Wicked Problem Solving (WPS) therefore seeks to identify the root causes, understand the interdependencies and design integrated interventions that deliver sustainable, long term results.

SDG 1: No Poverty

Wicked Problem Analysis

Poverty is not simply a lack of income. It is often the result of poor education, unemployment, weak institutions, insecurity, limited access to finance, poor infrastructure, corruption and low productivity. Giving financial aid alone does not eliminate poverty because the underlying system remains unchanged.

WPS Recommendations

• Shift from poverty alleviation to wealth creation.
• Invest heavily in skills development and entrepreneurship.
• Expand access to affordable finance for MSMEs.
• Strengthen governance and reduce corruption.
• Develop rural infrastructure and digital inclusion.
• Use data driven social protection targeted at the most vulnerable.

SDG 2: Zero Hunger

Wicked Problem Analysis

Food insecurity is influenced by climate change, insecurity, poor transportation, post harvest losses, inadequate storage, weak agricultural policies, limited mechanization and poor access to markets.

WPS Recommendations

• Modernize agriculture through technology and mechanization.
• Improve irrigation and climate resilient farming.
• Strengthen agricultural value chains and food processing.
• Invest in storage, logistics and rural roads.
• Improve security within farming communities.
• Encourage private sector investment in agriculture.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

Wicked Problem Analysis

Poor health outcomes are driven by inadequate healthcare infrastructure, poverty, poor sanitation, poor nutrition, lack of health insurance, shortage of skilled personnel and weak healthcare governance.

WPS Recommendations

• Strengthen primary healthcare nationwide.
• Expand universal health insurance.
• Invest in preventive healthcare and public awareness.
• Digitize healthcare records and services.
• Improve maternal and child healthcare.
• Encourage local pharmaceutical manufacturing.

SDG 4: Quality Education

Wicked Problem Analysis

Education challenges extend beyond schools. Teacher quality, curriculum relevance, digital access, funding, poverty and graduate unemployability all contribute to poor educational outcomes.

WPS Recommendations

• Modernize curricula to include digital, entrepreneurial and problem solving skills.
• Improve teacher training and welfare.
• Expand digital learning infrastructure.
• Strengthen Technical and Vocational Education and Training.
• Increase collaboration between academia and industry.
• Measure educational outcomes rather than enrolment alone.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

Wicked Problem Analysis

Gender inequality is influenced by cultural norms, limited educational opportunities, economic exclusion, discrimination, inadequate legal protection and unequal representation in leadership.

WPS Recommendations

• Increase girls’ access to quality education.
• Promote women’s economic empowerment.
• Strengthen laws protecting women and girls.
• Increase female participation in leadership and governance.
• Support women owned businesses.
• Address cultural barriers through continuous public education.

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

Wicked Problem Analysis

Water challenges involve weak infrastructure, pollution, poor governance, inadequate maintenance, rapid urbanization and climate change. Poor sanitation further contributes to disease and reduced productivity.

WPS Recommendations

• Expand access to clean water infrastructure.
• Improve wastewater treatment and sanitation systems.
• Strengthen water resource management.
• Promote community ownership of water facilities.
• Enforce environmental protection regulations.
• Encourage private sector participation in water services.

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Wicked Problem Analysis

Energy poverty results from inadequate investment, poor regulation, obsolete infrastructure, dependence on fossil fuels, weak transmission networks and limited renewable energy adoption.

WPS Recommendations

• Diversify energy sources through solar, wind and hydro.
• Modernize national transmission infrastructure.
• Encourage decentralized renewable energy projects.
• Improve the regulatory environment for investors.
• Support local manufacturing of renewable energy technologies.
• Promote energy efficiency across industries.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Wicked Problem Analysis

High unemployment is linked to poor education, low industrialization, weak business environments, inadequate infrastructure, policy inconsistency, insecurity and limited innovation.

WPS Recommendations

• Promote industrialization and value addition.
• Improve the ease of doing business.
• Support SMEs through finance and business development services.
• Invest in digital infrastructure and innovation ecosystems.
• Align education with labour market needs.
• Create stable economic policies that encourage investment and job creation.

Concluding Thoughts

Viewed independently, each SDG appears to require separate policies and separate institutions. Wicked Problem Solving teaches us otherwise. Poverty cannot be eliminated without education. Education cannot thrive without health. Health depends on clean water. Economic growth requires reliable energy. Food security depends on climate resilience, infrastructure and peace.

The Sustainable Development Goals therefore form a single interconnected system rather than seventeen isolated objectives. Countries that adopt Wicked Problem Solving as a national capability will be better positioned to understand these relationships, coordinate policy across sectors, allocate resources more effectively and develop integrated solutions that create lasting and transformational impact.

For Nigeria and many African countries, Wicked Problem Solving is not simply another methodology. It is a strategic approach to nation building that can accelerate progress towards sustainable development while addressing the unique realities and complexities of the continent.

