Powering the Sustainable Development Goals for Green Growth in Nigeria

Abstract

This chapter is on the use of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the achievement of green economy in Nigeria with the specific aim of assessing the performance of key issues in the SDGs. Five goals SDGs 6, 7, 11, 12, and 15 for water and sanitation, safe human settlements, renewable energy, sustainable consumption and production, and ecosystem, respectively, are selected for assessment for the green initiatives and the economy. Budgets on economic and social services follows the pattern theory: that government allocates and reallocates at will without cognizance of the population's interests. The assessment holds the fact that only two of these goals are being met somehow—renewable energy and clean water—and not necessarily because of the need to achieve the goals but as part of private sector and dynamic market initiatives, clearly indicating failures for the others. For the most part, Nigeria failed in the areas of ecosystem, good human settlement, and responsible consumption. The chapter suggests the encouragement of entrepreneurial initiatives, the initiation of new policies on green economy, and the enforcement of regulations already in place to power the economy.