CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of
the study
Before
the Millennium development goals were crafted, there was no common framework
for promoting global development. After the cold war ended, many rich countries
cut their foreign aid budgets and turned their focus inward, on domestic
priorities. In the United States, for example, the foreign aid budget hit an
all-time low in 1997, at0.09 percent of gross national income. Meanwhile,
throughout the 1990s, institutions Such as the World Bank and the international
monetary fund (IMF) encourage developed and developing countries to scale back
spending on public programs-in the name of government efficiency as a condition
for receiving support.
The
results were troubling. Africa suffered a generation of stagnation, with rising
poverty and child deaths and drops in life expectancy. Economic crises and the
threat of growing inequality plagued Asia and Latin America. The ant
globalization movement gained such force that in November and December 1999, at
what has come to be called “the battle in Seattle,” street protesters forced
the world trade organization to cancel major meetings midstream.
The
suspicions on the part of civil society carried over into policy debates. In
the late 1990s, the organization for economic cooperation and development
proposed “international development goal” benchmarks for donor efforts. The
organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) proposal was
later co-signed by leaders of the international monetary fund (IMF), world
bank, and the UN. In response Konrad raiser, then head of the world council of
churches, hardly a fire breathing radical, wrote united nation
secretary-General Kofi Annan to convey astonishment and disappointment that
Annan had endorsed a “propaganda exercise for international finance
institutions whose policies are widely held to be at root of many of the most
grave social problems facing the poor all over the world.”
That
proposal never got off the ground, but the international community made other
progress in the lead-up to2000 that helped set the groundwork for the
Millennium development goals. Most notably, G-8 leaders took a major step
forward when they crafted a debt-cancellation policy at their 1999 summit in
cologne, Germany. Under this new policy, countries could receive debt relief on
the condition that they allocated savings to education or health. This helped
reorient governments toward spending in social sectors after many years of
cutbacks.
At
the 2000 United Nations Millennium Summit, which was the largest gathering of world leaders to date, heads of
state accepted that they need to work together to assist the world’s poorest
people. Looking at the challenges of the new century, all the United Nations
member states agreed on a set of measurable, time-bound targets in the
millennium declaration. In 2001, these targets were organized into eight
Millennium development goals: on which my research is centered.
In
practical terms, the Millennium development goals were actually launched in
March 2002, at the United Nations international conference on financing for
development, in Monterrey, Mexico. The attendees, including heads of state,
finance ministers, and foreign ministers, agreed that developed countries
should step in with support mechanisms and adequate financial aid to help poor
countries.
All
189 unite Nations member states at the time (there are 193 currently) and at
least 23 international organizations committed to help achieve the millennium
development goal by 2015. They are the output of many years of research and
consultation with members of society at all levels and from different
countries. The millennium development goals were the product of an
international effort. The Millennium development goal is a project which is the
United Nations office in charge of aiding countries in achieving the millennium
development goals. They are a resource and information base, and have given
Nigeria funding, training and advice that will aid us to reach the millennium
development goals. Each goal has specific targets and time range for its
achievements.
Africa
as a Continent consist of fifty-four (54) States with about five main trading
blocs (including the ECOWAS as the Economic Community of West African States,
EAC as the East African Community, SACU as Southern Africa Customs Union
(former SADC as South African Development Commission), COMESA as the Common
Market of Eastern and Southern Africa and CEUCA as the Customs and Economic
Union of Central Africa) having affinity with their past Colonial mentors on
foreign trade, economic aid and technical assistance related matters. Much had
been written, canvassed, distorted, seen and heard from African leaders and
analyzed by scholars of international repute in law, management and social
sciences about the eight millennium development goals (MDGs) in the context of
being too vast-in-scope, not relating well with Nigeria’s foreign policy
objectives (national interest) and not realizable within the ECOWAS in a decade
without an effective collaboration with over one-hundred and ninety-four (194)
UN member-States across the five Continents of this universe (namely: Africa,
Americas, Asia, Australasia and Oceania, as well as the Continent of Europe
including the Middle East) belonging to the United Nations conceptualized in
this paper as World Government.
In
the light of foreign policy, the world got more globalized as a result of
increasing trends in technology, liberalization of previously closed economies
across the world, the reinstatement of more and more countries to
civilian/democratic rule this enabled more dependence of economies of countries
on each other.
Nigeria became more dependent on the
west as a result of globalization and the advent of technology. The country has
formulated several policies under the Obansanjo administration in order to take
advantage of the teeming globalization trends. In a globalized world, Nigeria
as an emerging economy has little chance order than take advantage of the
trends.
Several challenges limited the
globalization of the country and Nigeria had to formulate policies that would
enable it to take advantage of globalization.
In the span of one generation,
global economic interdependence has grown extraordinary as a consequence of
enormous technological progress and polices aimed at opening national economies
internally and externally to competition.
The
millennium development goals justification were especially meant to address
global inequalities (unfairness and injustice ) and inequalities in foreign
trade and aid regulated issues as between and amongst nations, by ways of trade
inter-dependencies to slash extreme poverty hunger and diseases by half in
2015, reduce maternal and child mortality rates through healthcare hygiene and
sanitary measures, access to safe-water, genuine children drugs with improved
maternal healthcare delivery in the hospitals and clinic across Nigeria as a valid member of
the united nations.
On
Nigeria’s benefits from foreign trade and aid issues, this research work
focuses on two paired trading blocs in Africa (as the ECOWAS and EAC) and two
paired from Europe and Asia respectively (as the European Union, EU and
association of South East Asia Nations,
ASEAN) for comparative analysis and relevance to Nigeria in trade
globalization.
