A look at performance index of MDGs

As 2015, the United Nation’s target year for the attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) comes to its last quarter, it becomes imperative to x-ray Nigeria’s efforts at achieving the indicators, essentially, between 2011 and 2014 when the programme witnessed an increased tempo in implementation. It is also worthy to mention that implementation of the […]

As 2015, the United Nation’s target year for the attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) comes to its last quarter, it becomes imperative to x-ray Nigeria’s efforts at achieving the indicators, essentially, between 2011 and 2014 when the programme witnessed an increased tempo in implementation. It is also worthy to mention that implementation of the programme in the terminal year (2015) witnessed a lull due to constraints resulting from politicking and subsequent change of government.
The question is: How has Nigeria fared in achieving the indicators or the target goals set by the United Nations? Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s vigorous successful campaign for debt relief laid a strong foundation for the take-off of the programme. The debt relief deal with the Paris Club of creditors in 2005 resulted in the saving of Debt Relief Gains (DRG) of about US$1 billion per annum for Nigeria. In a pledge to the Paris Club, the country committed itself to spending the DRG on pro-poor projects as a national effort to achieving the MDGs.
Having been assured of the source of funding for the programme, the challenge of how to best track DRG funds led to instituting three critical components for an effective system namely: accurate receipts of expenditures, spelling out in detail what DRG has been spent on, monitoring tasks to ensure that the requisite quantity and quality had been supplied and evaluating the outcomes of the MDGs to identify what has been achieved.
In line with the former administration’s transformation agenda, the office of the former Senior Special Assistant to the President, under the leadership of Dr. (Mrs) Precious Gbeneol in 2011 identified the core need for increased private sector-led approach towards the monitoring and the supervision of the MDGs projects across the country. The office outlined the conduct of appropriate time-bound monitoring supervision and data collection as a key area of challenge for its project intervention in states and local government areas of the federation.
The office was well departmentalized to enable each department perform its role with hindrances or unnecessary influences which can jeopardize the effective realization of the programme. From the Procurement department whose duty is to offer the award letters to the Finance and Payment departments which makes the payments to the chief executive of the office (SSA), it was well mapped out for efficient service delivery.
To curtail project abandonment and poor quality project execution, the Conditional Grants Scheme (CGS) in 2011 commenced the monitoring supervision and data collection (MSD) exercise across the 113 local government areas. This effort engendered and stimulated support and goodwill from stakeholders as they could immediately relate with the gains of the MSD frameworks as it led to obvious improvements in quality service delivery across the country for the targeted MDGs intervention.
From information available, the introduction of Independent Monitoring, Supervision & Monitoring and Data Collection framework in 2011 by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President (OSSAP) on MDGs enhanced on the spot monitoring, supervision and data collection of the of MDGs Conditional Grants Scheme funded projects and programmes. This is because the independent MSD framework provided clear feedback, highlighted challenges, identified lagging states and LGAs and became the basis for assessing performance and eligibility for further grants. This was commended by not only the former President Goodluck Jonathan but also Presidents of Liberia and Ghana.
Within the period under review, the OSSAP on MDGs carried out its functions through three units, Quick Win Projects (Constituency Projects), Special Projects Units and Conditional Grant Scheme (CGS). Under the Quick Win Projects and Special Projects, OSSAP promoted the active and visible presence of government in all federal constituencies and senatorial districts to provide basic infrastructure and services for the realization of the MDGs. The project type/location is usually chosen in consultation with the respective members of the National Assembly. Such projects included health such as building of primary health centers; education such as building of classrooms, libraries; while the water sector encourages construction of boreholes.
Within the period under review, the assessment of a completed project in the contest of the MSD assignment was broadened and defined to include attributes that could enable the project meet the following criteria: Finished, Branded, handed over to the users and full payment made to contractors for all contractual services rendered in the pursuance of the project delivery.
The project work scope cuts across various areas of specialization required for successful implementation of pro-poor CGS projects. The projects specification can be any of the following: construction, rehabilitation/renovation, general procurement, equipment, borehole and so on. Citing of MDG projects was done in all the states of the federation and by 2015, most projects attained various levels of completion. In Akwa Ibom for instance, 24 projects were carried out and percentage of completion ranged from 63.33 to 100 percent while in Kebbi state, 82 projects were implemented ranging from 96.88 to 100 percent completion.
While speaking on her experiences recently, Dr. Gbeneol stated that one major challenge of her job was the inability of the budgetary releases to meet with the amounts owed contractors within a specific year. This often made them run into debts with their banks due to inability or delay to repay loans borrowed to execute the projects. Added to this challenge, were some of the contractors who mop up contracts from co-contractors. From explanations, it was impossible to pay for liabilities of a previous year accrued due to insufficient funds to pay contractors to the next budget line of the next financial year except making budgetary provisions for them as liabilities of the previous year. This challenge needs to be addressed by the fiscal authorities in order not to run into problem with contractors.
With 5,000 contractors as beneficiaries of the projects across the country in the years under study, one can imagine the keen contest among contractors in their effort to secure the jobs and the difficulty this would have posed in determining those with the requisite qualification to do the jobs.
Nze wrote in from Abuja.