A group of 22 countries under the aegis of Partners in Population and Develop-ment (PPD) yesterday said Nigeria had missed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target and described the nation as a sleeping giant.
This revelation is coming on a day the Federal Government said it had spent over $20 billion as contributions to the growth of other countries.
The group of nations at a workshop in Abuja on National Support Structure for South-South Cooperation organised by the National Planning Commission in conjunction with the United Nations Agency for Population (UNFPA), said in spite of Nigeria’s population and oil wealth, it was far from achieving the MDGs target and had failed to provide leadership for Africa.
PPD Executive Director, Mr Harry Jooseery, while speaking at the workshop, noted that despite the resources at its disposal, Nigeria was still lagging behind in the race to achieve the MDGs target.
“Nigeria is one of the richest countries in the world and the world’s sixth largest oil producer and yet still struggling to meet the MDGs. It has the capacity to alleviate poverty and move towards sustainable development.
“More investments are needed in health and social welfare as these constitute the most important sector. The MDGs cannot be achieved unless we invest to improve the quality of life of our people”, he said.
But speaking at the event, Minister for National Planning and Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission, Dr Shamsuddeen Usman, who was represented at the workshop by the Secretary to the Commission, Professor Sylvester Monye, disagreed with the description of Nigeria as a sleeping giant and maintained that the nation had made significant contributions to the development process of other South-South nations as well as the African Development Bank (ADB).
Usman said, “I will not agree with the submission that Nigeria is a sleeping giant. Nigeria has contributed in excess of $20 billion to other South-South countries. Nigeria has also contributed $570 million to the Trust Fund at the Africa Development Bank (ADfB). The second highest contribution to that of Nigeria is the one from Australia which is $5million. Nigeria contributes to the Technical Aides Corps scheme designed to help other countries”.


http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=159486

This na stale news!! Can we ever get there?? Dream on,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

How can you MEET the MDGs, when you failed to make an appointment ?

Appointment or not, achieving the MDG's is a only but a dream.

Touché!

Radiant:

Touché!

Far more than been touche,,,,to even think that foreigners would come into our own country to tell us this ,,,the least to say is that it is highly embarassing,,,,

i hope all our wicked leaders BURN AND CRASH

reading this makes me really PISSED