A lecturer with the Samuel Adegboyega University (SAU), Ogwa, Edo State, Prof. Ezekiel Shegun Asemah, at the weekend, said government alone could not actualise the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) vision and solicited stakeholders and private sector support to drive the initiative.

Asemah, a professor of Public Relations and Advertising, who also teaches Mass Communication at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), canvassed the need for population control in the country.

He said Nigeria was going through a ‘population boom’, adding that the development would make managing poverty rate and the actualisation of SDGs in 2030 more difficult.

He made the assertion while delivering the third inaugural lecture of SAU on: Corporate Social Responsibility In The 21st Century: Refocusing On Sustainable Development Through Stakeholders Approach.

Stressing that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was crucial in attaining sustainable development in Nigeria, Asemah said the private sector should carry out their CSR programmes on a continuous basis towards contributing to the achievement of sustainable development.

Asemah, who described the high rate of poverty in the country as alarming, said with the rising poverty indices, it might be difficult for Nigeria to meet the SDGs goals, even in 2030.

He, however, expressed the hope that the country possessed huge potential in certain areas, noting that such potential could be harnessed to realise its development objectives to meet the 2030 SDGs.

“The emerging concept of SDGs has important implication for organisations in the private sector in Nigeria. The private sector must partner with government in different areas to work towards the realisation of SDGs, meaning that it must support government’s development efforts and must incorporate corporate sustainability initiatives in their programmes,” he stated.

Asemah, who argued that CSR could contribute significantly to sustainable development in the country, tasked corporations and organisations to have robust CSR policies and functional public relations (PR) units.

On his part, Vice Chancellor of SAU) Prof. Babatunde Idowu, commended Asemah on the lecture, noting that it was apt and a rewarding academic exercise, which provided an opportunity for the scholar to briefly review his research field and explain his contributions to the body of knowledge.