty, corruption,
etc
198
.

3.5 REVIEW OF THE MDGs UNDER THE MILITARY.
The Iirst military coup oI independent Nigeria took place on January 15
th
, 1966, and
the result oI the coup was the elevation oI General Aguyi Ironsi (Late) to the OIIice oI the
Head oI State. Several reasons have been promulgated as to why the military took over the
helms oI aIIairs, but the most prominent is that, the military sought to put a stop to the crisis
that was Iast taking the young state oI Nigeria down the tunnel oI economic disaster, political
upheaval, tribal wars, and the most Ieared secession.

197
Ilid.
198

Page

The bloody coup oI January 15
th
, was supposed to be a revolutionary one, that was
intended to put a stop to the malady oI maladministration that was rocking the boat oI the
Nigerian state, put Nigeria the on the right track to economic and political redemption, and
then handover leadership back to a civilian government. But the pull oI power was too strong
and Nigeria was soon plunged into a series oI military coups and counter coup that brought a
variety oI men to power. From Gowon to Murtala, through Obasanjo, to Buhari, to
Babaginda, then Abacha, and Iinally Abubakar. DiIIerent men with diIIerent characters, but
the common denominator was that at the end oI the military dispensation in Nigeria in 1999,
Nigeria was a completely ravaged and distorted state, a complete reverse oI the original
intention Ior the coming oI the military.
Nonetheless, during the course oI the military dispensation, Nigeria was also involved
in the 'politics oI poverty alleviation programmes
199
. SelI-suIIiciency and selI- reliance in
Iood production has always been a daunting task Ior the policy makers in Nigeria, especially,
aIter the ephemeral oil boom oI the mid-1970s. Successive military governments battled to
stem the incidence oI poverty and hunger, and their associated problems
200
.
The Military regime oI General Yakubu Gowon (1966-1975) launched the National
Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP) in 1972 but with no tangible result. It was
with the intention to stem the deterioration in the agricultural sector that the government
initiated policies that would encourage productivity because agriculture was still an important
sector oI the Nigerian economy. It was also to tame the steady decline in agricultural
productivity that in 1976 the Military government oI General Obasanjo initiated the
Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) programme and the development oI the rural areas.

199
200
Ilid.

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However, OFN was also a colossal Iailure and waste oI money as its predecessor, the
NAFPP
201
.
Copying the military, the civilian government oI Alhaji Shehu Shagari (1979-1983)
initiated the reen Revoution Programme with the objective oI stemming the rising cost oI
Iood importation and increase productivity in agricultural sector. To all intents and purposes,
the reen Revoution beneIited only corrupt politicians and armchair bureaucrats/Iarmers and
urban dwellers to the disadvantage oI the teeming population oI genuine Iarmers who could
have made the necessary turn around in the poverty reduction drive. The General
Muhammadu Buhari`s regime (1983-1985) introduced the o Back to Land Programme that
showed signs oI improvement in Iood production beIore a palace coup swept the Buhari`s
military government away
202
.
When General Babangida seized power in 1985, he introduced a new dimension to the
politics oI poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria by giving high priority to the pet
project oI his spouse
203
, the Better LiIe Programme Ior the poor that targeted especially
woman in rural areas oI the country. Furthermore, the Babangida regime initiated some
poverty-control measures in the wake oI the implementation oI SAP that adversely aIIected
the Nigerian poor. Such programmes included the Directorate oI Food, Roads and Rural
InIrastructure (DFRRI), a pro-Poor Bank that was inspired by the Bangladesh experience oI
the Grameen Bank, and the National Directorate oI Employment (NDE). All these became
Iailed projects because oI the grand corruption that characterized the Babangida`s military

201
Ilid.
202
Ilid.
203
Laic Mrs. Mariam Ndidi Dalaginda.

Page

government and oIIicial ineptitude to the execution oI projects and cost the tax payers as over
'N100billion in phantom projects
204
.
Like his predecessor, Abacha did not miss the opportunity to initiate his own pro-poor
programme in conjunction with his wiIe. The Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) was an ambitious
and all-encompassing project designed to make liIe easy Ior Nigerians. The activities oI the
PTF, under the chairmanship oI Iormer military ruler, General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd.)
ranged Irom supplying medications to public hospitals, to building or repairing roads,
building schools, renovation oI some university halls across the country, to providing bore
holes to communities. Although, the PTF executed its projects, some suppliers did not live up
to expectations as they supplied sub-standard equipments while physical inIrastructures were
poorly executed by some contractors. General Abacha`s wiIe, Maryam, chaired her twin pet
projects, the Family Support Programme (FSP) and the Family Economic Advancement
Programme (FEAP) to better the lots oI Nigerians. In the end when Abacha passed away in
1998, no economic advancement has been attained
205
.
In terms oI active participation as it reIers to the MDGs as a policy model, the
military had little contribution, since the MDGs can into existence in the year 2000 and the
military handed over power in the year 1999. However the contribution oI the military to the
MDGs and their relations can be seen towards the tail end oI the military dispensation.
Firstly, the handing over oI power to a democratically elected government paved the
way Ior Nigeria to cast oII the toga oI a pariah state, which in turn enabled her to take part in
the Millennium Summit, and eventually become part and parcel oI the MDGs. Secondly,
Nigeria under the administration oI General Abdulsalam Abubakar (especially because

204
205
Ilid.

Page 8

Abdulsalam had indicated interest to hand over power to a democratically elected
government) Nigeria would deIinitely have contributed to the creation and development oI
the MDGs especially when it was at the level oI the IDGs, an OECD engineered policy
model. The OECD through DAC, had given room Ior developing countries to make inputs in
the creation oI the IDGs (which later metamorphosed into the MDGs), and Nigerian experts
would have made some level oI inputs too.

3.6 REVIEW OF THE MDGs UNDER THE OBASAN1O
ADMINISTRATION.
It was widely believed that when General Olusegun Obasanjo (Rtd) emerged as the
civilian president oI Nigeria in May 1999, his sojourn and torment in Abacha`s gulag would
endear him with the plight oI the poor, and it was also believed that his experience oI the
unsuccessIul OFN was an asset in the socio-economic policy making
206
. Obasanjo was at the
UN during the Millennium Summit, he heard about the newly launched targets known as the
MDGs and committed the country to achieving them by the year 2015
207
.
The Obasanjo administration in a bid to show its commitment to the realization oI the
goals, adopted various reIorm programmes and development initiatives all geared towards
Iacilitating the attainment oI the MDGs targets
208
. The introduction oI a set oI comprehensive
policies at the three level oI government that targets poverty reduction and the improvement

206
207
Nci Onlinc Magazinc. Dcccning Dcmocracy. Powcr and Powcrlcssncss, ly Jilrin
IlraIim., Saiurday January 29, 2011. (www.234nci.com}
208
O. Cii.

Page 9

oI other important areas was in consonance with the UN`s MDGs
209
. The most important oI
these programmes and strategies was the one introduced in 2004.
In 2004, the administration oI President Olusegun Obasanjo developed and introduced
a strategic blueprint aimed at addressing national development challenges called the National
Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). NEEDS was comprehensive
reIorm strategy aimed addressing economic and social, political and institutional issues at the
same times and in a multi-Iaceted way. NEEDS Iocus at the national level was an
improvement on the previous poverty alleviation programmes: the Poverty Alleviation
Programme (PAP) and the Poverty Eradication Programme (PEP) that aimed at reducing
poverty among the youth by creating gainIul employment Ior the youth through the Youth
Employment Scheme (YES), and the development oI rural inIrastructure and natural
resources. The same objectives are pursued at the state level with the State Economic
Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS) while the same goals are implemented at
the third level oI government through the Local Government Economic Empowerment and
Development Strategy (LEEDS). The government aim was reducing poverty and creating
jobs Ior the teeming population oI unemployed youth through a 'bottom-up approach that it
is participatory with these social policy Irameworks
210
.
NEEDS promised to implement a priority action plan oI wealth creation, create seven
million new jobs, alleviate poverty and eliminate corruption during its Iirst Iour years
implementation cycle (2004-2007)
211
. The three main pillars or strategies oI NEEDS were:

209
O. Cii.
210
211
Vision 20-2020 and Nigcria's Povcriy Eradicaiion Siraicgy. Fc-Encrgising iIc Policy
Agcnda. Mcmorandum io iIc Fcdcral Covcrnmcni ly Civil Sociciy Organisaiions for iIc
Dialoguc on Nigcria's Currcni Dcvclomcni. Ccnirc for Dcmocracy and Dcvclomcni.
CoyrigIi CDD, 2008.

