Sustainable Development Goals and the Baptist Convention in Nigeria: A Critical Overview (original) (raw)
Related papers
Academia Letters, 2022
Building on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to set up the "UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development" ("Sustainable Development Goals: Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform"), the United Nations launched a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved before the year 2030. Simply, the Sustainable Development Goals (also known as "Global Goals") are described as "…the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all" ("About the Sustainable Development Goals"). In the words of Akinyetun, et al.. (2021), these goals "stem from the undeniable need to eradicate poverty, combat inequalities, tackle climate change, and improve the well-being of human beings." The goals adopted are seventeen, though they are further disintegrated into 169 targets, and there are currently about 230 indicators that have been proposed for achieving these targets (Barbier and Burgess, 2017). Goal Sixteen focuses on the promotion of a peaceful and inclusive society and justice and strong institutions. Although this is placed as number sixteen in the Sustainable Development Goals, it is not less important because the agenda of the goals look for fortifying worldwide peace in greater liberty. It has been remarked by two scholars that "more than one [goal of the Sustainable Development Goals] touch upon peace in one way or another" (Arifeen and Semul, 2019). The Nigerian Baptist Convention, as a faith-based organization, is a group of Christians of the Baptist faith
Stellenbosch Theological Journal, 2018
The limited scope of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the failure of the programme to achieve its developmental objectives at its expiry in 2015 led to the development and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) programme commencing 2016. The SDGs progamme has been widely accepted as laudable for its wider approach to global development and sustainability. However, if the SDGs programme is not to end as the Millennium Development Goals did, it is necessary that its implementing actors collaborate with stakeholders of institutions that will make more members of the populace aware of, accepting of, and involved in the implementation of the goals. This is crucial because the goals require the populace'corresponding participation. This paper focuses on one such institutional stakeholder: religious leaders. This paper, through literature review and analysis of surveys and reports, examines the influence religious leaders have on their followers in Africa with Nigeria as a case study. It argues that religious leaders have a strong influence on their followers, as Nigerians and most Africans place more trust in, and respect the opinions of their religious leaders than their political counterparts. The paper, therefore, contends that if the global agenda of the SDGs is to be realised by getting a wider Nigerians to accept and involve in the implementation of the sustainable goals, then, the potential influence of religious leaders should be harnessed.
IJASS PUBLICATIOIN, 2022
Development is a process that brings around something in the form of growth and progress. At the centre of every conceptualisation of development is the idea of change. What development stands for is a dynamic change that gives room for new access to man for the better living condition with a high degree reduction in the cost of production. It is on this background that this paper focuses on the assessment of the rapid progress that OritaMefa Baptist Model Schools, Ibadan experienced in recent times. The paper investigates the reasons why the schools have been performing excellently in their final year West African Examination Council (WAEC) and Nigeria Examination Council (NECO) and also their contributions to the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in Nigeria. The paper in its methodology makes use of historical and case study designs and oral and secondary data collections to enrich its findings. The papers' findings are that Orita-Mefa Baptist Model Schools have contributed immensely to the development of the education sector and in the reduction of poverty and joblessness in no small measure in Nigeria. The paper among others, therefore, recommends that the schools should extend their tentacles to other parts of Nigeria communities to enable other people of other states to enjoy the benefit of their educational advancement. Finally, the paper concludes that the schools' management should possibly consider scholarship and other forms of assistance to the children of the less-privileged people in the society not minding their academic achievements.
Sustainable Development in Nigeria Through Religion: A Functional Analysis
2015
Sustainable development has always been the craving of all societies and communities. There is no society or community anywhere in the world that does not crave and hope for development that is both sustainable and enduring. Thus, Nigeria as a nation has over the years craved and hoped for sustainable development. This development cravings cut across the social strata of the Nigerian society ranging from food, road, rural infrastructure to socio-economic and even political strata. It is the view of this write up that religion could be a very potent means through which sustainable development in Nigeria could be achieved. This is given credence to by the development roles of religion in any society. If religion (its tenets, belief system and practices) is applied positively to the Nigerian developmental cravings sustainable development would be achieved in Nigeria. Nigeria as a nation has in the past and in the present employed different means by which she hoped to achieve a signific...
NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE ROLES OF THE CHURCH - VOLUME 2
Some opinion holders have harangued that being the largest black country in the world, Nigeria may be the next world power. Successive Nigerian governments have desired to have Nigeria a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and to be listed among world’s 20 strongest economies by 2020. Such desires have been matched with almost flawless planning but something almost always go wrong at the execution of such lofty agendas. A cursory look at Nigeria, reputed to have over 160million population, depicts the peoples as intensely religious, worshipping varied deities and demonstrating uncommon passion and commitment to their chosen faith but divided along tribal, religious and socio-economic lines. Since exponents of religion contend that religions are intended to infuse divinity into humanity, making humans less barbaric and more humane in their relationships with one another, it is expected that there would be some cultural overflow of religious legacies into the psychosocial and political atmosphere of the country. This was certainly the case in the early years of Nigeria’s independence. This was a time of relative peace, a season devoid of armed banditry and pen robbery as we see since the 1980s. Given the present scenario of underdevelopment of Nigeria coupled with negative image peddled about Nigerians in the diaspora and prevailing religious bigotry, it becomes expedient to review the place of Christianity (which incidentally is the foremost in terms of spread and influence) in sustainable national development in Nigeria. Globally, Christian nations seem to fair better socioeconomically and politically than others. It is also taken in Nigeria that Christians are the more educated, perhaps more exposed than other religious adherents. The Bible also list Christians as the light of the world and the salt of the earth. The premise here is that as the Church became engrossed in materialistic cares of the world system, she became an offence to God, thus persecution became a pattern more in Northern Nigeria and is fast spreading even to traditional Christian enclaves in southern Nigeria today. Darkness naturally takes centre stage whenever light recedes, so is the case of Nigeria in contemporary times. Moral conscience for which many of the tribes and races were known for has become strange to the succeeding generations. Thus, it is commonplace today for cult groups and witchcraft societies to flaunt their paraphernalia publicly, acts which were not socially acceptable in the yesteryears. To whom much is given, much is expected. If Christianity gave United Kingdom, United States of America and other western nations of the world a head start, in sustainable socio-economic and political development, over other nations of the world, Nigeria may also leverage the Christian faith for her development, which has been more of a mirage for succeeding governments. All depends on the moral courage and readiness of the Church to carve a niche for herself in the sands of time. Repentance is the key to revival and revamping Nigeria and her ailing economy. This well-articulated book, Role of the Church in Sustainable National Development, seeks to answer the question of bringing Nigeria out of the woods utilising the instrumentality of Christianity. Starting out from the place of prophecy in national development, a lot has been said concerning the place of Nigeria in God’s end time programme. It will take only a revived, purposeful and united church to make the Word of God a reality for Nigeria. Christian youths must begin to showcase Christ for others to see and come to the light of Christ. This book is a must-have for everyone who is depressed about the present state of the black man and seriously wants answers to the question, “What is the matter with the black man?” The glorious light of the gospel must begin to shine all over for the present darkness to be wiped out. The end of this age is at hand; in order not to be caught napping when Jesus Christ returns the second time, we need to set our lives, families, and indeed our country Nigeria in order.
Sustainability Governance and Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria
Publication of PUWUKARI Journal of Politics and Development Vol. 4 No. 1July 2020 ISSN:2636-5081, 2021
In Nigeria, Ministries, Departments, Agencies, and Local Governments were mandated to aligned their various programmes with the individual targets of the united nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper studies Sustainability governance in Nigeria, it examines the various factors that promotes attainment of the SDGs Similarly, it studies the factors that hinders achievement of the goals. Relevant data for this research is from books, journals, and other government documents. In this regard the study concludes that, Bureaucracy, technology, traditional rulers, religious leaders, media, civil society organizations, technical partners and NGOs serves as promoters of SDGs in Nigeria. Conversely, Unnecessary bureaucratic processes, fragmentation of government agencies without proper coordination, deviation from the standard norms of sustainability governance, inadequate funding, unnecessary interferences from political leaders and poor technology hinders attainment of SDGs in Nigeria. In view of the foregoing, all stakeholders should be carried along, and government should sensitize political leaders and bureaucrats on efficient SDGs management, and corruption should be fought head on.
