Nigeria Content Online

The federal government, as part of its
efforts to meet the Millennium Development deadline in 2015, has
launched a new scheme to empower local governments.

The initiative, titled ‘The MDGs
Conditional Scheme Scale up to Local Governments,’ has been designed to
empower local governments to fully execute their constitutional role as
the lead provider in primary education and health care services, which
are key components of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Considering the time left for the
country to achieve the goals set, which are regarded as the minimum
basic essentials for development, the conditional Grants Scheme to
Local Governments is aimed at accelerating the MDGs at the local level.
One hundred and thirteen local governments are to benefit from the
initiative, which was launched yesterday in Kaduna. The local
governments were selected by state governors based on their challenges
in achieving some, or all, of the MDGs.

A release from the office of the Senior
Special Adviser to the president on MDGs, Amina Mohammed Az-Zubair,
stated that the initiative is reinforced by the fact that “more
effective local government will mean more accessible, more affordable
and higher quality services for households and communities”. “It is,
therefore, projected that a healthier, more educated population will
improve Nigerians’ quality of life and the human resources for national
development through vision 20:20,” it added.

Columbia University involved

The agency also
stated that, with five years remaining to the 2015 MDGs deadline, the
conditional Grants Sheme to local governments is a unique and timely
intervention towards accelerating the MDGs at the local level.

“The sensitization
meetings are the first step in facilitating increased investment in the
MDGs at the local level, as well as improved service delivery,” Mrs Az
Zubair said.

The conditional
grants to local governments will be launched at three high level
sensitization meetings in Kaduna, Lagos and Owerri. The programme is
expected to run from the June 8 to 9, for the North-West and North-East
Zone; Lagos (June 15-16) for the South -West and North -Central Zone
and Owerri (June 22-23) for the South-East and South-South.

“These
interventions will include improving the effectiveness of primary
education, health care delivery, reduce child and maternity mortality,”
the agency said. “The grants are to be implemented within a clear
framework that promotes accountability, public expenditure reform and
improved public service delivery, whilst strengthening the capacity of
government to deliver sustainable services.

“The sensitization
meeting will also share the objectives, framework and implementation
modalities of the LGA initiative with key officials from the state and
local government and seek their feedback on the most effective support
that can be provided to accelerate MDGs implementation. In addition,
participants will discuss key national international experiences that
will inform the initiative.” The Earth Institute of Columbia
University, headed by Jeffrey Sachs, is also a key partner in the
initiative and will be providing technical backstopping and data
management systems that will permit tracking of the impact of the
initiative.

During the
sensitization meeting, the Institute will highlight the role of data
management to the success of the LGA, as well as explain the key
lessons and tools derived from the millennium villages project, which
has engaged with communities across Africa (including Pampaida, Kaduna
State and Ikraram, Ondo State) to demonstrate that the MDGs can be
achieved with targeted investment.