Africa’s MDGs success depends on Nigeria – UNICEF

The UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Jean Gough, said on Monday that the attainment of Millennium Development Goals in Africa would rely on the success recorded in Nigeria.
Gough made the statement at a two-day workshop organised by UNICEF in Gusau, Zamfara State.
She stressed that the failure of Nigeria to achieve the MDGs would have a negative impact on the continent.
Gough, represented by the Chief Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of UNICEF, Denis Jobin, said as the year 2015 approached, Nigeria should focus more on shaping policies that would translate into positive results for women and children.
She said states and local governments, which had closer contacts with communities, should institutionalise performance reviews to “get value for money and to achieve the desired outcome for children”.
In his speech, the UNICEF Communications Officer, Media and External Relations, Alhaji Rabiu Musa, commended the efforts of the Zamfara State Government, which led to the non-occurrence of polio within the year
Musa also commended the government for improving the girl-child education strategies, reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV and AIDS and providing potable water and improved sanitation for the people.
Declaring the workshop open, the Acting Governor of Zamfara State, Malam Ibrahim Wakkala, commended the state’s partnership with UNICEF, which helped in shaping the perception of the people on polio vaccines.
Wakkal said the relationship had helped toward the the attainment of “zero” cases of the wild polio infection in the state.
Wakkala said the state government had met its counterpart obligations to both local and international donor organisations.