Some opinion holders have harangued that being the largest Black Country in the world, Nigeria may be the next world power. Successive Nigerian governments have desired to have Nigeria a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and to be listed among world’s 20 strongest economies by 2020. Such desires have been matched with almost flawless planning but something almost always go wrong at the execution of such lofty agendas. A cursory look at Nigeria, reputed to have over 160million population, depicts the peoples as intensely religious, worshipping varied deities and demonstrating uncommon passion and commitment to their chosen faith but divided along tribal, religious and socio-economic lines. Since exponents of religion contend that religions are intended to infuse divinity into humanity, making humans less barbaric and more humane in their relationships with one another, it is expected that there would be some cultural overflow of religious legacies into the psychosocial and political atmosphere of the country. This was certainly the case in the early years of Nigeria’s independence. This was a time of relative peace, a season devoid of armed banditry and pen robbery as we see since the 1980s. Given the present scenario of underdevelopment of Nigeria coupled with negative image peddled about Nigerians in the diaspora and prevailing religious bigotry, it becomes expedient to review the place of Christianity (which incidentally is the foremost in terms of spread and influence) in sustainable national development in Nigeria. Globally, Christian nations seem to fair better socioeconomically and politically than others. It is also taken in Nigeria that Christians are the more educated, perhaps more exposed than other religious adherents. The Bible also list Christians as the light of the world and the salt of the earth. The premise here is that as the Church became engrossed in materialistic cares of the world system, she became an offence to God, thus persecution became a pattern more in Northern Nigeria and is fast spreading even to traditional Christian enclaves in southern Nigeria today. Darkness naturally takes centre stage whenever light recedes, so is the case of Nigeria in contemporary times. Moral conscience for which many of the tribes and races were known for has become strange to the succeeding generations. Thus, it is commonplace today for cult groups and witchcraft societies to flaunt their paraphernalia publicly, acts which were not socially acceptable in the yesteryears. To whom much is given, much is expected. If Christianity gave United Kingdom, United States of America and other western nations of the world a head start, in sustainable Knowledge for Global Development vi socio-economic and political development, over other nations of the world, Nigeria may also leverage the Christian faith for her development, which has been more of a mirage for succeeding governments. All depends on the moral courage and readiness of the Church to carve a niche for herself in the sands of time. Repentance is the key to revival and revamping Nigeria and her ailing economy. This well-articulated book, Role of the Church in Sustainable National Development, seeks to answer the question of bringing Nigeria out of the woods utilising the instrumentality of Christianity. Starting out from the place of prophecy in national development, a lot has been said concerning the place of Nigeria in God’s end time programme. It will take only a revived, purposeful and united church to make the Word of God a reality for Nigeria. Christian youths must begin to showcase Christ for others to see and come to the light of Christ. This book is a must-have for everyone who is depressed about the present state of the black man and seriously wants answers to the question, “What is the matter with the black man?” The glorious light of the gospel must begin to shine all over for the present darkness to be wiped out. The end of this age is at hand; in order not to be caught napping when Jesus Christ returns the second time, we need to set our lives, families, and indeed our country Nigeria in order. Prof Donald Abidemi Odeleye, PhD Ife
Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria: Importance of Partnerships
2018
Article History Received: 25.07.2018 Accepted: 06.08.2018 Published: 30.08.2018 Abstract: The need to consolidate and complete the development progress driven by the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and ensure that no one is left behind led world leaders to gather at the UN Headquarters in New York in September 2015 to adopt a new program on sustainable development. The SDGs provide a more ambitious international framework for driving progress between 2016 and 2030. A review of the MDGs implementation in Nigeria reveals that the country registered mixed results across the goals, geographic areas and gender groups. Even though, there are some progresses on some indicators, many of the goals and targets were not met. This is in view of the fact that the Nigerian Government did so many things in order to achieve the set goals. The debates surrounding the SDGs have mainly concerned with the setting of goals and indicators while less attention has been paid to discussing the roles and ...
Religious Fundamentalism and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: Understanding the Intricacies
2018
All through human history, religious fundamentalism has proven to be the principal force behind human development. Adheres are motivated by religious teachings, ethics and beliefs to develop spiritual qualities, that empowers them to sacrifice for others and to contribute to the development of their community. Religious fundamentalism and sustainable development are inextricably linked, such that the formal exert strong influence on the later. Religion according to Agbiji and Swart (2015), constitutes the main structure of the black race, and is connected with their general existence, including their socio-political and economic development. Mbiti (1999) observed that religion has pervaded all aspects of human life, to such an extent that it is not easy to separate man from it.