EDWIN IKHUORIA of ONE Grants Compelling Interview

Edwin Ikhuoria at a high profile health event

In this very insightful interview, Edwin Ikhuoria, ONE Country representative, Nigeria talks about his work, his views on attaining sustainable development for Nigeria, the core values of ONE Campaign as regards ending extreme poverty, the importance of achieving the SDGs in Africa by 2030 and the present health campaign launched by ONE in 2016.

Read excerpts of his interview with SustyVibes below:

Kindly introduce yourself  
My name is Edwin Ikhuoria and I am the Nigeria Country Representative for ONE Campaign.

What are your day to day activities like?
I manage all of ONE’s engagements in Nigeria including providing context for our campaigns as it affects the Nigerian market, developing compelling narratives to get the attention of Nigerian policy makers for the sectors we are interested in, mobilizing Nigerian citizens to understand and follow the issues of poverty eradication and to generate momentum on all the issues we want to push for poverty to be eradicated.

What are your thoughts on Sustainability in Nigeria?
Sustainability is getting the best out of today without compromising the future. Otherwise, if you get all your benefit from today and there is no future to get into, all efforts will amount to nothing. In Nigeria, we are beginning to see the effect of pushing our boundaries in getting the most out of today that we have begun to notice that our lifestyles as citizens is jeopardizing our future. Extreme weather conditions have begun to be regular occurrences and we cannot ignore these anymore.

What would you like to see change in the above?
As citizens we need to have a rethink on our current consumption patterns to check our over dependence on the environment for living the type of lives we want to live. No matter what we do, we should remember that it has implications for our future and the future of the planet. We must become conscious of this and change our attitude to living sustainable lifestyles. We must not live as though there is no tomorrow. Policy wise, we need to see conscious efforts made by policy makers to incentivize adaptation techniques in production and consumption patterns.

We understand you have a passion to eradicate poverty in Nigeria, kindly shed more light on this.
The obvious fact is that more than 80 million Nigerian live on less than N200 a day. This includes all the money they spend on food, clothes, shelter, education, health, etc. what this means is that many Nigerians, majority of them being Women and girls cannot live a decent life and their children are not likely to live decent lives if something is not done about it. To this end, ONE Campaign is focused globally on ensuring that the right policies are in place and that resources are focused on the right sectors that will push more people out of poverty. We have campaigned for several years on mobilizing resources for the poorest people all over the world. We have campaigned for donor countries to give more money to poorer countries and forgive their indebtedness to them. Now, we are also working to see that developing countries implement policies that will maximize the countries’ resources for the poorest so that they get a chance at living a decent life and their children can have better access to opportunities which will in turn break the cycle of poverty.

Your recent open letter to Mr President on the health budget went viral, what has been the impact so far?
We have been able to gain the attention of the current administration and mobilized a significant core of the civil society movement working on health reform to focus on resource mobilization for the sector as a critical step to addressing the challenges of the health sector. While we await the passing of the budget, wee can report quick victories because when the minister of health officially withdrew the health budget from the national assembly, some of our concerns were addressed in the resubmitted health budget. We celebrate those changes we have seen already and continue to call attention to the challenges of maternal and child health so that further action is taken in this regard.

What are some of the exciting projects we are most likely to see from ONE in 2016?
We are focused on mobilizing domestic resources for specific sectors that will enable us achieve the SDGs. For this, look out for an exciting shock campaign on the health sector which we believe has a major implication for women and children.

Tell us about the Make Naija Stronger Campaign
Because Nigeria accounts for one in every eight child deaths globally. Every single day our country loses more than 2,000 children under-five to several diseases, while 158 Nigerian women die from pregnancy or childbirth related illnesses. We believe that President Buhari and the Nigerian government have the power to change this and so we are asking that the government ensures implementation of the National Health Act and better spending to ensure all Nigerians, including the poorest, are able to access health care. 

Do you think the SDGs are achievable by 2030 (in Africa) and why? 
 I am very positive that in 2030, our continent would have been transformed significantly through the race to achieve the SDGs. Since the whole world would be looking at Africa and measuring the progress together, serious efforts will be made by African governments to achieve the SDGs and this in turn will help to lift millions out of poverty. Whether all the countries will achieve all the goals,  that may be another challenge. I am at least positive that most of the goals that affect the lives of the poorest people will be achieved.

What is your advice for young people interested in joining ONE Nigeria?
Any person who is tired of the current situation of poverty and deprivation in Nigeria should join a global platform that will give life to their voices. ONE campaign is giving this opportunity to be heard, respected and ask questions that affect your life. Nobody should blame anybody for their situation if they are not asking questions from their leaders. I advise all young people to join the ONE campaign through www.one.org to engage on the important issues that will bring an end to extreme poverty.


Read full interview here:
http://sustyvibes.com/susty-person-week-edwin-ikhuoria/

Edwin Dan Ikhuoria Pens Open Letter To President Buhari

ONE Country representative, Nigeria, Mr. Edwin Dan Ikhuoria, penned an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's president, urging him to honor promises made during the adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) in New York and invest more in the Nigerian health sector.
Read the letter below:

Dear President Buhari,

Honour the 2001 Abuja declaration and deliver a genuinely Pro-Poor 2016 Budget.