Page

empowering people, promoting private enterprises and changing the way government does
business. NEEDS was a pro-Poor economic growth programme which sought to achieve
economic development without crushing the poor oI the society, and achieve macroeconomic
growth without neglecting some part oI the population. This aim oI the NEEDS strategy was
aptly illustrated in Obasanjo`s statement Irom the NEEDS document where he said:

e must not continue to stress the pursuit of high growth rate in statistica terms and fai to
reduce the socia and economic deprivation of a substantia number and group of our peope
e must not absoutey pursue weath and growth at the expense of inner webeing, foy,
satisfaction, fufiment, and contentment of the human being
1

NEEDS was a medium term strategy, sharing the countries long term goals oI poverty
reduction, wealth creation, employment generation and value orientation. The vision was to
consolidate on the achievements in 1999-2003 and build a solid Ioundation Ior Nigeria to
attain the status oI the largest and strongest AIrican country. To achieve this success in the
reIorm process, certain strategies were adopted. These include:
ReIorming the way government works and its institutions;
Growing the private sector;
Implementing a social charter Ior the people;
Re-orientation oI the people with an enduring AIrican value system.
213

Finally, identiIying the important role that power will play in the development oI any
economy, President Olusegun Obasanjo made a solemn promise to during the course oI the
2007 electoral campaign that due to the huge and purposeIul investments his administration
had made in the National Independent power Project (NIPP), Nigeria will by December 2007

212
O. Cii.
213
Vision 20-2020 and Nigcria's Povcriy Eradicaiion Siraicgy. Fc-Encrgising iIc Policy
Agcnda. Mcmorandum io iIc Fcdcral Covcrnmcni ly Civil Sociciy Organisaiions for iIc
Dialoguc on Nigcria's Currcni Dcvclomcni. Ccnirc for Dcmocracy and Dcvclomcni.
CoyrigIi CDD, 2008.

Page

enjoy the beneIits oI the supply oI 6,000 megawatts oI electricity
214
. This was the one oI the
promises on which Obasanjo sold President Yaràdua the Nigerian populace.
However it is important to state that like most oI the policies in Nigeria and AIrica as
a whole, the NEEDS programme and other programmes, even the NIPP aimed at achieving
the MDGs during the Obasanjo administration 'Iailed in achieving their basic objectives
215
.

3.7 REVIEW OF THE MDGs UNDER THE YARÀDUA
ADMINISTRATION.
The Presidency oI Late Umaru Musa Yaràdua at inception announced a Seven-point
Agenda Iocusing on key issues oI power and energy, the troubled Niger Delta, land reIorms,
national security, wealth creation and employment, transportation, and Iood security and
agriculture. The objective according to the president was to reduce poverty in a country
where more than 70 oI the 150million population lives below the poverty line on less than
$1 per day; ensure peace in the troubled Niger Delta, which was Iast siphoning the resources
oI the nation, as a result oI vandalism especially oI oil pipelines and the increasing in
criminal activities such as kidnapping, which was causing large losses in Ioreign revenue; and
most importantly achieve the UN MDGs which will Iast track the country`s development
process
216
.
However, one characteristic that completely permeated the Late Yaràdua`s
administration as a whole was one oI sluggishness and a very lackadaisically disposition
towards the issues oI national development. The Presidency Ior the Iirst two years oI

214
215
Ilid.
216
NcwsDiary Onlinc. TIc JonaiIan Prcsidcncy (2}, ly Fculcn Alaii, TIcCuardian. Sunday
Dcccmlcr 19
iI
, 2010.

Page

administration was completely unable to articulate a comprehensive strategy and policy
direction
217
. The Iirst signs oI directionlessness or trouble occurred when the administration
could not put a cabinet together on time, and when it Iinally did, it was an uninspiring team,
many oI whose members were meeting the President Ior the Iirst time. They also went on to
display much indecisiveness as it Iound itselI in a diIIicult situation whereby early policy
decision were soon reversed which showed a high level oI intra-governmental dissonance
218
.
The most celebrated oI these reversals was the announcement oI a re-domination oI
the Naira policy by the Central Bank oI Nigeria (CBN) which the Presidency claimed it had
no knowledge oI, and which it ordered Charles Soludo then Governor oI the CBN to reverse,
his complaints that he was backed by the CBN Act notwithstanding
219
, iI the CBN`s policies
were so open to conIusion despite the Iact that it is central to economic policy planning and
execution, it goes Iurther to illustrate how bad the situation was. Senior government oIIicials
routinely contradicted each other, showing a seeming lack oI direction
220
. In Iact it would
have been absolutely right to state that the Late Yaràdua`s administration in its Iirst two
years was completely lacking in strategy and policy.
When we move over to the MDGs, we do not Iind a better situation. At the 2008 UN
General Assembly Meeting, Ojo Maduekwe (then the Honourable Minister Ior Foreign
AIIairs), presented the President`s address to the UN. In his address, Late Yaràdua suggested
that although many nations might not be able to Iully attain the MDGs targets in 2015,
Nigeria would be 'mindIul oI the importance oI (the MDGs) Ior our development, he told
the halI-empty Assembly, 'Nigeria is determined to do everything to ensure the realization oI

217
Dusincss Day. Yar'adua Mid-Tcrm Fcvicw. Tucsday 5
iI
of May, 2009. Dy Wcndy.
218
Ilid.
219
Ilid.
220
Ilid.

Page

the MDGs targets
221
. This Iurther highlights the conIusion that was inherent in the Late
Yaràdua`s administration, as the Presidency could not decided on whether it could meet up
with the target Ior the MDGs or not.
Indeed Ior one and a halI years in oIIice, the Late Yaràdua`s administration
continued the Iailed and scorched-earth policies begun by Olusegun Obasanjo administration,
rebranding it as NEEDS II. Late Yaràdua did nothing to invest in Nigeria`s great potential
and capacity, no wonder Nigeria was listed as one oI those countries that will miss almost
every MDG target
222
.
In the power sector which is very pivotal to economic growth and development the
story was not much diIIerent, in May 2009 the President gave indications in his midterm
interview granted to the Guardian Newspaper, that his administration was about to implement
the Rilwan Lukman (then the Honourable Minister Ior Power and Steel) Committee on
Power`s report strategy. The strategy proposed by the report was very outlandish because it
proposed active government participation in the production and distribution oI electricity,
which would inevitably return us to our NEPA` days. The strategy Ilew in the Iace oI
reality, because it is Iact that government lacked resources, managerial capacity, and
incentive structure to solve the country`s power problem. The strategy ignored the lessons oI
the telecommunications, aviation, broadcasting, and banking industries amongst other, in all
oI which private capital rapidly increased capacity and service delivery and created jobs and
economic spin-oIIs.
223
Most annoying oI all was the Iact that the strategy proposed that
resources be diverted Irom critical investments in education, health, education, rural

221
Yar'adua. Man of Many Words (MMW}, ly Sonala OlumIcnsc. 5
iI
Ociolcr, 2008.
(sonala.olumIcnscgmail.com}
222
Ilid.
223
Dusincss Day. Yar'adua Mid-Tcrm Fcvicw, Dy Wcndy. Tucsday 5
iI
of May, 2009.

Page

development, public transportation, security and law and order, and social welIare...these
resources Ior instance would have eased our ability to meet the MDGs.
224

However, it would be colossally unIair to say that the Late Yaràdua`s administration
made no signiIicant improvement in its Iinal 9 months beIore his demise in March 2010. In a
speech he delivered to mark Nigeria`s Democracy Day, Late President Musa Yaràdua
recited some oI his achievements especially in the agricultural sector. He said among other
things that his administration had made tremendous impact in the country`s agricultural
sector by constructing Iive agro-export conditioning centres and 10 rice processing centres.
He claimed also that his government had increased irrigated land Irom 4,000 hectares in 1999
to 150,000 hectares, he also claimed that his administration had made available N200billion
in long term concessionary loans
225
. In those Iinal nine months under the Late Yaràdua,
Nigeria showed a measure oI commitment to the realization oI the MDGs, by making
provision Ior the MDGs in the national budget and setting up agencies with the mandate to
oversee the implementation and monitoring oI the MDG projects through an accountable
Iramework as provided Ior in the 2009 Appropriation Act
226
. The Late Yaràdua went on to
establish the Presidential Committee Ior the Assessment and Monitoring oI the Process oI
Attaining the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria, and the latest economic policy plan
in Nigeria, Vision 20-2020. Others include the Medium Term Expenditure Framework
(MTEF), Implementation Monitoring Team, etc.
227

Nonetheless it is important to state that some oI these innovations geared at Iast
tracking the attainment oI the MDGs did not end up achieving their desired aim. For example

224
Ilid.
225
NcwsDiary Onlinc. TIcCuardian; TIc JonaiIan Prcsidcncy (2}, ly Fculcn Alaii,.
Sunday Dcccmlcr 19
iI
, 2010
226
Duc Proccss MccIanism and iIc Aiiainmcni of iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals. CFP
Nigcria Ncwslciicr, 25/11/2009.
227
Ilid.

