By Gift Olivia Samuel, The Sight News
ABUJA: As political parties set to kick-off campaigns, September 28, ahead of the 2023 General election, civil society organization, Connected Development has urged politicians to flip the script by focussing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure inclusivity.
The Chief Executive, Connected Development and Founder of FollowTheMoney, Hamzat Lawal who made this known Saturday at the FollowTheMoney SDG hangout in Abuja, with the theme #FlipTheScript, said the political atmosphere presents a unique opportunity to flip the script and as such, politicians must ensure that the SDGs are in the centre of the conversations during the campaigns and the election.
He explained that the SDGs can inform Nigeria’s democracy and politics, and flipping the script will ensure we have a script that works for every Nigerian irrespective of where they are.
According to him, “We know that in a few weeks campaigns will start in Nigeria, and this week is world democracy week. We are using this opportunity to say that campaign season starts and in the spirit of flipping the script, we must ensure that campaign messages are based on issues and not sentiments.
“The SDG Goals literally talked about ending poverty, hunger, providing justice, equity and fairness, gender equality, inequality, education,green jobs and sustainable growth, technology and innovation, and even healthcare, and these are the issues plaguing Nigeria. If our politicians actually use the SDGs to inform their manifesto, it then means that its ideals will address our problems, but most importantly, provide opportunities for emerging solutions.
“The SDG slogan is ‘leave no one behind’, so we want a democracy and politics that leaves no one behind. People living with disability have a role in governance and we believe that SDGs provide that framework. FollowTheMoney for the past 10 years has learnt lessons and for us, the SDGs can inform our democracy and politics and we can take that into 2023 to flip the script”, he said.
Lawal also noted that as FollowTheMoney celebrates 10 years, it has discovered that the current script is not working for Africa, as it does not ensure justice, equity, gender equality, tackling inequality, ending poverty and ensuring that people do not go to bed with hunger, adding that flipping the script will ensure that more young people are mobilized, educated and sensitized.
He also called on citizens to most importantly collect their Permanent Voters Card and on election day, in the spirit of flipping the script, come out and cast their ballot so that voter apathy can be curtailed.
While noting that Goal 17 talks about Partnership for the SDGs, he called for more commitment from the private sector, more organizing from the government, more sensitization from civil society actors, and most importantly, for citizens to take action, make commitments and ensure that SDGs become a household initiative that Nigeria can achieve in 2030.