We thank you for prioritising the needs of the poorest Nigerians, and the fight against corruption in your recent proposals. Your leadership on both is timely as the start of your presidency (2015) was marked by the Country’s adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). If followed through, these proposals and the new SDG commitments will create a new Nigeria, as they will unleash opportunities that will transform our country, our continent, and the world. We are writing because we want to help you realise these goals. We believe the starting point is through bold and targeted pro-poor public investments spelt out in your 2016 budget.

Specifically, we salute you for your stated commitment to spread basic health benefits to a majority of Nigerians because access to basic health care in the country is still the privilege of a few.

Mr. Edwin Ikhuoria

Secondly, we commend your commitment to ensure that Nigeria’s wealth is shared with the poorest
Nigerians and that they are given a lift through the planned social welfare program. Regarding the health focus, we are sure you are aware Mr. President that our great country, Nigeria, is amongst the
worst places in the world to be a child,infant or mother. This is because one in eleven of all children who die in the world under the age 5 are Nigerian. Every year, 58,000 Nigerian infants receive HIV from their mothers during childbirth – a completely preventable tragedy for want of pills that cost a few Naira. No country in the world, not even in South Africa with its large HIV burden has more babies still acquiring HIV from their mothers. This is a glimpse of the situation we believe your administration has a historic opportunity to reverse, starting with the upcoming 2016 Budget, particularly by implementing the key provisions of the 2014 National Health Act (NHA). We urge you to ensure that the Basic Health Care Provision Fund provided in the NHA (which requires 1% of the consolidated revenue fund) is provided for as NEW funding to be invested in child vaccines, expansion and upgrade of health facilities, research and human capital development to address key communicable diseases.

Without these investments, the economy will continue to lose billions of Naira through Nigerians that travel abroad to access medical services, while the poor continue to die from treatable and
preventable diseases. A healthy population is truly the best insurance we can have for our economy to thrive. This was the main premise of the 2001 Africa Union “Abuja Declaration” where the leadership of the continent right here in Abuja, committed to prioritizing the development of the health sector by investing 15% of their national budget to the health sector. Rwanda, Swaziland, Ethiopia, Malawi, the Central African Republic and Togo have kept this promise. Countries such as Rwanda and Ethiopia are reaping great benefits, not only in the health of their population but also in sustained economic growth. Nigeria keeping this promise in the 2016 budget would translate in not less than N900 billion for Health, in view of the proposed N6 trillion budget. We implore you to move the Nigerian Government in Abuja boldly towards living up to its commitment in the “Abuja Declaration”.

Your Excellency, malnutrition in Nigeria remains a silent killer that must be stopped. It particularly affects mothers and children. It contributes to the deaths of about half a million children each year. In Nigeria, 36% of children younger than 5 years are stunted. Because it is a slow burner, its impact is not obvious but cumulative over generations. Nigeria as part of the African Union in 2014, pledged to work towards reducing this number to less than 10%. To ensure that Nigeria’s children have a fair shot at life, we also respectfully request nutrition specific investments in the 2016 health and agriculture budgets that address the stunting and wasting among Nigerian children, especially girls. The planned social welfare programmes must help achieve this objective. To ensure the potential multiplier and sustainable effects of the feeding programs, we recommend that they must be delivered through locally sourced nutritious produce which would directly boost markets for local agriculture. This approach will ensure that this expenditure is not merely consumption but spurs long term production and employment especially of Nigeria’s small holder farmers and young people. The success of the social welfare program pilots will need these elements and require inter-ministerial coordination managed by a senior political champion.
 

President Buhari

When the world meets in Rio De Janeiro in 2016 to take stock on actions and progress in the fight against high level of malnutrition, a successful implementation of this type of social welfare program, will demonstrate Nigeria’s leadership on this pressing matter. Mental health is another area where there is an overwhelming impact on the poor, yet fewer than 10% of sufferers receiving any treatment at all. All these urgent priorities across health, agriculture, school feeding and social safety payments must target to lift up the poorest, and be administered through accountable national and local budgets that are transparently implemented. This will help targeted beneficiaries to monitor and provide automatic feedback to improve program delivery and limit pilferage. We therefore call upon you to fully open the budget making, approval, implementation and evaluation process to the common Nigerian. Let Nigerians help you in holding your government to account on the promises that you made, and the reason that they serve. Within our current resource levels, high levels of citizen’s engagement will triple the impact of the budget. We believe your bold leadership on these issues will catalyze and guarantee economic expansion and sustainable inclusive growth that ensures that Nigeria leads the world on SDG progress starting in 2016.

Your Excellency, you have shown the political will to move our country forward in the pursuit of social justice, economic diversification and transparency for the benefit of each and every Nigerian. The eyes of the world are on Nigeria’s 2016 budget. We urge you to make fighting preventable diseases and malnutrition a hallmark of your legacy. A healthier Nigerian population would help our great nation leap-frog economically and socially by 2030.

Signed by: ONE campaign and 24 other well-meaning NGOs.