Page

a good amount oI Iunds budgeted Ior the MDGs in 2009 were returned to the national
treasury
228
. It was reported that a sum oI N320billion budgeted Ior the MDGs, only the sum
oI N217.6billion was successIully utilized; i.e. 68 oI the budget leaving a deIicit oI
N102.4billion which is 32 oI unspent Iunds.
229

3.8 REVIEW OF THE MDGs UNDER THE 1ONATHAN
ADMINISTRATION.
The ascendance oI President Goodluck Jonathan to the position oI President and
Commander-in-ChieI was one oI providence. For the Iirst time under a democratically
elected government, the sitting Head oI State passed away, and according to the dictates oI
the 1999 Constitution oI the Federal Republic oI Nigeria, had to be replaced by the Vice-
President. However it is worth the mention, that a lot oI controversies trailed the elevation oI
Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to the position oI President. The health condition oI Late President
Yaràdua had quickly deteriorated and it soon became open secret that he would probably not
be able to rule the nation until he recovered oI his illness which as indeed a long shot.
However, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan as he then was, could not take up the mantle oI
Acting President because, Late President Yaràdua had not IulIilled the constitutional
requirement Ior this to happen. The vacuum that this impasse created caused a great deal oI
debates in all Iacets oI the nation`s polity.
While these debates and counter-debates raged, the Executive Council oI the
Federation (EXCOF), was under immense pressure with a straight down the middle dissect
between the pro-Jonathan and the pro-Yaràdua groups. However Iinally a political solution

228
Ilid.
229
Ilid.

Page

was reached when Late Yaràdua granted a brieI interview to the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC), in which he admitted to be oI ill health. Jonathan was elevated to the
position oI Acting President, but not Ior long. Two months later, the President was oIIicially
declared dead and Dr. Jonathan was sworn in as Nigeria`s Iourth President.
One oI his Iirst moves as President was to dissolve the cabinet and put together a new
one. Analyst predicted this move as an indication oI departure Irom policies oI Late
Yaràdua, and perhaps President Jonathan conIirmed this prediction when he thrashed and
departed Irom the 7-Point Agenda.
However despite all the initial moves that indicated his readiness to make signiIicant
impact in the Nigerian society, like many administrations beIore his we have Iailed to see any
real development, rather than being a benchmark Ior development, the MDGs have become a
necessary evil` which is given attention only to IulIil all righteousness.
At the United Nations Summit in 2010, it was revealed that the Nigeria was still on
the list oI countries that are Iar Irom achieving the MDGs by the year 2015
230
. While other
countries are strategizing, building blocks and galvanizing support to achieve the MDGs,
indicators Ior measuring progress towards the MDGs show that Nigeria is nowhere near
achieving the MDGs.
231

When we move over to the power sector, on the 26
th
oI August, 2010, President
Jonathan inIormed the nation that between 2012 and 2013, he solemnly promises Nigerians
that we will enjoy the elusive 6,000 megawatts oI electricity. He promised that the
government will make available $6billionUSD to the private sector to ensure that this
objective is met. However same day, the Vice President, Arch. Namadi Sambo apologised to

230
TIisDay Ncwsacr. Nigcria. Naiion and Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals; Ediiorial. 5
iI

Ociolcr, 2010.
231
Ilid.

Page

Nigerians Ior the $10billionUSD spent so Iar without results
232
. This very same promise oI
6,000 megawatts has been repeated since the regime oI the Late Sani Abacha
233
, and
currently Nigeria has spent over $12billionUSD without result, when it is common
knowledge that the average cost oI producing 1,000 megawatts is $1billionUSD, the question
becomes where has all these monies gone to? And the president now request us to dole out
halI oI the wasted Iunds again bring the total to $18billionUSD.
234

In December 2010, President Jonathan presented the 2011 Appropriation Bill to the
Joint Session oI the National Assembly; the Budget was based on the 20:2020 First National
Implementation Plan
235
. This budget was intended to be budget oI Iiscal consolidation,
inclusive economic growth and employment generation. According to President Jonathan the
Iocus oI his administration is to establish and strengthen the sound macroeconomic
environment that Nigeria needs to ensure the prosperity oI her citizens, he said that the
policies to be implemented will attract investment, Iacilitate private sector growth and ensure
wealth creation and other socio-economic development goals under the Vision 20:2020
Iramework.
236

However like his predecessor, all his babble about economic growth and poverty
alleviation soon became empty rhetorics. He soon returned to the place oI policy and agency
creation, soon we had the Economic Growth Strategy, National Jobs Creation Scheme, Public
Works Programme, Road-Map Ior Power Sector ReIorms, the Construction Sector
Transparency Initiative,
237
etc.

232
233
Sani AlacIa (1943-1998}, Miliiary Prcsidcni of Nigcria (1993-1998}.
234
235
SaIara Fcoricrs. JonaiIan Prcscnis 2011 Dudgci To TIc Naiional Asscmlly. Posicd
Dcccmlcr 15, 2010.
236
Ilid.
237
Ilid.

Page 8

In the end the common man on the street has not Ielt the government in any way,
Nigeria is no closer to achieving the MDGs than it was 8 years ago, now all we ask 'ga
President Jonathan, what happened to all the investments under the Yaràdua/Goodluck
regime?
238

3.9 THE FAILURE CALLED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MDGs IN
NIGERIA.
Since independence Nigeria has been on a steady downward trend, rather than growth
which was the promise at independence, Nigeria has continually experienced political
instability, economic misdirection, moral decadence, etc. However at the dawn oI the 21
st

century, we experience the birth oI democracy aIter a gruelling 30years oI military rule. The
expectations were high that perhaps Nigeria would Iinally be elevated Irom the abyss in
which she Iound herselI and place herselI in her rightIul position as one oI the top nations oI
the world.
This believes were Iurther re-enIorced when the government oI President Olusegun
Obasanjo committed Nigeria to achieve the MDGs by the year 2015, which invariably will
catapult Nigeria to a place oI economic strength, extricated her people Irom the shackles oI
poverty and give increase the collective standard oI living. However, 12years into democracy
and three administrations later, the hopes oI Nigerians have been completely dashed. Not
only have these governments Iailed to deliver on their many promises, they have succeeded
in making the situation worse than it was as at May 29, 1999.

238

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To seek to list in detail all the Iailed promises oI the 3
rd
Republic would amount to a
research project on its own so I seek only to point out a Iew.
It is estimated that in order to achieve the MDGs in Nigeria by the year 2015,
$5billionUSD to $7billionUSD must be channelled to MDG programmes per annum. The
government is presently allocating about $1billion annually out oI which $750 million is by
the Federal Government and about $250 million by state governments. The numbers do not
match and it is clear that the public expenditure levels by the three tiers oI government are
not suIIicient to meet the MDGs as demonstrated in the Nigeria MDG report 2006
239
. The
sorry situation is that the money to allocate the requisite resources to the MDGs is available,
but the cankerworm oI corruption within the upper echelon oI Nigeria will not give room Ior
government to allocate adequate Iunds.
Starting with the Obasanjo administration, while many Nigerians are not really
against the search Ior Ioreign investments, what most were kicking against was the style been
used by the president? He believed that the best way to attract investors into the country is
going to their countries to beg them to come and invest in Nigeria Hence, his numerous
Ioreign trips abroad. According to oIIicial sources, the president as at mid August 2002,
travelled out oI the country Ior a hundred and thirteen times aIter he took over the leadership
oI the country at the end oI May in 1999, and as at June 2002 he had been out oI the country
Ior a period oI 340 days
240
. The implication oI this is that, in a period oI three years, the
President has been out oI the country Ior a combined period oI a year less two weeks. This
type oI 'Ajala diplomacy has attracted a number oI criticisms. Perhaps what the President

239
Vision 20-2020 And Nigcria's Povcriy Eradicaiion Siraicgy. Fc-Encrgising TIc Policy
Agcnda. Mcmorandum io iIc Fcdcral Covcrnmcni ly Civil Sociciy Organisaiion for iIc
Dialoguc on Nigcria's Currcni Dcvclomcni. May, 2008.
240
Forcign Policy In Fcdcral Poliiics. A casc siudy Nigcria. Dy Alindclc, F.A. World rcss
incororaicd. 2003.

Page 8

has reIused to understand despite repeated reminders is that the search Ior Ioreign investors
does not start abroad but Irom home. Foreign investors are core capitalists who have a sharp
eye Ior proIit. They will only go to places where they are sure oI their investment and their
personal security. At the time, the risk oI doing business in Nigeria was too high. It was
thereIore not the least surprising that despite the president`s numerous travels which in any
case has gulped billion oI Naira, credible Ioreign investors have reIused to come in and the
Nigerian economy is still deep in the woods. A new trend was even added to it, as governors
and even local government were also travelling abroad to look Ior Ioreign investment
241
.
The huge recurrent expenditure in education was understandable, but did not explain
the incomparably low capital expansion in the sector in view oI low education outcome, and
Ior that matter in view very low access to education by the lower income categories oI the
population. It showed inadequate concern Ior the sector and Ior programmes articulated in the
NEEDS like the Universal Basic Education (UBE).
242

Now we move over to the Yaràdua dispensation. Yaràdua promised that he would
declare a state oI emergency to liberate the beleaguered power sector within six months oI
assuming oIIice. 'Our plan is to launch a national emergency programme on the power
sector, because we believe that there cannot be any meaningIul industrial development
without steady power supply was his very words, however, the nation is still groaning in
darkness. The poor and chaotic supply oI electricity, which the President met on ground, has
been allowed to deteriorate Iurther. What is more appalling is that a go-slow` approach to
power sector revival is Iast supplanting the sense oI urgency earlier expressed by Yaràdua

241
How Nigcria Fclaics To Hcr Ouisidc World TIrougI Hcr Forcign Policy Policics. Criiically
Eaminc TIc Forcign Policy Coals and Oljcciivcs of CIicf Oluscgun Olasanjo's Fcgimc in
1999-2007. Wriiicn Dy. Elong Nsilan EIraim. January 2010.
242
Vision 20-2020 And Nigcria's Povcriy Eradicaiion Siraicgy. Fc-Encrgising TIc Policy
Agcnda. Mcmorandum io iIc Fcdcral Covcrnmcni ly Civil Sociciy Organisaiion for iIc
Dialoguc on Nigcria's Currcni Dcvclomcni. May, 2008.

