TO ensure a sustainable development of the Nigerian economy, government has been urged to tackle the issue of unprecedented corrupt practice, environmental pollution, misappropriation of development funds and communal clashes.

According to the Director, Lagos State Centre for Rural Development, Mrs. Olayinka Abiodun, high level of corruption within the Nigerian system is detrimental to the growth of sustainable development in Nigeria.

Abiodun who delivered a paper titled: "Sustainable Development: An Overview," at the National Sustainable Development Summit recently in Lagos, said that there was need for all stakeholders to take an active and positive role in a wide range of socio-economic and environmental issues regardless of whether or not they were directly linked to these problems.

She noted: "As long as abject poverty, need, environmental pollution and other socio-economic problems stare us in the face, we are compelled to take action to salvage the situation."

She also stressed the need for ministries, departments, communities, corporation and civil society organisations to work towards the direction of sustainable development in the country.

As situation where corporate organisation see the sponsorship of football matches and other sporting activities as corporate social responsibility, Abiodun, said was not acceptable as these could hardly guarantee sustainable development of a country.

She, therefore, urged government to put in place a policy that would make corporate organisations to give back to the society within which they thrived.

She also urged the government to adopt the five principle of sustainable development commission (SDC) which, she noted, could be used to judge whether or not a policy was sustainable sequentially.

She listed them to include living within environmental limits, ensuring a strong, healthy and just society, achieving a sustainable economy, promoting good governance and using sound science responsibility.

Giving details of the summit, Abiodun disclosed that the decision to organise the lecture was prompted by the realisation based on the facts that Nigeria had not committed its resources and political will to sustainable development for the benefit of the present government.

In addition, she said that most educated and enlightened citizens of Nigeria, both within and outside the government did not understand the concept of sustainability in government or how it worked.

Speaking at the opening ceremony the Special Adviser to the governor on rural development, Mr. Adeboye Kalejaiye said that the summit was another bold step aimed at promoting and enhancing integrated and sustainable rural development in the state.

He said that there was need for government agencies to collaborate with other agencies such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, saying that collaborative efforts of all stakeholders in development were required to build a virile Nigeria.

In his contribution, the Lagos State Commissioner for Rural Development, Prince Lanre Balogun, called on Nigerians to imbibe the culture of sustainability in all developmental endeavours.

He said that it was important to inculcate the new trend of sustainability to ensure government and her agencies execute sustainable projects and programmes.

Balogun said that the state's scarce resources should not be spent on projects and programmes that the purpose for establishing them could not be sustained soon after completion.

He called on international development partners, donor agencies and bilateral organisations to always feel at home when partnering with government ministries and agencies.