Churches and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria

Abstract

Following the global adoption of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2015, Nigeria has established a variety of domestic mechanisms to promote the local implementation of the SDGs across the country. Mechanisms established for this purpose at the federal level of government include the establishment of the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (OSSAP-SDG), a Committee on SDGs in the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly, and an Inter-Ministerial Committee on SDGs to coordinate the engagement with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies as it relates to SDGs. Similar mechanisms for the localisation of the SDGs have also been established in the thirty-six (36) states of the federation. Nonetheless, the attainment of the SDGs in Nigeria continues to be hampered by various governance challenges, including the low level of awareness and inadequate agency among Nigerian citizens about the SDGs (Njoku 2016). One institution that has been identified as a possible solution to overcoming these challenges are faith-based organisations (FBOs), such as churches, mosques, and temples (Akinloye 2018). This call for the inclusion of FBOs in development initiatives such as the SDGs is driven in part by the increase in the number, influence and visibility of FBOs (Jennings et al 2008) and a shift towards development frameworks that are more suited for understanding development in poorer and less developed parts of the world (Brett 2009). In this regard, FBOs also possess important organisational features such as their popular legitimacy and motivational qualities (James 2009), strong donor networks (Ferris 2005)6, and historical rootedness (Jennings et al 2008) that have seen them emerge as key and effective partners in driving development in their respective host communities. Within the context of Nigeria, the FBOs – SDG link is further enhanced by the influential role of religion and religious leaders in the lives of their members (Afolabi 2015) and the proliferation of churches especially (Obiefuna et al 2016).