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beIore taking oIIice and this same attitude has continued with the Jonathan administration.
Hope is Iast crumbling, giving way to despair. The way Iorward Ior the sector is Ioggy.
Nobody is sure oI the next step to be taken
243
.
There is no gainsaying the Iact that the problem oI unemployment is being heightened
as more and more Iirms crash under the unbearable cost burden inIlicted by unremitting
energy crisis. The products and services oI many Iirms are uncompetitive at the global
marketplace because all business entities are compelled to incur additional cost oI production,
as they have to provide alternative sources oI power supply. It is estimated that many real
sector operators and individuals do not get up to eight hours oI electricity supply per day
Irom the Power Holding Company. The remaining 16 hours is sourced Irom diesel-powered
generators
244
. And still the Jonathan administration boosts oI a budget that aims to create
jobs, when the ones currently available are being destroyed on a daily basis.
We clearly need a major policy summersault to get us back on the road map to
achieving the MDGs by 2015. We need a policy shiIt that would prioritise and signiIicantly
increase social expenditure and include the poor in public budgeting
245
.

243
Iii.//www.uncIoniIcwcl.com/ Ariicl.as? iIcariic Ari200801211602771
244
Nairaland. Toic. Yar'adua Promiscd io Dcclarc A Siaic of Emcrgcncy. January 21,
2008.
245
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CHAPTH 4: AN APPHAtSAL OF TH MGs AN
tTS WOHHAHtLtTY tN AFHtCA.

4.1 INTRODUCTION.
In the preceding chapters I have adequately expatiated on the problems inherent in the
AIrican economic setting and explained the reasons why it is pertinent that we solve these
problems. I have also charted the map oI the history and development oI the MDGs along
with its implementation so Iar in the Nigerian economic scenery. However in this chapter a
new dimension to this research project will be taken, one that is more abstract and solution
oriented.
It is important to note that as with everything that is created by man, the MDGs are
lacking in perIection. Despite the accepted Iact that the MDGs are one oI the best policy
models available today, it has some Iundamental Ilaws that could either hinder or inhibit its
actualisation. The problems with the MDGs will be analysed in this chapter, but in the same
vein, I will aim to provide solutions to these identiIied problems.
Likewise I will be taking a look at the workings oI an operationally eIIicient AIrican
continent, what I have tag the cannan land` oI the AIrican economy and how the reIormed
MDGs would help to get AIrica to this cannan land.
Finally I would take a look at other programs by various international organisations,
that been targeted at emancipating the AIrica`s economic woes.


Page 8

4.2 THE PROBLEMS WITH THE MDGs.
The MDG is indeed a Iramework that adopts a development approach that has set
targets that are ambitious yet attainable.
246
ProIessor Terry McKinley, Director oI the Centre
Ior Development Policy and Research oI the School oI Oriental and AIrican Studies (SOAS),
broadly praised the MDGs Iramework at the LIDC`s conIerence on 5
th
November, 2008.
According to him the MDGs Iramework is a 'global social compact based on mutual
accountability which moves Irom the developing to the developed countries and vice
versa.
247

However despite the barrage oI encomiums shower on the MDGs, practical progress
in achieving the MDGs is rather slow and even ground zero in Latin America and Sub-
Saharan AIrica. In essence the MDGs have not provided enough direction to achieve all its
ambitious goals. 'The (agreed-upon) document oIIers little more than a Iudge oI Ieel-good
phrases and pious wishes Ior Iuture action that leave everyone oII the hook when it comes to
taking entirely practical actions that are needed right now.
248

The issue is, do the MDG plans address the problem oI incentives, accountability, and
implementation? The MDGs preach the doctrine oI increased aid; does aid really increase
growth to help reach the anticipated reduction in poverty?
249
It is no hidden Iact that 10
1
/
2

years into the implementation oI the MDGs all over the world, the number oI poor in AIrica

246
SOAS FADIO. Evaluaiion of iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals. Progrcss and Prollcms
(including MDC8} - Profcssor Tcrry McKinlcy SOAS. Dy Cuy Collcndcr, Communicaiion
Officcr LIDC.
247
Ilid.
248
TIc Ncw Yorl Timcs cdiiorial on iIc UN Summii. Scicmlcr 14, 2005.
249
WIy iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coal Idca is Failing. William Easicrly. Ncw Yorl
Univcrsiiy (NYU}. Africa Housc Confcrcncc, FigIiing Povcriy. Scicmlcr 2005.

Page 8

is rising
250
i.e. the absolute number oI the poor in South Asia and in sub-Saharan AIrica is
increasing
251
, the number oI people going hungry increased between the years 1997-2002
252
,
every year 11million children die i.e. 30,000 a day, beIore their IiIth birthday
253
. Most oI
these children die Irom a disease or combination oI diseases that can be prevented or treated
by existing inexpensive means. Sometimes, the cause is as simple as a lack oI antibiotics Ior
treating pneumonia or oI oral rehydration salts Ior diarrhoea.
254

The question thereIore is, why are the MDGs Iailing? Despite the high hope and
momentum that the MDGs gathered at inception why is it so slow in IulIilling on its
promises? What are the problems with the MDGs? The MDGs has a variety oI problems or
loopholes in its conceptualisation and implementation, these problems are what are currently
militating against the success oI the MDGs, they include but are not limited to:
EXCESSIVE EMPHASIS ON DOUBLING AID: In many circles once the
question is asked, how do we IulIil the MDGs? More oIten than not the consensus
answer is double Ioreign aid to give the requisite Big Push`
255
. But I believe that
individuals who preach the doctrine oI increment in aid, either intentionally or
unintentionally suIIer Irom selective amnesia, because they seem to Iorget that the
idea oI increasing aid has been proposed and implemented in the past:Walt Rostow,
motivated by acceleration oI Cold War, called Ior doubling Ioreign aid in 1960 to last
Ior 10 to 15 years, World Bank President McNamara called Ior doubling aid in 1973.
The World Bank called Ior doubling aid with end oI Cold War in 1990. World Bank
President WolIensohn called Ior doubling aid with beginning oI terrorist war in 2001.

250
Ilid.
251
Dasic Facis Aloui iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals. Uniicd Naiions Dcvclomcni
Programmc.
252
253
Ilid.
254
Ilid.
255
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Sachs, Blair, Brown, IMF and World Bank called Ior doubling oI Ioreign aid in 2005
(which was intended to last until 2025, aIter which aid will no longer be needed). The
G-8 Summit in July 2005 agreed to double aid to AIrica. Even George W. Bush when
he was President oI the USA increased US aid by 50 percent
256
. As oI today the total
amount issued as Ioreign aid since 1960 stands at $2.3trillionUSD
257
. The question is
why hasn`t Ioreign aid already gotten round to distributing antibiotics Ior treating
pneumonia or oral rehydration salts Ior diarrhoea? The basic truth is that aid has not
brought about development in the past, and doubling aid will not hasten the
implementation oI the MDGs today either.
COMPLETE LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY: Another core problem militating
against the success oI the MDGs is that oI accountability. All aid agencies and rich
country politicians along with the developing countries politicians are all collectively
responsible Ior all the goals, which invariably mean that individual agencies or
politicians accountability Ior making progress toward the goals is non-existent
258
. The
language oI generalization that runs across the various goals (such as lower inIant
mortality rate or lower poverty), weakens accountability because it makes it diIIicult
to disentangle success level Irom one region to another. We have had examples oI
lack oI accountability, Ior example the UN ConIerence on Education Ior All in 1999
set a goal oI Universal Primary Enrolment Ior the year 2000, this goal was not met
and nobody was held accountable Ior missing that goal.
259
Decree oI plan can be
made at the top, but these plans do not create incentive Ior someone to take
responsibility to implement them at the bottom, bottom line with the MDGs, nobody

256
Ilid.
257
Ilid.
258
Ilid.
259
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is actively accountable Ior doing anything
260
. So unless drastic measure are taken to
ensure that people are held accountable Ior the success or Iailure oI the MDGs, all we
will have is a set oI unattained rhetorics clothed with the toga oI targets.
LACK OF TRUE COMMITTMENT TO GOALS: Goal 8 oI the Millennium
Development Goals is unique in the sense that it Iocus on donor government
commitments and achievements, rather than successes in the developing world.
261

This is to say that all that most indicators oI the success in attaining the MDGs look at
is, how much more money has been pumped into the third world by the developed
nations. This approach is rather detrimental because it ignore what in my opinion is
the most important Iinancial aid that can be rendered to developing countries which
are debt relieI and active Ioreign trade. The MDGs has over concentrated on aid and
has not adequately solved the problem oI debt relieI and there been only negligible
progress in widening developing countries access to the markets oI rich countries
262
.
The MDGs did not anticipate the global Iinancial crisis or meltdown, thereIore in the
Iace oI a global Iinancial crisis; progress in MDGs became more diIIicult. Asia
continued to grow (though rather slowly), but Latin America whose economy is
closely tied to that oI the US economy suIIered, AIrica was the hardest hit because
development practically ground to a halt
263
. ProI. McKinley stressed the Iar-reaching
negative impact oI the global Iinancial crisis Ior the MDG campaign. He reIerred to
his recent work on a world macro-economic model which, assuming recession in
developed countries persists, estimates that the economies oI low-income oil-

