The United Nations has reaffirmed its resolve to support the Ekiti State government in its drive to achieve the vision of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the state.

Edward Kallon, Resident Coordinator, disclosed this at a meeting with Kayode Fayemi, the Ekiti State governor, in Ado-Ekiti.

He highlighted the pillars of the UN reforms in Nigeria to include collective support for the government to implement the SDGs; peace building and prevention.

Kallon said the potential areas of partnership with the Nigerian government included advocacy for legislation on establishment of the National Commission for Peace, Reconciliation and Mediation, and deepening understanding of the SDGs and localisation at the state level in partnership with the Governors’ Forum.

The UN top official, who hailed Fayemi’s social security programmes, said the organisation would work with the state to actualise its SDGs vision.

Fayemi, in his response, stressed the need for the nation to address the issues of employment among the youth; increasing inequality and poverty and insecurity.

He expressed the willingness of his administration to work with the UN in the area of peace-keeping and conflict management.

According to him, “It is no longer a debate that we have democracy but we have to be careful not to be overrun by the explosive demographic growth that you spoke about, the nature of the extreme poverty, but particularly, the increasing inequality and what that has brought about by way of the violent extremism and the impatience of the youth that are at the receiving end of these challenges and we face it daily.

“We are recruiting teachers, and it will shock you, Ekiti is one of the smallest states. On the first day of our recruitment, we had 6,500 applications online, by 12 noon today; we had 9,000 for teaching position that will start mid-September in our basic schools.

“That depicts a picture of the enormity of the challenge. This is what increasingly led to the radicalisation of people who feel there is no hope, so we have to find a way to eke out a living and government had to be more innovative and creative about tackling these challenges.

“On advocacy, clearly, we are desirous of close collaboration of the UN systems in order to push for a world of peace, progress and development that can help us address these governance deficits that we are dealing with that undermines sustainable development over the long term,” he added.

Fayemi, however, disclosed that government would soon organise bond to offset the outstanding gratuities of pensioners and later find a way of paying back.