The Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, has restated his administration’s continuous support for the United Nations Children’s Fund in the state.
The governor also disclosed that his administration, in terms of output in the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals, is optimally superlative to that of the Federal Government.
Tambuwal who disclosed this on Tuesday while receiving the outgoing United Nations Children’s Fund Nigeria representative, Mr. Peter Hawkins, and his team, said his administration is committed to meeting all of its obligations with the UN agency on target.
“We are doing more on the SDGs than the Federal Government. The Federal Government is slowing down seriously on the implementation of the SDGs. We have not, for long, received any support or counterpart funding from the Federal Government on the SDGs.
“I believe for almost four years now, we have not received anything. But our SDG office has been functioning here in Sokoto. Year in, year out, we get some resources for them to continue with the implementation of those programs,” the governor explained.
He further thanked UNICEF on the Spotlight, a UN initiative with the EU geared towards “combatting violence against women and girls,” noting that progress was being made in that direction.
A statement signed by his media aide, Muhammad Bello, said the governor observed that although social investments are capital intensive, “states grappling to pay salary, partners cannot be able to pay counterpart fundings.”
“If you can’t pay wages, every other thing will naturally slow down. But that doesn’t mean we are shying away from this. I’m just bringing all of these to the fore…,; I know you know that. But it is for you to further understand and appreciate our very precarious situation,” he stressed.
He added, “On the MoU, we are also committed. We have been speaking with Alhaji Aliko (Dangote) recently. We will come good on all of those terms, God willing.”
In his remarks, the outgoing UNICEF country representative, Hawkins, while congratulating the Tambuwal administration for domesticating the Child Rights Act, made strong cases for the social protection of children, especially those in the Almajiri system, the Spotlight initiative, upgrading of the primary healthcare system, SDGs and other issues like malnutrition.
According to him, 80% of the issues for women and children are wrapped around healthcare.