260
Ilid.
261
cn.wilicdia.org/wili/Millcnnium_Dcvclomcni_Coals
262
Officcr LIDC.
263
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importing sub-Saharan AIrican countries will shrink by 1.2 per cent per year until
2015.
264

INFORMATION DEFICIENCY: According to the UN`s own report on MDGs in
2005: 'Presenting aggregate Iigures Ior all regions (would) obscure...reality: (because
oI) the lack -in many parts oI the developing world- oI adequate data to assess
national trends and to inIorm and monitor the implementation oI development
policies. According to University oI Ottawa scientist Amir Attaran, 'there is lack oI
compatible data over time (or at any time in many countries) on maternal mortality,
thereIore in 2000, scientists Irom the United Nations warned that "it would be
inappropriate to...draw conclusions about (many) trends. Malaria is another example
where United Nations goals hinge on something immeasurable, because in 2000, the
organization's scientists warned that 'it will not, in general, be possible to measure the
overall incidence rate oI malaria
265
. Also the lack oI quality surveys carried out at
regular intervals and delay in reporting survey results continue to hamper the
monitoring oI poverty.
266
The alarming lack oI incontrovertible inIormation on many
oI the goals oI the MDGs Irom many oI the developing nations oI the world, leaves a
large spanner in the wheel oI the MDGs. Save this trend is corrected we might never
be able to truly ascertain iI we achieved the MDGs by the year 2015.
DISPROPORTIONATE ASSUMPTIONS: Emphasis on global agricultural
productivity both assumes that Iood supplies are Iundamentally global - that we'll be
able to keep moving grain around the world as needed, but Iails to address problems
oI equity and allocation as an equal priority to increasing production. Emphasis on

264
Ilid.
265
266
TIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals Fcori 2010. PullisIcd ly iIc Uniicd Naiions
Dcarimcni of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA} - Junc 2010.

Page 88

women's rights and empowerment oIten Iocuses on bringing women out oI the
domestic economy and into the Iormal one - this may oIIer short-term economic gains
but leaves Iamilies vulnerable to global economic cycles. ShiIting people into cities in
the name oI development looked good in a growing economy - but the new landless
and the emerging class oI the urban hungry, lack even the minimal security oI land
access that once sustained the poor. By placing environmental sustainability as just
one oI many goals, rather than a core component resource and ecological base on
which all the other goals rest, they conceal the Iact that even short term gains, say, in
clean drinking water are likely to be undercut by rapidly progressing climate change.
It would be as much a Iailure to stick to investing in goals Ior eradicating poverty that
depend on cheap energy, a growing and stable economy and a stable climate as it
would be to throw up one's hands at hunger, poverty and suIIering
267
.
LACK OF UNIFORMITY IN DEVELOPMENT: Progress has been Iar Irom
uniIorm across the world -or across the Goals. There are huge disparities across and
within countries. Within countries, poverty is greatest Ior rural areas, though urban
poverty is also extensive, growing, and underreported by traditional indicators. Sub-
Saharan AIrica is the epicentre oI crisis, with continuing Iood insecurity, a rise oI
extreme poverty, stunningly high child and maternal mortality, and large numbers oI
people living in slums, and a widespread shortIall Ior most oI the MDGs. Asia is the
region with the Iastest progress, but even there hundreds oI millions oI people remain
in extreme poverty, and even Iast-growing countries Iail to achieve some oI the non-
income Goals. Other regions have mixed records, notably Latin America, the
transition economies, and the Middle East and North AIrica, oIten with slow or no

267
TIc Prollcm WiiI iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals. Posicd on. Scicmlcr 21, 2010
12.59 PM, ly SIaron Asiyl.

Page 89

progress on some oI the Goals and persistent inequalities undermining progress on
others.
268

As ProIessor McKinley put it, the MDG is a policy model that emphasises on a Big-
Push` money centric development strategy Iramed by Overseas Development
Assistance. This strategy would not work because oI a lack oI understanding oI wider
macro-economic issues. In all ProIessor McKinley points to the tendency oI the
MDGs to concentrate on quick-wins, such as bed-nets against malaria
269
, rather than
concentrating on medium and long term solutions such as complete eradication oI
malaria, possibility oI vaccination against malaria, or extermination oI mosquitoes.

4.3 SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
MDGs.
Having identiIied the problems that are preventing the successIul implementation oI
the MDGs, it would be unacademic and a repetition oI the mistakes oI the past not to try to
proIIer some panacea to these problems.
First oI all in as to the issue oI accountability, accountability is possible with speciIic
piecemeal task, it is not possible with global goals
270
. This is to say that the MDGs should be
broken down into piecemeal goal that have an implementation circle oI about three years
individually, at the end oI which states and various agencies would be called to render

268
Millcnnium Projcci, Commissioncd ly iIc UN Sccrciary Ccncral and Suoricd ly iIc
UN Dcvclomcni Crou. 2002-2006, CoyrigIi 2006 Millcnnium Projcci |Hisioric Siic|
269
Officcr LIDC.
270

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account oI how Iar they have gone with implementing the particular goal in question. Also
we should open up aid agencies to independent scientiIic evaluation oI a sample oI their
project, so as to test eIIiciency. To increase access to inIormation, agencies should recruit
people Irom the community who are the intended beneIiciaries oI aid as well as the available
local NGOs. Their duty will be to do evaluation and give Ieedback to government and aid
agencies, they would be trained to be aid watchers`. Already ProIessor Leonard Watchekon,
has started a similar program in Benin Republic
271
.
ProIessor McKinley also accepted the Iact that the Iinancial meltdown would aIIect
the implementation oI the MDGs when he said: "UnIortunately we are going into an
economic downturn the duration and depth oI which we don't know". However his
recommendations during these challenging times included maintaining a Iocus on sub-
Saharan AIrica and adopting 'win-win approaches, such as accelerating debt relieI and
reducing agricultural support in the developed world
272
. In other words he advice that more oI
debt relieI not aid should be given to AIrica, while the developed countries oI the world cut
on some oI the Ilamboyant and unnecessary expenditure which they engage in.
Increase in trade and not doubling oI aid is another way oI solving the problem with
the MDGs. What the countries oI Sub-Saharan AIrica and the developing world require is not
Ior the developed countries to pump in more Iree money, but Ior them to engage in
meaningIul economic activity. Increase in aid will only continue the circle oI inIlation, which
will bring about loss oI currency strength, which will lead to loss oI bargaining power at the
international market, and then will bring us back to the same point oI requesting Ior more aid.
Rather than increase aid the developed world should open up to doing business and trading

271
Ilid.
272
O. Cii.

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with the developing countries, which will serve to increase their Ioreign exchange, bolster
economic strength and inevitably accelerate economic development which will put them on
the right track to achieving the MDGs.
Internally too the developing countries oI the world should seek to ensure that they
solve the internal problems that are militating against the success oI the MDGs. Problems
such as corruption, inIrastructural decadence, despotism in appointment oI oIIicers to handle
MDG projects, political instability, etc. They should also pay more attention to those goals
that are oI immediate importance to them, Ior example in Nigeria the goals oI Universal
Basic Education, reduction in maternal and inIant mortality and combating HIV/AIDS are oI
the greatest importance and so should be given more attention.
Finally global cooperation that is true and sincere is another solution to the problems
oI the MDGs. Undeniably the National Interest oI every state is oI basic importance to a state,
but in the protection and promulgation oI their National Interest, states should engage in
activities that are not detrimental to the growth oI the other states. The developed world
should put an end to the carrot and stick diplomacy and render sincere aid to the developing
countries. Also unattainable goals Ior achieving debt relieI that has been prescribed by the
IMF and World Bank should be reconsidered. Ultimately developing countries should not be
used as a dumping ground Ior developed countries excesses, which will only destroy local
industries and inhibit economic growth.
Bottom line, truth, sincerity, commitment to service and all round cooperation will
bring us to the point oI hope that the MDGs are actually achievable.


Page 9

4.4 THE CANNAN LAND` OF THE AFRICAN ECONOMY.
Cannan is an allusion to the Bible which indicates the 'land oI milk and honey that
Yahweh promised the children oI Israel at the start oI their exodus Irom Egypt
273
.
Contextually the cannan land oI the AIrican economy here indicates the preIerred Iuture Ior
the AIrican economy, a Iuture that sees its people emancipated Irom the shackles oI
economic suppression and subjugation. A Iuture that sees AIrica shake oI the title oI third
world and rather don the toga oI development. A Iuture that sees AIrica make reasonable
contributions in the realm oI technological advancement that is beneIicial to her people.
AIrica's development is the classic glass halI empty and halI Iull. It is a continent both
in development crisis and a continent Iilled with dynamism and potential. AIrica is a
continent Iilled with, a rich mosaic oI diversity whose development potential is still to be
harnessed, where reIorms are improving governance and economic perIormance in more and
more countries, where civil society is burgeoning and women becoming more prominent in
development and government.
274

The cannan land oI AIrica would be an AIrican that has beneIited Irom the
experiences around the world oI successIul strategies to reduce poverty, consisting oI labour-
demanding growth, investment in education and health, a saIety net Ior the poor and
vulnerable and good governance. An AIrica that makes great investment in the education oI
her people, health, nutrition and Iamily planning.

