SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: MY IDEAL NATION'S HOPE FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Nigeria is currently faced with numerous issues that accumulated and leads to continuous backwardness in economic growth; this is a result of climate change, insecurity and gender inequality.

The continues uncontrolled exploitation and over dependency on non renewable energy sources( coal, petroleum, and natural gas), Unsustainable agricultural practices, improper waste management practices, deforestation and other unsustainable habits have led to the increased rise of greenhouse gases(Co, Nox, Sox, methane e.t.c) into the atmosphere, such gases are heat trapping-gases capable of trapping excess heat in the atmosphere which cause a rise in the global average temperature and eventually lead to global warming and climate change. The NOAA report shows that the global mean temperature between January and September 2021 was around 1.08 ±0.13 °C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average. The year is likely to be between the 5th and 7th warmest year record at the global level.

Some of the impact of climate change include; drought, sea level rise, flooding, loss of fertile land leading to decrease in agricultural output, species extinction, e.t.c Almost 29 out of 36 states in Nigeria have experienced severe flooding this year which leads to the loss of lives and farms and properties, rendering thousands of people homeless. Climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.

The backbone for every developed and developing nation is education; the current status of education in Nigeria is nothing to write home about primarily due to insecurity.

Insecurity in Nigeria is drastically eating up the educational sector to the extent that students, teachers and the government are being frustrated, leading to educational decay (daily trust). It is recorded that 800 secondary school and university students have been kidnapped in coordinated attacks by terrorists and bandits in the last two years. They have become more frequent than in 2014 when 276 girls were abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

Apart from the education sector, insecurity in Nigeria negatively impacts the economic development of the country. The country was named the third most afflicted by terrorism in the 2020 Global Terrorism Index, trailing only Iraq and Afghanistan (GTI, 2021). The disturbing level of insecurity has rendered the economy unappealing to local and foreign investors, who have become apprehensive of investing and putting their hard-earned resources in profitable investment in Nigeria (Chuku et al 2019).

Gender inequality in the educational sector of the country is greatly affecting the socio-economic development of the country, education is a fundamental human right irrespective of gender or any other reason. Socially, gender inequality in education makes women inferior to their male counterparts and thus exposes them to all manners of marginalization, exploitation and domestic violence. Economically, gender inequality in education excludes women from competitive and lucrative workforce because of their poor educational qualification which are necessary in certain areas of the economy. Gender inequalities amid men and women have been acknowledged as one of the factors hindering development in the nation for the past decades (Anochie, Osuji & Anumudu, 2015).

By 2050 I hope to wake up to a nation (my ideal nation) where all these issues are things of the past that can only be found within the archives of our technologically advanced libraries for historical studies, a nation where both males and females have equal access to quality education, where children attend school with no fear of getting kidnapped. A nation where it is entrepreneurs do not have to fear losing their assets and investment to vandalism by terrorist, a nation where food security is ensured and economic growth skyrockets. A nation where one can not fear getting drowned by flood while sleeping or the fear of having no shelter.

The dream of my ideal nation can only become a reality through "SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT" and the effective implementation of the "SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS. Sustainable development was defined in the 1987 Brundtland Report as "development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. As the concept of sustainable development developed, it has shifted its focus more towards the economic development, social development and environmental protection for future generations.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Policy makers should adopt and enforce policies that will ensure the effective implementation of the SDGs and other international treaties on environmental conservation to which Nigeria is signatory to, this will ensure optimum development and realization of my ideal country through economic growth, food security, poverty reduction, gender equality and whatnot.

Keywords

climate change, SDGs

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