Global economic crisis and social sector transformation: achieving MDGs in Nigeria

Abstract

The global economic depression is negatively affecting the economies of the less developed countries of the world, especially through the fall in the international prices of primary export commodities. Although Nigeria is not fully integrated into the world economy, yet the impact of the global economic crisis is reverberating through the entire nation with the possibility of reversing any progress so far recorded in the social sector. This paper analyses the trend in social sector components in Nigeria and these components include education, health, and sanitation, among others. The social sector indices point to the fact that socio-economic conditions have in general plummeted. Furthermore, the paper assessed the possibility of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in a dualistic environment following the failure in positively transforming the social sector of the Nigerian economy. It is our conclusion that baring any favourable stochastic development, it would be improbable for Nigeria to achieve the millennium development goals by 2015. However, suggestions were made on possible policy options that would move the nation closer to these goals and it would include reflationary prorammes, sound fiscal discipline, sustained economic reforms and eradication of widespread corruption to enhance fiscal interventions in the social sector of the economy.

Keywords: Crisis; transformation; millennium development goals