273
Eodus 6 v. 3-8. Holy Dillc, King Jamcs Vcrsion. Jcimovc PullisIing. 2003. ISDN 978-
978059-256-1.
274
Scrving Africa Dciicr. Siraicgic Dircciion for iIc Economic Commission for Africa.
Communicaiion Tcam, Economic Commission for Africa. P.O.Do 3001, Addis Alala,
EiIioia. CoyrigIi ECA 2000.

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An AIrica that gives women the opportunity to play an active role in agriculture,
government, and other sectors oI the economy. One that aIIords women equal amount oI
opportunities as men, enhanced education, increased employment opportunities, access to
credit Iacilities, and the protection oI their legal and Iundamental human rights. By the time
AIrica reaches her cannan land she would be a continent that exploits the principles oI
regional cooperation and integration, which aIIords tremendous opportunities Ior economic
growth, enabling AIrican countries to overcome the constraints oI small national markets, and
invariably improve intra-AIrican trade and provide dynamism.
Her cannan land would be an AIrica that produces sound economic policies Ior
herselI, this policies would be a reIlection oI her unique problems, which would inevitably
provide unique solutions as such. An AIrica that guarantees Iood security which is a critical
issue to her development. This would be achieved by improving production, distribution and
storage, milling and marketing, purchasing power and nutrition, having achieved these pre-
requisites, Iood security would increase, energy balance would improve, a level oI selI-
suIIiciency would be attained, and many monetary constraints to regional trade would have
been overcome. The world outside AIrica today is one oI explosive expansion in world trade
and Iinancial interdependence; it is not unreasonable to Ioresee such linkages growing rapidly
within AIrica and between AIrica and the rest oI the world.
AIrica would have reached her cannan land when she has a political process that is
devoid oI instability. Where individuals see government as an opportunity Ior service and not
an avenue Ior personal aggrandizement or as a personal property that they reIuse to let go oI.
Where individual with reIreshing ideas get into government and appointments are not made
on the Ioundation oI Iavouritism and despotism. Where elections can be Iree and Iair and the
people be allowed to exercise their Iundamental rights without Iear or intimidation.

Page 9

The cannan land oI AIrica would truly be Ioreseeable when the public service has a
complete overhaul. The goal will be to promote concepts oI ethics and accountability in
AIrican public services with a view to Iostering a climate oI higher expectations oI
perIormance and to better ensure that public oIIicials - both elected and appointed - uphold
and adhere to ethical standards oI public service.
It possible to imagine an AIrica a generation Irom now which has largely eliminated
the worst Iorms oI poverty, and to Ioresee a generally progressive era ahead. These positive
outcomes are not unreasonable expectations. Without minimising the diIIiculties that lie
ahead, it is possible Ior AIrica to achieve a 'willed Iuture leading to these ends. The keys to
this Iuture are sound macro-economic policies, eIIicient and equitable development oI human
and physical resources and Iull participation in development, open markets, and innovative
and more eIIective international economic cooperation, etc.
275

4.5 THE MDGs AS A MECHANISM TO GET THERE.
A proper cannan land has been described in the sub-chapter above, but these daunting
goals cannot be achieved in the blink oI an eye, there is a need Ior a policy Iramework that is
generally accepted by the AIrican community, which will lead to the actualisation oI the
cannan land that AIricans so earnestly desire.
The question is what better mechanism is there Ior achieving these goals than the
MDGs? It Iits the bill almost perIectly, as it is a policy model and has general acceptability

275
Cuidclincs io iIis sul-Icading wcrc drawn from. Scrving Africa Dciicr. Siraicgic
Dircciion for iIc Economic Commission for Africa. Communicaiion Tcam, Economic
Commission for Africa. P.O.Do 3001, Addis Alala, EiIioia. CoyrigIi ECA 2000.

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on the continent, as most oI the continent`s leaders signed the Millennium Declaration in
September 2000.
The MDGs eight goals
276
are all targeted at various aspects oI the AIrican polity, that
iI addressed with the vigour that the MDGs require will eventually lead us to the awaited
cannan land. First oI all the eradication oI poverty will accelerate economic development,
while the attainment oI universal education will guarantee our continued success, since there
will be a boost in the quality oI human resource.
The promotion oI gender equality will bring a Iresh perspective to economic
resilience and growth, as is already evident in the key position held by women in AIrica e.g.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela who almost singlehandedly eliminated Nigeria`s debt burden, and Ellen
Johnson-SirleaI who has put Liberia on the path to economic recovery. The reduction in child
mortality will also serve to stem the steady decline in the working population and human
resource that AIrica is currently experiencing.
Improvement in maternal health will invariably cause a resonance that will activate an
improvement in the entire health sector, which would couple with the drive to curtail the
spread oI the HIV/AIDS pandemic to improve the general health oI the people oI AIrica. The
drive to meet up with the demands oI Goal 7 oI ensuring environmental sustainability will
ensure that the menace oI desertiIication, loss oI soil Iertility, etc will be checked which
would also aid to stem the tide oI rapid loss oI material and natural resources that is currently
contributing to AIrica`s woes.

276
Scc CIaicr 3. A Synosis of iIc MDCs. TIc Nigcrian Ouilool.

Page 9

Finally, iI the entire goals above are IulIilled, then AIrica would be able to develop a
global partnership Ior development that is not predicated on her perpetual request Ior aid, but
cooperation with the rest oI the world that is Iounded on true equality.
In conclusion, there is no gainsaying the Iact that the MDG is one oI the best
mechanisms Ior taking AIrica to her cannan land.

4.6 OTHER PROGRAMS THAT HAVE BEEN GEARED TOWARDS
THE EMANCIPATION OF THE AFRICAN ECONOMY.
It is important to state that the MDG is not the only programs that have been created
with the aim oI reducing poverty in AIrica, indeed because oI the unique nature oI the
problems that beIell AIrica as a whole since the late 1980`s, an abundance oI programs and
policy Irameworks have been created with speciIic reIerence to reducing poverty and Iast
tracking development in AIrica.
Some oI these programs have even become irrelevant since the magnitude oI the
problems has overtaken them, but some are still relevant till date. It is also necessary to state
that most oI these programs were engineered by various International Organisation, and in
these sub-chapter, I shall try to dissect in brieI some oI the other programs by various
International Organisation -both within and without AIrica- that have also been targeted at
alleviating AIrica`s economic woes.
New Partnership for Africa`s Development (NEPAD): The New Partnership Ior
AIrica's Development (NEPAD) is an economic development program oI the AIrican

Page 9

Union. NEPAD was adopted at the 37th session oI the Assembly oI Heads oI State
and Government in July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia. NEPAD aims to provide an
overarching vision and policy Iramework Ior accelerating economic co-operation and
integration among AIrican countries. NEPAD is a merger oI two plans Ior the
economic regeneration oI AIrica: the Millennium Partnership Ior the AIrican
Recovery Programme (MAP), led by Former President Thabo Mbeki oI South AIrica
in conjunction with Former President Olusegun Obasanjo oI Nigeria and President
Abdelaziz BouteIlika oI Algeria; and the OMEGA Plan Ior AIrica developed by
President Abdoulaye Wade oI Senegal. NEPAD`s Iour primary objectives are: to
eradicate poverty, promote sustainable growth and development, integrate AIrica in
the world economy, and accelerate the empowerment oI women. It is based on
underlying principles oI a commitment to good governance, democracy, human rights
and conIlict resolution; and the recognition that maintenance oI these standards is
Iundamental to the creation oI an environment conducive to investment and long-term
economic growth. NEPAD seeks to attract increased investment, capital Ilows and
Iunding, providing an AIrican-owned Iramework Ior development as the Ioundation
Ior partnership at regional and international levels. The Heads oI State and
Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) to which the NEPAD secretariat
reports comprises three states Ior each region oI the AIrican Union, with Iormer
President Obasanjo (Nigeria) as elected chair, and Presidents BouteIlika (Algeria) and
Wade (Senegal) as deputy chairmen at NEPAD`s commencement. The HSGIC meets
several times a year and reports to the AU Assembly oI Heads oI State and
Government. There is also a steering committee, comprising 20 AU member states, to

Page 98

oversee projects and program development. The NEPAD Secretariat is based in
Midrand, South AIrica
277
.
Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP): The Southern AIrican
Development Community (SADC) started as rontine States whose objective was
political liberation oI Southern AIrica. SADC was preceded by the Southern AIrican
Development Coordination ConIerence (SADCC), which was Iormed in Lusaka,
Zambia on April 01, 1980 with the adoption oI the Lusaka Declaration (Southern
AIrica: Towards Economic Liberation). The Regional Indicative Strategic
Development Plan (RISDP) and the Strategic Indicative Plan Ior the Organ (SIPO)
remain the Irameworks Ior SADC Regional integration that provide SADC Member
States with a consistent and comprehensive programme oI long-term economic and
social policies, and at the same time, it provides the SADC Secretariat and other
SADC Institutions insights oI SADC approved economic and social policies and
priorities. The RISDP reaIIirms the commitment oI SADC Member States to good
political, economic and corporate governance entrenched in a culture oI democracy,
Iull participation by civil society, transparency and respect Ior the rule oI law. In this
context, the AIrican Union`s New Partnership Ior AIrica's Development (NEPAD) is
embraced as a credible and relevant Continental Iramework, and the RISDP as
SADC`s Regional expression and vehicle Ior achieving the ideals contained therein.
The RISDP emphasises that good political, economic and corporate governance are
prerequisites Ior sustainable socio-economic development, and that SADC`s quest Ior

277
cn.wilicdia.org/wili/Ncw_ParincrsIi_for_Africa's_Dcvclomcni

Page 99

poverty eradication and deeper integration levels will not be realised in the absence oI
good governance
278
.

