Introduction: Nigeria's Drive towards the Promotion of Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
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Date
2020-06
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Volume Title
Publisher
ORADI
Abstract
A
LL over the world, peace, human
rights and effective governance based
on the rule of law are important
conduits for sustainable development. It is
against this background that Goal 16 of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is
dedicated to the promotion of peaceful and
inclusive societies for sustainable
development, the provision of access to
justice for all and building effective,
accountable institutions at all levels.
Since September 2015, when President
Muhammadu Buhari joined other world
leaders to endorse the 17 SDGs, his
administration has been striving to promote peace and justice as well as
the building of strong institutions in Nigeria as envisaged by SDG16. In this
edition of the SDGs Monitor Journal, we review the implementation of
SDG16 in Nigeria. The review by our consultant, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim,
Senior Fellow, Centre for Democracy and Development, reveals that Nigeria
is not on track with respect to achieving the sub-goals or targets of SDG 16.
For instance, while sub-goal 1 requires all member states of the United
Nations to significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates
everywhere, our review finds that rather, there has been a significant
growth of wanton violence and death in Nigeria in recent years. It also
finds that the country has witnessed the expansion of terrorism, ethnic
militia and rural-based violence that are grouped as Boko Haram terrorism
and farmer-herder clashes.
The country is equally not on course in terms of sub-goal 3, which
demands the promotion of the rule of law at the national and international
levels and ensuring equal access to justice for all. Our review shows that
the criminal justice system in the country has been particularly problematic
because it is characterised by lack of respect for the rule of law and
frequent abuse of the rights of Nigerians, and that these failings are the
direct result of the corrupt nature of the police, the prisons and the courts.
The study finds that certain factors such as the high level of insecurity
in the country, weak judicial system, corruption and lack of strong
institutions appear to be impediments to the actualisation of SDG16 in
Nigeria by 2030. To put Nigeria on the path towards attaining SDG 16, it
recommends that government should strive to significantly reduce all
forms of violence, the judiciary must be truly independent, devoid of undue
executive muzzling, and that all the critical institutions such as the Police,
the Army, the Prison Service, and political parties should be strengthened.
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Keywords
Nigeria's Promotion of Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, Challenge of Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Inclusive Governance, Nigeria, Transitioning to Peace, Peace and Justice, Challenges, SDG
Citation
ORADI, SDGs (2019). Introduction: An Appraisal of Nigeria's Implementation of the “Quality Education” Goal