President Jonathan applauded on MDGs

The Technical Assistant, Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, Mr. Ubong Ben, who was fielding questions from newsmen over weekend in Uyo, said that Nigeria has benefited immensely from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) especially under President Goodluck Jonathan.

Mr. Ben, who is also a policy analyst, said that though President Jonathan’s performance in the MDGs has not enjoyed so much hype, it is one area that the president has performed creditably and applauded him for championing the MDGs.

“I will not hesitate to say that Dr. GoodluckEbele Jonathan is one of the best things to have happen to Nigeria in recent time. As a policy scientist, I look at the manifesto or agenda of an administration. The administration of GoodluckEbele Jonathan, through the transformation agenda is doing extremely well in terms of governance.

“One of the areas he has done so well is these MDGs. It is one area that nobody seems to talk about which the president is doing extremely very well. Right now, this agency has provided funds for 1,074 agric cooperatives between 2011 and now to enable them develop agricultural raw materials for industrial development; 39 of them are from AkwaIbom State.

“The agency has provided jobs to so many Nigerian under the scheme called Village Health Workers; they are trained people called volunteers of health who take this health messages to the local people. In AkwaIbom, we have what is called Conditioned Cash Transfer (CCT) which was launched on 30thof May by Dr. Precious Gbeneol.

“About 2,275 families in AkwaIbom State were selected; they will be paid monthly for one year and at the end, they will be given one hundred thousand after they might have been trained on a specific skill so they can utilize the money. This will take them out of the poverty line which is the goal one (1) of the MDG.

“Still under the MDGs, about 3,136 educational facilities have been touched; supplied benches, tables and chairs of about 31,603; 92 teachers’ quarters and perimeter fence. All of these are what we call Pro-poor Projects aimed at lifting Nigerians from the poverty line. These were only possible due to the support of the President, who is the chairman, national implementation committee of the MDGs”.
While explaining how MDGs came to be in Nigeria, Mr. Ben said “Millennium Development Goals started in 2000 when the United Nations asked all the countries of the world to meet a certain standard in these areas and they called it millennium goals. Nigeria was one of the countries that keyed into that resolution of the United Nations.

“They said that the Debt Relieve Gain (DRG) will be 1million dollars for use in pursuit of these millennium development goals. The project started formally in Nigeria in 2007. How they started was; they will access a particular sector and partner an agency in the sector.

“For instance, they looked at the health sector and the partner the ministry of health but along the line, they discovered that corruption in the system would not allow it succeed. So when the Yar’Adua/Goodluck administration came, in 2011 there was a change in baton in the leadership of the MDGs.

“Dr. Precious KalambaGbeneol was appointed the senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals. She created a department called Conditional Grant Scheme (CGS) headed by Dr. SeiyetaBrisbe. It is this initiative that has really helped the agency achieve the goals. Now, you can go round and you will see MDG projects in communities”.

On projects executed by MDGs so far, he said “right now, under the health sector we have 5,336 health facilities across the country from the MDGs; these include health centersbuilt, renovated or equipped. We have about 520 referral vehicles (ambulances) across the country and AkwaIbom is also benefitting from all these”.

Mr. Ubong Ben, who is political scientist, was quick to admit that President Jonathan will win again in 2015 if he decides to re-contest and dismissed insinuations that Nigeria will divide if the President wins in 2015, describing it as selfish and baseless.

He also commended the AkwaIbom state governor, Chief GodswillAkpabio on performance but however said he still expects more from the governor. “Governor Akpabio is doing very well. Without any reservations, I score him excellent but, as an individual, I still believe he can do better”, he said and declared his support for the zoning of the 2015 governorship of the state to Eket Senatorial District.