ECOWAS Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP)/Comprehensive African Agriculture
Development Programme (CAADP): The Comprehensive AIrica Agriculture
Development Programme (CAADP) is at the heart oI eIIorts by AIrican governments
under the AU/NEPAD initiative to accelerate growth and eliminate poverty and
hunger among AIrican countries. The main goal oI CAADP is to help AIrican
countries reach a higher path oI economic growth through agriculturally-led
development which eliminates hunger, reduces poverty and Iood and nutrition
insecurity, and enables expansion oI exports. As a program oI the AIrican Union, it
emanates Irom and is Iully owned and led by AIrican governments. In the West
AIrica region, the Economic Community oI West AIrican States (ECOWAS) has been
mandated to support and coordinate the implementation oI the program. In this
context, ECOWAS developed the regional agricultural policy (ECOWAP). The
ECOWAP is the Iramework oI reIerence that provides the principles and objectives
assigned to the agricultural sector and guides interventions in agricultural
development in the region. During 2005, ECOWAS and the NEPAD Secretariat
developed a joint ECOWAP/CAADP action plan Ior the period 2005-2010 Ior the
development oI the agricultural sector. Although regional and continental in scope,
the ECOWAP/CAADP agenda is an integral part oI national eIIorts to promote
agricultural sector growth and economic development. ThereIore, it is proposed to

278
SouiIcrn Africa Dcvclomcni Communiiy. Aloui SADC. CoyrigIi 2010. SouiIcrn
Africa Dcvclomcni Communiiy.

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Iormulate and implement concrete investment programmes at national and regional
levels to improve the livelihoods oI the populations.
279

Structural Adjustments Programs (SAPs): Structural Adjustments Programs are
the policies implemented by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank (the Bretton Woods Institutions) in developing countries. These policy changes
are conditions (Conditionalities) Ior getting new loans Irom the IMF or World Bank,
or Ior obtaining lower interest rates on existing loans. Conditionalities are
implemented to ensure that the money lent will be spent in accordance with the
overall goals oI the loan
280
. IMF loans Iocus on temporarily Iixing problems that
countries Iace as a whole. Traditionally IMF loans were meant to be repaid in a short
duration between 2 and 4 years. Today, there are a Iew longer term options
available, which go up to 7 years,
281
as well as options that lend to countries in times
oI crises such as natural disasters or conIlicts. World Bank SAPs or SALs (Structural
Adjustment Loans) Iocus on providing loans and grants to countries that provide
Iunding on a project basis. For example, a loan or grant Irom the World Bank, could
provide Iunds to improve inIrastructure in a region oI a developing country.
282

United States Agency for International Development (USAID): The United States
Agency Ior International Development (USAID) is the principal independent United
States Iederal agency that provides economic development, and humanitarian
assistance abroad in accordance with the Ioreign policy goals oI the United States.
Receiving guidance Irom the U.S. Secretary oI State, it supports: (1) economic

279
ECOWAS Agriculiural Policy (ECOWAP}/ComrcIcnsivc African Agriculiurc
Dcvclomcni Programmc (CAADP}. COMPACT. To Suori iIc CIana Food and Agriculiurc
Sccior Dcvclomcni Policy (FASDEP II}. Accra, Wcdncsday 28
iI
Ociolcr, 2009.
280
Crccnlcrg, Jamcs D. 1997. A Poliiical Ecology of Siruciural-Adjusimcni Policics. TIc
Casc of iIc Dominican Fcullic. Culiurc & Agriculiurc 19 (3}.85-93
281
Scc iIc IMF wclsiic on lcnding.
282
cn.wilicdia.org/wili/Siruciural_adjusimcni

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growth, agriculture, and trade; (2) global health; and (3) democracy, conIlict
prevention, and humanitarian assistance. USAID assists Iour principal regions oI the
world: sub-Saharan AIrica; Asia and the Near East; Latin America and the Caribbean;
and Europe and Eurasia. With its headquarters in Washington, DC, USAID possesses
Iield oIIices around the world and works with private voluntary organizations,
indigenous organizations, universities, American businesses, international agencies,
other governments, and other United States government agencies. It has relationships
with over 3,500 American companies and more than 300 private voluntary
organizations based in the United States.
283284

EU-Africa Renewable Energy Cooperation Program (RECP): AIrica is on the
verge oI large-scale deployment oI renewable energy. Renewable energy technologies
are becoming ever more aIIordable, governments have a better understanding oI the
potential renewable energy oIIers to their countries, and there are ever more
international initiatives Ior the promotion oI renewables. RECP is a programme with
very limited Iinancial resources and manpower, however RECP has the potential to
become a substantial catalyst with real impact. A basic precondition is that the RECP
seeks to leverage its impact by liaising with already existing institutions and
programmes. The RECP can only become successIul when it is more than just a
platIorm Ior governments and development agencies; it has to gather the relevant
stakeholders and address relevant questions. Hence, the continuous involvement and
mobilization oI AIrican and European stakeholders around very speciIic issues with a

283
FESULTS. Uniicd Siaics Covcrnmcnial Agcncics, Programs, and Funds.
284
For morc informaiion scc. www.usaid.gov

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Iocus on bridging the gaps: Iinancing, national technical know-how and proper
demonstration.
285

These are not all but a Iew oI the other programs that have been directed towards AIrica`s
economic development.

285
Alliancc for Fural Elccirificaiion. Posiiion Pacr, Africa-EU Fcncwallc Encrgy
Coocraiion Program (FECP}. Ociolcr 2010. Alliancc for Fural Elccirificaiion (AFE}, Fuc
d'Arlon 63-65, 1040 Drusscls, Dclgium.

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CHAPTH 5: POSTSCHtPT

5.1 CONCLUSION

The Millennium Declaration represents the most important promise ever made to the
world`s most vulnerable people
286
, and this thereIore makes it is a promise that must be kept.
BeIore the advent oI the Millennium Summit and the MDG, a number oI Summits had been
held both within and without the Iramework oI the UN, all with various resolutions by states.
However a very Iew oI these resolutions witness actualisation, and in very Iew countries too.
But with the MDGs this most change, iI our world is to become a better place, Iull
implementation is the only option, no more, no less. All the states oI the world especially the
countries oI AIrica must put their hands together to achieve the one unavoidable goal oI Iull
implementation.
AIrica as a continent has witnessed a long and rich history. From time immemorial
she has suIIered battery, starting Irom the time when her people were called apes, to the
destruction that accompanied the Jihad and Holy Wars, to the era oI the slave trade, to the
period oI colonisation, but one Iactor remains true, real and undeniable, despite all that has
been thrown at AIrica with the power oI will and resilience AIrica still stands strong. I
thereIore believe that AIrica will overcome this phase oI economic regression. The economy
oI AIrica will be emancipated and her people will stand strong and proud. II only her leaders
will become servants and her people patriots, AIrica will surely take her rightIul position at
top.

286
Dcarimcni of Economic and Social Affairs (DECA} Junc 2010.

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5.2 RECOMMENDATION.
The MDG is the promise oI the century Irom the leadership oI the world to its
citizens, a promise oI: a better liIe devoid oI extreme poverty, relieve Irom death as a result
oI treatable diseases, Ireedom Irom oppression and subjugation, a better environment to habit
in, basic education Ior all, and a greater level oI genuine cooperation among the members oI
the international community. I am oI the opinion that the goals oI the MDG are completely
achievable, and to that end the Iollowing are my recommendations.
It is pertinent to state that some recommendations have already been outlined in
Chapter 4 oI this research project
287
, and the rest oI the recommendations will be divided into
two, the general recommendations and the goal-centric recommendations. The general
recommendations are:
The policies that seek to bring about the actualisation oI the MDGs which in turn will
bring about the emancipation oI the AIrican economy should be 'nationally owned
development strategies, policies and programmes (that are) supported by international
development partners
288
. This is to say that the goals as enumerated by the MDGs
should be guides to national government to Iormulate sound economic policies that
would liberate its people. Also international organisations should limit the extent to
which they Iormulate policies that national government are supposed to implement,
because the very workings and problems oI the economy diIIer Irom state to state,
thereIore the individual governments oI these states should be given more leeway to
Iormulate policies that would be tailor suited Ior the unique to problems oI their
economies. These policies can then be scrutinized and supported by international

287
Scc CIaicr 4, Sul-CIaicr 4.3. Soluiions io iIc Prollcms Associaicd wiiI iIc MDCs.
288

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organisations, rather than having blanket policies that never seem to solve any
relevant issue.
Active people participation in the MDG program is another basic essential. The
MDGs should be taken away Irom the exclusive realm oI governance and made a
project oI the people. For example in Nigeria this should start Irom the Iederal level
where the civil service is educated on the importance oI the MDGs, to the state level
where the state governments are made to embark on project that are deliberately
targeted at MDG goals, but most importantly the local government will be the most
important part oI this project. There should be student-Iriendly lessons that educate
the kids in schools as to the importance oI education and how to protect themselves
Irom easily communicable diseases, etc. The town hall meetings should be reinitiated,
which will help to sensitize the citizens on what the government is doing to attain the
MDGs and collect inIormation on their need and wants which when collated will be
useIul in shaping government policy and creating the much needed database on
progress attained in the implementation oI the MDGs. Finally a District OIIicer
should be appointed to oversee the MDG project in every local government area in the
country.
Sub-Regional Cooperation is also important. Emphasis is placed on sub-Regional
cooperation, because I am oI the opinion that when cooperation is on a regional or
global scale, we lose the essence oI accountability which is one oI the important
purposes oI cooperation, and which is essential iI we are to achieve the MDGs by
2015. Sub-Regional bodies in AIrica such as ECOWAS and SADC should set up
organs within their leadership Iramework whose responsibility is to monitor the
progress oI each state in the execution oI their individual policies that are MDG-
centric. This organ will also shoulder the responsibility oI drawing up modalities that

