Thinking globally and acting locally: Re-thinking MDGs strategies in the rural communities of Anambra State

Abstract

This paper examines Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its attainment in the specific context of
Nigeria. Taking a common man’s view of development as a holistic variable understood only in terms of
concrete impact on the lives of the individual citizens, it focused on the target audience in Anambra
State, one of the federating states in Nigeria most of whom are found in the rural communities. It
hypothesizes that despite the efforts of the government and the enormous resources pumped in
through the MDGs programme, there is no evidence to show that these programmes have been
contributory in rural communities of Anambra State. Data was collected to test this hypothesis and
came to the conclusion that rather develop, it has underdeveloped the people. The paper then
interrogates MDGs implementation process in the State and identifies the fault lines in the
implementation strategy that work singly or in combination with others to affect/ inhibit impact of the
programme. Noting that any successful implementation of the MDGs must be organically built upon the
constituent communities’ own resources as they seek their own path to social and economic fulfilment,
enlargement of the capacity of the individual and the community as a whole to create and innovate, it
recommends specific direction in the process re-thinking and re-planning strategies that can
sustainably guarantee the attainment of the goals.