A top scholar at Osun State University, Osogbo, Prof. John Agbonifo, has faulted Nigeria’s piecemeal approach to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), warning that the country risks failure unless it embraces deeper collaboration between the sciences and the humanities.
Prof. Agbonifo, who is the Director of the Global Affairs and Sustainable Development Institute (GASDI), UNIOSUN, spoke at the 2025 International Sustainable Development Dialogue themed “Sustainable Development in the Age of Crises: Humanities, Science and a More Equitable World.”
According to him: “The SDGs are interlinked. You can’t achieve SDG 1 on poverty if SDG 4 on education or SDG 5 on gender equality is ignored. A case of sexual violence, if informally settled and unpunished, undermines everything we claim about justice and equality. The sciences and humanities must collaborate. Solutions need to be interdisciplinary, inclusive, and rooted in compassion. Leave no one and no discipline behind.”
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He added that the major challenge was that the SDGs were originally designed for a world of relative stability. “We realised that strategies from a previous era won’t work today. But we’re not resigning to fate. We’re asking, what can still be done, even now?”
UNIOSUN Don Faults Nigeria’s SDGs Plan: Experts at the Dialogue, organised in collaboration with Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, South Africa, agreed that Africa’s progress on the SDGs will remain elusive without radical rethinking and stronger partnerships.
Dr Feng Mao, Associate Professor of Global Sustainable Development at the University of Warwick, criticised “helicopter research” in Africa, insisting that local communities must be central to creating solutions.
A former Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Prof. Mohammed Ladan, described Africa’s SDG performance as “deeply worrying.” He said: “Only 35 per cent of SDG targets in Africa are on track or showing moderate progress. Even more concerning, 27 per cent show minimal movement, and 80 per cent of energy-related goals have regressed below 2020 levels.”
He stressed that funding gaps and weak data systems continue to undermine Africa’s sustainable development efforts: “No single African country can achieve all the goals in isolation. What we need is a coordinated regional and global effort, supported by investment, innovation, and accountability. The future of sustainable development in Africa depends on it.”
Other speakers, including Prof. Gareth Doherty of Harvard University, urged African cities to prioritise climate resilience and rethink urban planning models, while Prof. Moises Lino e Silva of the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil warned of growing threats to the Osun Sacred Grove, aUNESCO World Heritage Site.
In his welcome remarks, UNIOSUN Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Odunayo Adebooye, highlighted how global conflicts, insecurity, and economic crises are compounding Nigeria’s development setbacks. “Still, we anticipate that the resolutions here will lead to fruitful collaborations and innovative responses to global crises,” he said.
As the Dialogue closed, a consensus was clear: Africa cannot afford business as usual. Breaking silos, closing financing gaps, and amplifying grassroots voices remain critical if the continent is to meet its SDG commitments.