In
global partnership focusing on agriculture, policies and governance systems
need to be supportive for agriculture to achieve maximum impact.
Supportive
systems and policies include trade and domestic support policies for
agriculture in developed and developing countries, macro-economic reform and
public-sector infrastructure and other investments, the role of the private
sector and public-private partnerships, and general good governance.
Infrastructure
is of particular concern as one of the key inputs entering into the “production
function” of the MDGs and the achievement of many of this goal 8.
When
the impact of globalization has a positive effect on the Nigerian economy it
will also lead to poverty reduction, environment sustainability, and also
health and education will also be achieved.
Where
the government believes that service should be provided what a well-functioning
market will offer, subsidies may be justified to promote additional investment
to achieve these governmental goals.
To
improve the effectiveness of public investment, increased coordination at the
country, regional, and donor levels is necessary because the linkages and
complementarities of infrastructure investment have often not been realized.
Moreover, the traditional approach of top-to-bottom infrastructure development
has to be changed to a more demand-driven approach. Foreign direct investment (FDI) and other
long-term, relatively stable investments have a significant impact on
agricultural and overall economic growth.
The
goals have promoted cooperation among public, private, and nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), providing a common language and bringing together
disparate actors.
The
Millennium development goals have proved that with concentration and effort,
even the most persistent global problems can be tackled. The post-2015 goals
should remain focused and also the need to address emerging global realities.
1.2 Statement of Problem
In
global partnership parlance, African states including Nigeria should be
canvassing for trade and not handouts or loans with strings attached as
economic aid particularly from the industrialized states to galvanize the
continent’s revival from the past economic dependency.
1. There
has been the problems of importation from abroad, devaluation of Nigeria’s
national currency translated into reduction in the face value of the naira and
petroleum export sale by trade deregulation and distortion in import revenue
earnings by the federal government of Nigeria (FGN) retrenchment of workers in
public service and aid-tying by donor states with trade diversion in from
cheaper sources of imported factors input into Nigeria.
2. There
is also the problem of debt rescheduling with compound interest from some
countries as majority of the became loan recipient/debtors.
3. Another
problem is that Nigeria's foreign trade policy is weak and it is based entirely
on crude oil. Its foreign policies suffered several military regimes and
mono-lateral decisions made by its rulers from 1984 to 1998.
4. Also,
the policies formulated by the governments were not targeted
at the overall interests of the
country. Many of the policies the governments formulated were only to satisfy
individual crave for wealth acquisition and the level of corruption in the
government affected the sincerity and perceived trust from the international
community. Nigeria's economy was also largely dependent on oil and this made
the country highly vulnerable to several fluctuations in national/global trends
and prices.
The policies formulated were influenced by the effects of
globalization and its requirements, and the need for Nigeria to accept the
world and move in the same direction with it. This posed several challenges for
the government of Obasanjo coupled with the fact that the extent of decadence
was high in the system. A study of these effects and their interrelationships
goes a long way in defining the way forward for the country and also evaluate
the successes and failures of proposed/adopted measures.
5. The
entire MDG process has been accused of lacking legitimacy as a result of
failure to include, often, the voices of the very participants that the
Millennium development goals seek to assist. These and other problems would be
discussed.
1.3 Research Questions
In
this study the following question would be answered:
1. How
does globalization impact on Nigeria?
2. What
steps have been taken by the government to globalize the Nigerian economy?
3. How
are globalization and its challenges restraining Nigeria's foreign policy from
integrating into the world economic system?
4. What
is the impact of foreign aid on millennium development goals?
5. What
is the impact of foreign debt rescheduling on the achievement of millennium
development goals?
6. What
is the effect of Nigeria’s foreign and trade policies on millennium development
goals
7. How
do economic policies affect the achievement of millennium development goals in
Nigeria
1.4 Objectives of Study
Drawing
from the statement of problem the following objectives are been formed.
1.
To analyze the impact
of globalization in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MGDs).
2.
To investigate the
impact of the high interest rate charged by international banks or lenders like
international monetary fund (IMF) on the Nigeria economy.
3.
To examine the extent
to which Nigeria over dependency on crude oil has impacted on the economic
diversification processes into other untapped resources.
4.
To examine the effect
of corruption on foreign direct investment (FDI)
5.
To investigate the
extent to which beneficiaries of the millennium development goals have
benefited from this scheme.
1.5 Research Hypothesis
In
this study the hypothesis below will be tested
Ho Globalization does not have positive impact
in achieving Millennium
Development Goals in Nigeria for the period 2001-2014.
H1 Globalization has positive impact in
achieving
Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria for the period 2001-2014.
1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study
This
will study cover the policies of globalization and it is dynamics which
includes exports, imports, and foreign trade.
In
carrying out this research proceedings the researcher encountered some
restriction which constitutes the limitations to study. This limitation
includes finance, transportation, time, and retrieving of data from
sources.
1.7 Significance of the Study
This
research is primarily to expose those factors hindering the impact of globalization on the achievement of
millennium development goals in Nigeria. It is also hoped that it will reveal
the extent to which the millennium development goals were achieved.
This
research will equally educate the public of the concept and theory of
globalization as it can affect the country as a whole. The findings of this
study will be useful as basis for more accurate policy making on international
trade.
1.8 Outline of
Chapters
This
study is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is the introduction. Chapter
two deals with literature review. Chapter three is concerned with research
methodology. Chapter four covers data presentation and analysis. Finally,
summary of major findings and conclusion as well as recommendations are
contained in chapter five.
*For the complete project, u can reach me on 07032879723 or mail me at michaelonjewu@yahoo.com
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