Why Some People Are After Orelope’s Sustainable Development Goals Nigeria Office

Mrs Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals

There are strong indications that the recent backlash the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs) has been receiving from some people, organisations and a section of Nigerian media, might have arisen due to the hardline posture of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SSAP), Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire to due process in the operations of the Office.

Sustainable Development Goals Nigeria is about how Nigeria is implementing the Sustainable Development Goals within the 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory. The SDGs consist of 17 global goals designed as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all, and the Nigerian government has affirmed that the country’s current development priorities and objectives are focused on achieving the SDGs.

With this mandate, it was gathered that Mrs. Orelope-Adefilure has not lost sight of seeing to the delivery and making sure that the country is doing well among the comity of nations which have subscribed to the SDGs blueprint. But the system and the environment which she and other management staff of OSSAP-SDGs are operating won’t let them be.

Some newspapers report last week has alleged that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) was investigating the OSSAP-SDGs over contracts awarded by the Office. Though the Head of Communications at OSSAP-SDGs, Rotimi Ajayi, has denied that the allegation, the reasons for the media campaign against the OSSAP-SDGs may not be far-fetched as revealed by our investigations.

No doubt there has been pressure from some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and some contractors sponsoring campaign of calumny to ensure that if they cannot have it, the house must be put on fire. This set of people, because they could not have their ways of getting contracts from OSSAP-SDGs, they resulted to writing petitions to the anti-graft agencies in the country and sponsoring smear campaign in the Nigerian media.

Orelope-Adefulire is known to be a strict and adherence to the rule of law, even those who knew her as the Deputy Governor of Lagos State could testify to this. Her refusal to give contracts to some contractors who did not meet up with the laid down requirements according to the Procurement Act is one of her sins.

Records show that under Orelope-Adefulire, the OSSAP-SDGs has been meeting up with the Sustainable Development Goals and pursuing vigorously the protocols of Project 2030. She has also not been partial in dealing with contractors irrespective of religious, ethnicities, social status and political affiliations. Moreso, all states in the country and the six geo-political zones have benefited immensely from the projects of OSSAP-SDGs.

Some of these projects include first of its kind 100-bed hospitals in states across the federation, construction and equipping of vocational centres, construction and rehabilitation of classrooms and some federal teaching hospitals among others.

Despite intense lobbies, Orelope-Adefulire has not given in to any pressure, as she always insists that due process has to be followed in the operations at OSSAP-SDGs.

Contrary to the reports in the media, investigations revealed that companies alleged to be the subjects of the EFCC’s probe may have not done any wrong because they delivered the projects awarded to them.

For instance, Jacobi Nigeria Limited supplied 84 water pumps to Mubi, 18 to Gombe, 84 to Jigawa, 56 to Kaduna, 53 to Plateau in December 2018. It also supplied water pump to Osun, Taraba, Adamawa, Birnin Kebbi and Kaduna states in March 2019. There is record of supply of Toyota Hilux to Edo State, while another company mentioned in the report, Hisense Technologies Limited made a supply of grinding machines to Anambra State in April 2019. Value Builders Nigeria Limited’s supply of 60KVA generator to Anambra state can be traced. Nurla Consultancy Services Limited constructed a Community Hall (Type A) in Ota, Ogun State among others.

“Critics and their co-sponsors should let Mrs Orelope-Adefulire be and focus on the works giving to her by President Muhammadu Buhari as the head at OSSAP-SDGs. We could see that Nigeria is meeting up with the blueprint of the global United Nations SDGs. What we have seen in the media are just distractions,” said Okanlawon Saheed, an Ibadan-based public affairs analyst while speaking during an interview.