Page

will encourage its various members to engage in economic activities, e.g. trade, policy
exchange and workIorce training that will equally beneIit them all. Then cooperation
on the regional and global level should then be a harnessing oI inIormation and ideas
Irom these various organs in the various sub-regional institutions, and the use oI
summits and conIerences to discuss progress and greater cooperation, e.g. the UN
Summits.
Finally, it is a Iact that many states in AIrica as a result oI various Iactors which
include the global economic recession, bad governance, etc. would not attain all the
MDGs by the year 2015. However the MDGs should not then be disposed oI ipso
facto, rather since the goals almost summarise key areas where AIrica is lacking, the
government oI each state should be allowed to keep working on the MDGs until they
attain them. However a time Irame should also be attached to this extension, so as not
to encourage a lackadaisical attitude.
Next I will move over to the goal-centric recommendations. By goal-centric I mean,
recommendations that I have encountered during the course oI this research project that are
speciIic to each oI the eight goals oI the MDG. They are:
I. Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty: Poverty and hunger as a
combination is one oI the most virile obstacles to AIrica`s development. I
recommend that; governments should setup shelter in various regions oI their
states where the poor and homeless can go to have shelter Irom the elements.
These shelters will serve dual purposes, Iirst at the shelters poor people will be Ied
to combat the scourge oI hunger and most importantly malnutrition since the
meals will have the requisite balanced diet Ior healthy growth, secondly at these
shelters vocational schools should be setup so that these individuals and Iamilies

Page

can learn skills that will enable them to make ends meet and not return back to the
shelters. Also iI possible time limits should be set on the availability oI the shelter
to an individual, this is to spur them to complete their training within reasonable
time and leave the shelters. Also government should set up microcredit Iacilities
that would be able to lend money to the owners oI Small and Medium-Scale
Enterprises (SMEs) with reasonable interest rates and little or no collateral, there
is no gainsaying the Iact that the liIe oI an economy is based on the strength oI its
SMEs.
II. Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education: The Iuture oI any state is tied to its
ability to adequately prepare its young Ior the challenges oI the Iuture, and what
better way is there to prepare them than the giIt oI education. Universal basic
education is a basic pre-requisite Ior AIrica`s economic development; thereIore I
opine that, the government oI AIrican states should make education Iree and
compulsory Ior all. For example in the Nigerian setting, education to the Basic 9
level should be made compulsory Ior all youngsters. However this compulsory
education should be accompanied with the necessary notebooks and textbooks
which will bring about qualitative education, also the necessary inIrastructure
such as laboratories, classrooms, etc should be made available. In addition tertiary
education should not be ignored, government should take concrete steps to
subsidise the cost oI tertiary education so that the middle and lower class members
oI the society will also have access to the highest level oI education, government
can also initiate scholarship schemes where the best students at secondary school
and university levels will be given grants to Iurther their education. Finally all
AIrican government should take substantial steps towards implementing the UN
required 20 allocation oI national budget to education.

Page 8

III. Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women: So as to guarantee the
equality and empowerment oI women I propose that, compulsory education Ior all
be made especially compulsory Ior girls, especially in regions where Iemale
education is abhorred. In suggest that legislation be enacted to the eIIect. I also
suggest that a legislation with a sunset or expiration clause be enacted which
guarantees women a minimum oI 35 participation in government. This law shall
have a lasting period oI 20years, aIter which the womenIolk would have created
enough mechanism Ior themselves to continue to perpetuate themselves in
government.
IV. Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality: Since children are most vulnerable in the Iirst
Iive years oI their lives, I suggest that annual massive immunization programs
becomes a part oI the health regimes oI the Ministry oI Health, and health workers
should be made to move Irom house to house to educate mothers on the symptoms
and basic Iirst aid to be administered to children Ior various diseases. They should
also educate them on the necessity oI visiting the hospital Irom time to time to
carry out check-ups on their children until they attain the age oI Iive, and the
importance oI immunization to the health oI their children.
V. Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health: To reduce maternal mortality I propose that, in
public or government owned health Iacilities, ante-natal and post-natal care be
made Iree. Also local mid-wives should be given training Irom time to time to
enable them adequately carter Ior the women in the local areas who do not have
access to Medicare. Also local meeting oI pregnant women during their gestation
period should be initiated, where health workers will be able to give regular
education on how to take care oI themselves and their unborn, at these meetings
maternal health, prevention oI diseases, etc will be discussed.

Page 9

VI. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases: The pandemic oI HIV/AIDS and
malaria in AIrica has risen to alarming proportions. To this end I advocate that;
sex-education becomes an integral part oI the school curriculum. From the
secondary school level, students should be taught about the dangers associated
with unsaIe sexual intercourse and other unsaIe behaviour such as sharing needles,
etc. They should also be taught the ways oI protecting themselves with the use oI
condoms, abstinence and IaithIulness. Also Ior individuals who are already
inIected, antiretroviral drugs should be subsidised by the government, though
eIIorts have been made in this line (since the total number oI persons who now
use antiretroviral has risen by 100
289
), more eIIort is still to be made. In the area
oI malaria control, the government only needs to put in more eIIort into its current
policies on malaria which seems to be eIIective, however members oI the private
sectors should also make their own contribution in curtailing this menace, by
providing Iree malaria medication Ior its workers and their Iamilies.
VII. Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability: In this area the government oI
AIrican states have not done much. II we are to save our environment Irom
destruction, governments should make active eIIorts to curtail environmental
pollution. With Nigeria as a case study, the government should make concrete
eIIort to put a stop to gas Ilaring and the wanton water pollution with crude oil
that is taking place in the Niger Delta. Also government should use massive tree
planting exercises to put a stop to the occurrence oI desertiIication in the North.
The importance oI industrialization is not lost on me, but industrialisation without

289

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care Ior the environment is not helpIul either, I thereIore advice that government
make industries discover better and saIer ways oI engaging in production.
VIII. Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership Ior Development: Partnership is indicative
oI equality and not a Lord-SerI relationship, I thereIore opine that all the states oI
the world should decide to truly cooperate so that every state will develop enough
to adequately cater Ior its people and make the world a better place on the long
run. I suggest that issues such as environmental degradation and nuclear
disarmament be discussed with compromise so that everyone achieves success. As
Ior AIrica I believe that no one will solve our problems Ior us, so iI we want to
succeed we must take our destinies into our own hands cooperate on a massive
scale, exchange ideas and innovations and hold ourselves accountable, so that we
can all grow, and not just grow but truly develop.


Page

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O GIno J. NaIdI and KanstantInos . MagIIveras, TIc African
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O Mid-Poini Asscssmcni of iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals in
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Fcullic of Nigcria. PullisIcd ly, TIc Officc of iIc Scnior Sccial
Assisiani io iIc Prcsidcni on MDCs TIc Prcsidcncy Aluja, Fcdcral
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O OgunnaIke Janet, Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals, iIc Eradicaiion
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O JIbrIn IbrabIm, Nci Onlinc Magazinc. Dcccning Dcmocracy.
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Ociolcr, 2010.
O Wendy, Dusincss Day. Yar'adua Mid-Tcrm Fcvicw. Tucsday 5
iI
of
May, 2009.


Page

HSOLtTtONS OF TH tN
O Drafi Fcsoluiion rcfcrrcd io iIc HigI-Lcvcl Plcnary Mcciing of iIc
Ccncral Asscmlly ai iis SiiI-FouriI Scssion (A/65/L.1}. Kccing
iIc Promisc. Uniicd io AcIicvc iIc Millcnnium Dcvclomcni Coals.
O Fcsoluiion adoicd ly iIc Ccncral Asscmlly |tIout cccncc to u
Mun Connttcc (A/55/L.2)|55/2. Uniicd Naiions Millcnnium
Dcclaraiion.
O Fcviscd Drafi Ouicomc Documcni of iIc HigI-lcvcl Plcnary Mcciing
of iIc Ccncral Asscmlly of Scicmlcr 2005, Sulmiiicd ly iIc
rcsidcni of iIc Ccncral Asscmlly (A/59/HLPM/CFP.1/Fcv.2}.
O 'TIc Millcnnium Asscmlly of iIc Uniicd Naiions. TIcmaiic
Framcworl for iIc Millcnnium Summii' (UN A/53/948}.

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PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

A REvIEW 0F TBE NILLENNI0N BEvEL0PNENT u0ALS, IN RELATI0N T0 NIuERIA.

PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

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PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

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PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

PR0uRANS uEAREB T0WARBS ACBIEvINu TBE ENANCIPATI0N 0F TBE AFRICAN EC0N0NY:

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