The main aims of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for everyone by 2030. it is an ambitious and global call about People, Prosperity, Peace, Partnership and Planet subsumed into 17 Goals, 169 Targets and 230 Indicators.
Evidently, to achieve the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, Nigeria must double up and fast-tract its implementation pace, as progress towards achieving the goals has been slow and uneven, with many critical indicators still lagging behind, yet battling major hurdles in poverty, education, healthcare, and infrastructure evidencing the urgency for more concerted, decisive and collaborative approaches and efforts as year 2030 is knocking our doors.
It is no doubt that the 17 goals adopted by the United Nation General Assembly to address the most pressing challenges of our times can only be fully attained through collaboration, partnership and working together with different stakeholders, leveraging collective expertise and resources together.
To successfully achieve the SDGs, all critical stakeholders must partner and work collaboratively as failure to do so will foot-drag the progress level to an undesirable destination as the 2030-year approaches very fast.
As rightly observed by Coopman, “despite the idea of ‘wholeness and collectiveness’ in achieving the SDGs, most countries and the public had little knowledge of the SDGs and little opportunities to actively participate in implementation”.
The aforementioned statement is clear evidence that, sizeable number of populations remain unaware about what SDGs stands for, not to talk of how to actively participate in its implementations for the betterment of the world we live in. This underscores the need for extensive, sustained public enlightenment and education, which the universities should champion, and play a vital and significant role in creating mass public awareness and participation.
Academic community is recognized as one of the most important categories of stakeholders responsible for knowledge creation and dissemination, research, and policy formulation tailored towards the implementation and by extension the achievement of SDGs in any country. Through research and scholarly activities, universities generate new knowledge and contribute to the expansion of human understanding in various fields. The unique functions and expertise of universities are very vital for overcoming the interconnected social, economic and environmental challenges which are covered by the three dimensions of the SDGs.
In specific context, universities can address challenges of SDGs by improvising new innovations, solutions, and knowledge to curb the negative implications; formulate and evaluate result-based policies and establish monitoring mechanisms on progress. Additionally, since SDGs’ accomplishment requires a ‘wholeness-orientation’, universities are in a better position to provide professional and personal skills, capabilities to create future leaders, decision-makers, innovators, entrepreneurs and citizens with knowledge and motivation to contribute.
Contributions of academics towards facilitating the implementation of SDGs could be through;
Incorporating the SDG agenda and Education for Sustainable Development principles into all undergraduate, graduate courses and into graduate research training.
Offering executive education and capacity building courses for external stakeholders on SDGs and the knowledge needs to address them.
Structuring courses around real-world collaborative projects for change, where students will have an opportunity to adapt easily in the business world.
Promoting both students and community volunteering activities that address the SDGs.
Forming strong links with the business and industry to monitor employer trends and skills requirements.
Developing exchange relationships with universities of developing countries and those that design training programs to address SDGs and be on the frontline in advocacy for sustainable development.
In the same vein, research, which is another important function amongst members of academia could be systematically tailored towards achieving SDGs by:
Supporting the full spectrum of research approaches needed to address the SDGs including the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research.
Advocating for national support and coordination of research on SDGs.
Supporting capacity development and encourage researchers to engage in global research community efforts to support SGDs.
Arranging innovative challenges to address SDGs for researchers across the university and external stakeholders.
Aligning curriculum and other pedagogical activities with the aim of attaining SDGs.
Redirecting policies, plans, and reporting indicators to align with the SDGs and identify which organizational units are relevant to specific SDG targets.
For universities to succeed in spearheading the aforementioned stepladders, and accelerate desirable progress in implementation of SDGs for the common good of our people, environment and planet, especially as the year 2030 is fast approaching, while the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (OSSAP-SDGs) is engaging the with the scientific community through the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), and it is imperative as a matter of unprecedented national urgency, that the OSSAP- SDGs continue to constructively engage, collaborate, liaise and support Nigerian Universities to deliver these action points thereby catalyzing education, awareness and engagement of citizens in participation, implementation and monitoring of SDGs in various institutions, locations and communities across all the three tiers of governments in the country especially that, the just released 2025 SDG report where Nigeria scored 54.7% and ranked number 147 amongst the 167 countries – placed way behind 146 member countries in the world remains a serious call for concern and action.
Imam Isah Musa, PhD
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Agriculturalist and SDGs advocate