An Exploratory Assessment of Nigeria’s Performance in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Towards a Better Performance of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Abstract Background: In September 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were rolled out, following poor outcomes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially in Africa and many low and middleincome countries (LMICs). With the SDGs in place for another 15 years, it is worthwhile to critically review the performances of the MDGs in many African countries, identify gaps and improve appropriately on the relevant SDGs. This study aimed to undertake an in-depth review of the MDGs in Nigeria as well as provide recommendations towards achieving the SDGs. Methods: An expo-facto descriptive analysis of secondary data: The Millennium Development Goals Performance Tracking Survey Report (MDGPTSR, 2012-2015) by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and United Nations Millennium Development Goals Report (UNMDGR, 2015) which were the main sources of data for this study was adopted. A search of Google Scholar and relevant organizations’ websites was conducted to identify other published and unpublished literature. A descriptive analysis, detailed synthesis and content analysis of findings were presented. Results: Findings revealed Nigeria and many African countries generally performed poorly on MDGs 2, 3, and 7. Improved performances were recorded on other MDGs, with this mainly limited to post-2010 period. Conclusion: This study suggests major pitfalls in the MDGs may have been due to poor government support and political will at implementation phase. It is important that gaps and lessons are appraised, and this improved on over the next 15 years of the SDGs in these countries. Keywords: Millennium Development Goals, Sustainable Development Goals, in-depth, descriptive, Nigeria, Africa