What Tinubu Needs To Do To Attain SDGs, Others—Akande

A former Presidential Aide, Laolu Akande has tasked President Bola Tinubu with providing adequate foreign policy direction to back up his laudable and well-articulated speech at the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.

Tinubu in his address at the 78th UN General Assembly on Wednesday, emphasized the importance of Nigeria and Africa as a whole in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, restoring democracy, and engaging in innovative business partnerships with other UN member states.

Akande, who is currently in New York, covering proceedings at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly, voiced his opinion while appearing as a guest analyst on Channel TV’s morning programme, Sunrise Daily, on Thursday.

He stated that Tinubu must ensure that he assembles a team that would develop and communicate a clear foreign policy that incorporates all of the key issues he made at the General Assembly.

The award-winning journalist also charged the President with implementing all of the important agenda he has set in the global arena through robust foreign policy

“In all that we do at the level of international relations, beginning with what our domestic policies are, people can see that we have a new Nigeria that wants to retake its place in its international relationship and also wants to be the spokesperson for the development of Africa and the developing world,” he added.

He added that in order for Nigeria to attain UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Federal Government must adopt “a stick-and-carrot approach” with state governments, particularly in the area of compulsory education for students in their first nine years of academic pursuit rather than leave the bulk of the work to the federal government.

Akande said, “I think one of the things the Federal Government should do is to adopt a stick and carrot approach to these things and tie incentives and some consequences to show states are supposed to step up in these important areas.

“For instance, look at the issue of education. So, by a constitutional mandate, every Nigerian child ought to have compulsory education for the first nine years. But guess what these issues are domiciled in the sub-national, state and local governments.

“And as you know, there is even Federal Government funding for universal education through SUBEB, and in many instances, the states are not coming up with their own margin ground to be able to tap into the available money at the federal level.

“So, the question of getting the states to collaborate is very critical. There can be no sustainable development in a federal country like ours without a consistent and active collaboration between the Federal Government and the state government.

“What I will suggest to take this thing more seriously is to adopt a stick and carrot approach and I think the president has promised.

“You will remember that a few months ago, the President decided that he is going to hold back a portion of the increase we have seen in the federal allocation for infrastructure, though there were arguments and altercation at the federal allocation committee where the idea came up. But guess what, the President insisted and got his way.

“So, it is that kind of engagement consistently to let the states know that this thing has to be done because you guys in the state you know that is where development happens and it will even be useful for Nigerians to understand that all the focus, all the attention, all the criticism and all the observation should not be going to the federal alone.”