A member of the House of Representatives, Adeyinka Ajayi, has urged the newly constituted Federal Executive Council to focus more on accomplishing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), if Nigeria’s dream of becoming one of 20 world economies in 2020, projected by the Federal Government must be realised.

Ajayi reiterated that except the Federal Government put adequate machinery in motion to accomplish the millennium development goals commencing from this year, its quest to improve on the investment climate in the country will continue to be an illusion.

To him “Ministers in the new dispensation should continually do physical and strategic evaluation and assessment of government spending on infrastructure to determine their direct impact on the family unit, which is the basic yardstick to judge the well being of the populace. This has a direct bearing on the provision of favourable investment climate, currently lacking in the country. Basic standard of living amongst a people is a sine qua non to attracting foreign direct investment into any country”.

“Government at all levels must see to the provision of basic infrastructure and generally enhance the standard of living of the average citizen; there must be a state of emergency to reduce mother and child mortality rates, and fighting of epidemics such as malaria, cholera, AIDS which have continued to challenge us as a nation”.

He emphasised that the pockets of violence in different parts of the country are direct fallout of dissatisfaction resulting from the absence of life’s basics, enumerated in the MDG document. “Providing an acceptable standard of living for the people will automatically translate to peaceful environment on which investments can thrive”.

He reiterated that the government of president Goodluck Jonathan can only be said to have done well if its impact is felt at the basic family unit, the fulcrum upon which the society and the MDG targets are based.

Ajayi who is the representative from Osun State under the platform of the Action Congress Of Nigeria (ACN) and MDGs Coordinator in Osun State said all developmental efforts amounts to nothing if the issues listed in the MDG document is not fully accomplished.

Speaking on the recent commendation of the Nigerian government by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, on Nigeria’s efforts towards achieving the goals, Ajayi, cautioned that a report card from Nigeria in 2015 is been keenly awaited by the world body, as Nigeria must take the lead in sub-Saharan African. He urged the Federal and States governments to work hard and purposefully to see that the goals are attained.

He also challenged state governors to go beyond lip services to dedicate a reasonable portion of their budget allocations to overcoming issues highlighted in the MDGs.