LASU Scholars Urge UN to Prioritise Communication in Future Development Goals
Lagos — Doctoral students of the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies (FCMS), Lagos State University (LASU), have called on the United Nations to elevate communication to a stand-alone pillar in its global development framework, arguing that the success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends heavily on effective communication strategies.
The demand formed the central resolution of a communiqué issued by the 2024/2025 Ph.D. cohort after several weeks of academic review of the SDGs during their Communication for Development course.
The class, comprising 32 students and taught by the Dean of FCMS, Professor Jide Jimoh, alongside Associate Professor Olugbenga Toyosi Owolabi, concluded that communication currently exists only as an implicit support tool across the 17 SDGs and should instead be recognised as an independent development goal.
According to the scholars, communication is too critical to remain “an appendage to other goals,” noting that the impact of development programmes would be significantly improved if it were institutionalised as a core global objective.
They commended the United Nations for introducing the SDGs in 2015 to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), describing the initiative as a major global commitment to eradicating poverty, reducing inequality and addressing climate change. The group also praised successive Nigerian governments for domesticating the goals to suit national development priorities.
The communiqué acknowledged that the SDGs have already served as a catalyst for development, particularly in rural communities, but stressed that more effort is required to meet the targets set for 2030.
The scholars emphasised that the attainment of the goals would be difficult without intentional collaboration among governments, organisations and individuals. They urged Nigerian authorities to demonstrate stronger political will and transparency in implementing SDG-related programmes.
They further called on community stakeholders to take ownership of development infrastructure provided under SDG initiatives in order to sustain growth and prevent project failure.
Highlighting the centrality of communication, the group maintained that awareness creation, behavioural change, stakeholder participation and accountability mechanisms all depend on effective information flow.
“As an essential tool for development, communication should be given its rightful place,” the communiqué stated, adding that recognising it as a distinct goal would accelerate the achievement of other interconnected objectives.
The Ph.D. students announced plans to present a research paper to justify their proposal and urged communication scholars within and outside Nigeria to support advocacy efforts aimed at influencing future UN reviews of the development framework.
They also appealed to the media to support the campaign, noting that professional journalism and public information dissemination are vital to mobilising citizens and monitoring policy implementation.
The scholars assured the United Nations that formally adopting communication as a major development goal would hasten the realisation of its global agenda. While acknowledging progress made so far, they encouraged the Nigerian government to renew its commitment to the SDGs “for the betterment of humanity.”
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