Structure of Presentation

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Structure of Presentation

• Title of paper
• Author and Address
• Introduction and Purpose of Paper
• Conceptual Issues and Relevant Literature
• Study Area and Methods
• The Role of the State in MCP and MVP
• Ikaram/Ibaram Millennium Village Project
• Akure Millennium City Project
• Policy Initiatives on MDGs in Ondo State
• Constraints to Actualizing MDGs in the State
• Planning and Policy Development Implications
• Recommendations
• Conclusion

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Title of paper

• Institutional Constraints to Achieving the
  Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa
  The example of Akure Millennium City and
  Ikaram/Ibaram Millennium Villages in Ondo State,
  Nigeria.

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Author and address

• Afolabi Aribigbola (PhD, mnitp, rtp)
• Department of Geography and Planning Sciences
• Adekunle Ajasin University
• Akungba Akoko
• Ondo State
• Nigeria
• E-mail faribs1_at_yahoo.com

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INTRODUCTION

• Attempts to meet the challenges facing humanity
  in contemporary times motivated the world leaders
  in the millennium summit to recommit themselves
  to launch a concerted attack on poverty,
  illiteracy, hunger, unsafe water, disease and
  urban environmental degradation particularly in
  the less developed societies including Africa.
• available records indicate, that many developing
  countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have made no
  appreciable progress in poverty reduction as they
  face technical capacity problems in formulating,
  implementing and monitoring the operational
  MDGs-based Poverty Reduction Strategy Process

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Purpose of the Paper

• To examine the role of Ondo State Government in
  achieving MDGs targets in the state.
• Identify bottlenecks in actualizing Millennium
  City Project (MCP) and the Millennium Village
  Project (MVP).
• To suggest ways to invigorate the achievement MCP
  and MVP for sustainable development.

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Conceptual Clarifications

• Millennium city describes cities, towns, and
  local authorities committed to the realization of
  the millennium Development Goals through local
  poverty reduction Strategies.
• The millennium city initiative is designed to
  assist selected mid-sized cities to promote
  sustainable development and achieve the MDGs
  eight internationally- endorsed benchmarks
  designed to end extreme poverty
• The main perquisite of attaining the status of a
  millennium city is a commitment to an
  institutionalized participating approach in the
  definition, implementation, monitoring and
  evaluation of a medium-term local development
  strategy attuned to the principles and target of
  the MDGS.
• Millennium city process to include a series of
  steps as follows
• Engage in the local implementation of the Goals
• Hold a Millennium city conference
• Create a local MDG- based poverty reduction
  strategy
• Mobilized resources
• Monitor and evaluate and
• Create international linkages and support.

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Millennium Village Concept

• The millennium villages project (MVP) plans to
  provide early success on how to achieve the
  millennium Development Goals (MDGs)- Clear
  targets for reducing poverty , hunger, disease,
  illiteracy, environmental degradation and
  discrimination against women by 2015. M VP
  provides technical assistance, seeds, fertilizer,
  medicine, V-sat phones. School support, vehicles
  and other needs to small rural communities. It
  was reasoned that by investing in health, food
  production, education, access to clean water, and
  essential infrastructure, these community- lead
  interventions will enable impoverished villages
  to escape extreme poverty at once and for all.
  Therefore, MVP is regarded as an avenue for
  combating persistent poverty and inequality in
  developing world countries (F and D, 2005). The
  millennium Village project seeks to end extreme
  poverty by working with the poorest of the poor,
  villages by villages throughout Africa in
  partnership with governments and other committed
  stakeholders providing affordable and
  science-based solutions to help people lift
  themselves out of extreme poverty (Millennium
  Project, 2006),

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Study Area Akure Millennium City and
Ikaram/Ibaram

• Akure millennium city and Ikaram/Ibaram
  millennium villages are located in Ondo State,
  one of the 36 States of Nigeria
• The state was created out of the Old Western
  State in 1976 and is carved into 18 Local
  Government Areas and three Senatorial Districts,
  namely Ondo North, Ondo Central and Ondo South.
  Akure, the State capital city designated as
  millennium city is located in Ondo Central
  Senatorial District, while Ikaram/Ibaram
  millennium village is located in Ondo North
  Senatorial District.
• Akure is a medium- sized urban centre and became
  the capital city of Ondo State and a Local
  Government headquarters in 1976.Its population
  grew from 38, 852 in 1952 to 71,106 in 1963,
  239,124 in 1991 over 350,000 people at present.
• Ikaram and ibaram are ancient settlements in
  Akoko region of the state. The populations of
  Ikaram and Ibaramu according to the 1991 national
  population census were 8,289 and 1,529
  respectively.