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Nigeria, like many African countries, faces numerous interconnected economic, social, environmental and governance challenges. Poverty fuels insecurity. Poor education contributes to unemployment. Weak healthcare affects productivity. Climate change impacts agriculture, which in turn affects food security and livelihoods. None of these problems exists in isolation. They influence one another, creating a web of challenges that cannot be solved through independent policies or isolated government programmes.

These are classic Wicked Problems.

Traditional policy making often treats each challenge as a separate issue, assigning it to a single ministry or agency with the expectation that the problem can be resolved independently. While this approach has achieved pockets of success, it has not produced the transformational outcomes required to accelerate national development. Wicked Problems require integrated thinking, cross sector collaboration and adaptive solutions that address multiple root causes simultaneously.

This is where Wicked Problem Solving (WPS) becomes a strategic national capability. Rather than asking, “How do we solve this single problem?” WPS asks, “What system of interconnected issues is creating this problem, who are the stakeholders, what are the underlying causes, and what combination of interventions can produce sustainable change?”

For Nigeria and many African countries, adopting Wicked Problem Solving as part of national planning, public policy development and programme implementation could significantly improve progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It encourages governments to move beyond short term interventions and develop evidence based, context specific and collaborative solutions that reflect local realities.

In this series, we will explore how Wicked Problem Solving can be applied to each of the Sustainable Development Goals. For each SDG, we will identify the underlying Wicked Problems, examine the interconnected drivers, map the key stakeholders and recommend integrated, practical and sustainable interventions.

We begin with SDGs 1 to 8, which focus on the economic and human development foundations of every nation:

1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth

Rather than viewing these goals as eight separate development priorities, Wicked Problem Solving enables us to see them as one interconnected system. Progress in one goal reinforces progress in others, while failure in one area often undermines success elsewhere. Understanding these relationships is the first step towards designing solutions that are both sustainable and transformative.

The question is no longer whether Nigeria and Africa need better policies. The more important question is whether we are solving the right problems, in the right way, using the right thinking. Wicked Problem Solving provides a compelling framework for doing exactly that.

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Progress in life is often determined not by the number of problems we face, but by our ability to solve them effectively.

Many globally recognized disciplines have been built around developing problem solving capabilities. Business Analysis helps organizations understand business needs and recommend appropriate solutions. Project Management provides structured approaches for delivering solutions successfully. Lean Six Sigma focuses on eliminating waste, reducing variation and continuously improving processes. Design Thinking, Systems Thinking and many other bodies of knowledge also equip individuals with practical techniques for solving problems across different contexts.

The ability to solve problems is valuable in every profession and every sphere of life. Doctors solve health problems. Engineers solve technical problems. Teachers solve learning problems. Business leaders solve organizational problems. Government leaders solve societal problems. Even within our families and communities, we are constantly required to make decisions and resolve challenges. Problem solving is therefore not a specialized skill reserved for a few. It is a fundamental human capability that should be developed from childhood and strengthened throughout life.

However, not all problems are the same. While many challenges have clear causes and relatively straightforward solutions, others are far more complex. These are known as Wicked Problems.

The concept of Wicked Problems was pioneered by Professor Horst Rittel in the late 1960s and later formalized by Horst Rittel and Professor Melvin M. Webber in their seminal 1973 paper, Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning. They described Wicked Problems as problems that are difficult to define, have multiple interconnected causes, involve many stakeholders with competing interests, and have no single correct or permanent solution. Solving one aspect of the problem often creates new challenges elsewhere. These problems are dynamic, evolving and resistant to traditional linear methods of analysis and decision making.

Since then, the field has continued to evolve through the contributions of leading practitioners, researchers and educators. Among them, Tom Wujec deserves special recognition for making Wicked Problem Solving accessible to a global audience. Through his TED Talks, visual collaboration techniques, systems thinking approaches and practical facilitation methods, he has helped organizations, governments and communities understand how complex problems can be tackled through collective intelligence, experimentation and collaborative design rather than individual expertise alone.

Recognizing the growing importance of this discipline, the Project Management Institute (PMI) has also developed learning programs and professional resources on Wicked Problem Solving. PMI emphasizes that today’s project managers, business analysts and organizational leaders must go beyond managing schedules and budgets. They must be able to navigate ambiguity, engage diverse stakeholders, facilitate innovation and lead adaptive change in environments where complexity is the norm rather than the exception.

Wicked Problem Solving is particularly valuable when addressing national development challenges and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Poverty, unemployment, insecurity, weak institutions, healthcare challenges, educational inequality, environmental degradation and climate change are not isolated problems. They are deeply interconnected Wicked Problems that cannot be solved through isolated policies or single interventions.

Instead, they require systems thinking, multidisciplinary collaboration, stakeholder engagement, continuous learning and adaptive leadership. More importantly, they require solutions that are tailored to the realities of each nation rather than copied from other countries. Every country has its own political, economic, social, cultural and environmental context, and therefore requires its own unique pathway to sustainable development.

As governments around the world grapple with increasingly complex challenges, Wicked Problem Solving is emerging as one of the most important leadership capabilities of the twenty first century. It provides a practical framework for understanding complexity, encouraging innovation and developing sustainable, context driven solutions to society’s most difficult challenges.

