The Federal Government on Friday said it was making conscious attempts to support state governments to prioritise the Sustainable Development Goals into their development plans.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, said the assistance would strengthen the capacities of state governments to implement the SDGs at the sub-national level.

She said this at the inauguration of the Nigeria Sustainable Development Goals Implementation Plan 2020-2030, with support from the United Nations Development Programme.

The inauguration, according to a statement issued by the OSSAP-SDGs in Abuja, took place during the convening of state actors for the advocacy and capacity building workshop on SDGs mainstreaming at the sub-national level in Nigeria.

Orelope-Adefulire, said, “Indeed, this engagement is a conscious attempt at supporting the state governments to prioritise and mainstream the SDGs into their medium and long-term development policies and plans.

“The year 2021 is a landmark year for us, as we commenced the second phase of scaling-up implementation in the decade of action for the global goals.”

She added, “This will involve strengthening the capacities of state officials to conceptualise, integrate and implement the SDGs at the sub-national level, with the aim of ensuring that no Nigerian is left behind.”

The presidential aide stated that an estimated 65 per cent of the 169 targets of the 17 SDGs would not be reached without the engagement of local and regional governments.

She noted that Nigeria’s 2017 National Voluntary Review also acknowledged that it was at the sub-national level that the most critical development challenges resided.

Orelope-Adefulire stated that the achievement of the SDGs was highly dependent on the ability of sub-national governments to take up actual ownership of the goals and embody their vision of the future in concrete actions and initiatives.

The programme on advocacy, sensitisation and capacity building at the sub-national level in Nigeria was organised by OSSAP-SDGs in collaboration with UNDP.