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Research Methodology

• This paper draws on document analysis and
  qualitative research in two communities in Ondo
  State.. The basic data set for the paper was
  therefore collected using a structured
  questionnaire administered to selected residents
  of Akure. Also data were collected through field
  survey by guided observation by the researcher
  and by means of questionnaire administered to
  selected heads of households in the two villages.
  Frequency tables and simple percentages were
  employed to explain and amplify the results of
  the study.

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The Role of the state in MCP and MVP

• provision of enabling environment to facilitate
  take-off as well as effective implementation of
  the projects- basic services and infrastructure.
• promoting capacity building through training and
  workshops on city investment promotion and
  development.
• Development of local, city or area wide local
  RUSP
• Legal / Administrative framework for reduction of
  poverty particularly at the local and city level
• Slum Upgrading

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The Ibaram/Ibaram Millennium Village Projects

• The Ikaram/Ibaram Millennium Village Project
  (MVP) was inaugurated in 2004 and it is being
  executed with support from the Earth Institute,
  Columbia University.
• existing socio-economic characteristics and
  facilities in the village as summarised in tables
  1,2, and 3 shows that
• 75 of the smpled population attained secondary
  school education and below
• Majority depends on other sources of water supply
  apart from pipe borne water supply
• Majority are low income earners.

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The Akure Millennium City Project Income Profile
of Respondents
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MCP in Akure

• The table above shows that majority are low
  income earners
• Majority of building studied physically sound but
  lack basic facilities
• Study revealed that the MCP is yet to commence
  full implementation in Akure

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I Policy Initiatives and Actions to actualize
MDGs targets in Ondo State

• Programmes and Policies targeted at Poverty
  Reduction
• Accelerated Poverty Alleviation Agency (APAA)
  created in 2003
• Youth-inAgriculture Programme (YIAP),
• Entrepreneurial Development Training Programme
• Ondo State Micro- Credit Agency
• Community Development Committees (CDCs).

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Constraints to the actualization of MDG Targets
in Ondo state

• Inadequate Conceptualization and policy
  formulation
• Lack of statewide and city Wide Plan and
  Strategies
• Low levels of Public participation
• Inadequate Finance and Budgetary Provision to
  MDGs
• Inadequate Infrastructure and Basic Services
• Weak Institutional planning and Implementation
  Framework

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Planning and Policy Development Implications

• It revealed that MCP and MVP have commenced
• MVP has commenced as planned,
• the MCP is yet to start because the modalities
  for its implementation is yet to commence and
  because the government has not shown enough
  enthusiasm and commitment.
• This is a serious bottleneck since the MCP is
  designed to accommodate the flow of activities
  from the millennium villages.
• The paper also revealed lack of statewide, local
  and city strategic plans that is germane to
  actualizing MDGs targets

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Recommendations

• need for concerted efforts to incorporate
  components of MDGs into states Regional
  strategic Planning activity. The consequence of
  this is that MDGs are being implemented without
  specific strategic plans to guide and control
  development. The present approach of sectoral and
  ad hoc handling of MDGs by different ministries
  and departments and agencies without a central
  coordination or plans will not be expected to
  provide the desired results of poverty reduction
  and sustainable development.
• This can be achieved by articulating strategic
  plans for the state, the millennium city and the
  millennium village plans for the development of
  entire state, Akure and Ikaram/Ibaram.
• Need for more commitment of resources to
  infrastructure and other socio-economic activity
  Efforts should be made to start and invigorate
  the Akure MCP that is yet to commence fully.
• The state government should as a matter of
  urgency establish the framework and instruments
  for its commencement. The state government in
  conjunction with the chairman of Akure South
  local government and the traditional institution
  in the city should constitute a committee
  comprising all stakeholders in city affairs in
  Akure to work out modalities and commence
  implementation of the project without delay.
• Efforts should be intensified to make basic
  services not available in the city available.

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CONCLUSION

• The various activities of government in
  actualizing MDGs are devoid of the required
  strategic plans for both the millennium city and
  the millennium village. There is therefore a need
  for articulation of strategic plans for these
  areas. In addition, there is a need for mass
  mobilization and involvement of all stakeholders
  in MDGs implementation in the state particularly
  in Akure, where the MCP is yet to take off and to
  mobilize the local people on the need to see the
  projects and their own requiring inputs and
  support from them.

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• Thank you for listening and God bless you