For developing countries in particular, Wicked Problem Solving offers an opportunity to rethink public policy, accelerate progress towards the SDGs and build resilient institutions capable of delivering lasting national transformation.

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This is not a “nice to have.” It is closer to a mandate.

Transformation is no longer optional. We must deliberately change key aspects of our personal lives and our organizations. That means rethinking and reshaping our strategy, processes, people, technologies, systems, and ultimately our outcomes.

To transform is to change something fundamentally, altering its form, nature, and essence into something new and better. Think of metamorphosis: a complete shift, not a surface adjustment.

With that focus, my Top 5 Transformation Initiatives for 2026 are:

Read and interact with the complete post on LinkedIn here

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A new year is a reset point. It’s your chance to stop drifting and start moving with intention.
If 2026 is the year you want real results, not just plan. This webinar is for you.
Training Heights Limited presents a FREE 3-in-1 live webinar covering three globally recognized disciplines:
• Business Analysis
• Agile (Scrum)
• Project Management

This is one integrated session, not three separate events. It shows how strategy becomes action and how ideas turn into results.

What You’ll Learn
Business Analysis (IIBA Standard & BABOK®️ v3)
How organizations identify problems, define needs, and deliver value. Learn what Business Analysts actually do: stakeholders, requirements, and value delivery management.

Agile with Scrum (Scrum Study Guide v5)
How modern teams work: roles, events, and artifacts. Understand Agile as a business mindset, not just an IT method.

Project Management (PMBOK®️ 8th Edition)
How work moves from idea to completion using principle-based, value-driven project management.

Why This Matters

Read and interact with the full post on LinkedIn here.

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More than just another conference, ASP 2025 is a bold call to action, aligning Africa’s unique challenges and opportunities with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With just five years left on the clock to meet the 2030 SDG targets, Africa stands at a crucial crossroads. ASP 2025 will provide a high-impact platform to examine the continent’s progress, confront its most urgent environmental and governance challenges, and spark conversations that drive local action with global relevance. This event isn’t merely asking, “What is sustainability?”—it is redefining the question and demanding clear, practical answers rooted in African realities.

Scheduled for October 30th, 2025, ASP 2025 will take place virtually via Zoom, connecting voices from across the continent and beyond. Its focus is as ambitious as it is urgent: delivering measurable outcomes, scalable strategies, and localized frameworks to accelerate Africa’s SDG journey.

“Africa’s path to sustainability lies in aligning our rich resources with responsible governance, social equity, and environmental stewardship—because achieving the SDGs isn’t just a global goal, it’s an African imperative.”

— Dr. Orlando Olumide Odejide

Participants can expect more than speeches and soundbites. ASP 2025 will feature interactive panels, real-time dialogues, and groundbreaking case studies showcasing African innovation—from Eki-Conet’s NFC wristbands replacing paper business cards, to plastic recycling initiatives reshaping local economies.

This summit is tailored for a wide spectrum of stakeholders, including policymakers, ESG leaders, development organizations, academics, media professionals, students, and grassroots advocates. Whether you’re in government, corporate sustainability, civil society, or simply passionate about Africa’s future, ASP 2025 promises practical insight, inspiration, and tools for action.

It’s not just about what Africa has done—it’s about what must be done next, and how those actions can be truly African in design and execution. Attendees will engage with key questions: How far have we come? Have we done enough? And crucially, how do we localize solutions to drive meaningful, lasting change?

Registration is now open. This is your chance to be part of a defining moment in Africa’s sustainability journey. Join the conversation, shape the future, and ensure Africa is not just included—but leading—the global shift toward sustainable development.

Save the date: October 30th, 2025. The future is calling, and ASP 2025 is Africa’s answer.

 Click here to register now and be part of the movement

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These forces, once largely theoretical, now shape crisis briefings, boardroom debates and long-term strategic planning across sectors.

The impact of ignoring this new reality has been visible in repeated global disruptions. Companies that lean on reactive strategies continue to face shocks that develop faster and strike harder than those experienced by earlier generations. Financial instability, supply chain breakdowns, cybersecurity attacks and large-scale reputational crises have shown that risks rarely remain isolated. Instead, they overlap, spread across departments and escalate into wider organisational threats.

A growing school of thought argues that the most effective strategic countermeasure is a CALM response. CALM—Consistent, Anticipatory, Logical and Measured—represents a shift from crisis-driven decision making toward systems that support resilience and steadiness. It encourages organisations to move away from constant firefighting and instead build structures capable of holding firm even when the external environment does not.

A new book exploring this concept lays out a comprehensive risk map that identifies fifty categories of organisational exposure, organised into seven interconnected groups. Rather than a simple checklist, the framework is designed as a living ecosystem. It pushes leaders to stop viewing risks as isolated events and instead see the organisation as an integrated whole in which a single failure can trigger multiple consequences.

These fifty categories provide a diagnostic tool that broadens an organisation’s perspective. Each category highlights a specific vulnerability, but their collective value emerges when analysed together. Patterns develop that no individual team could spot alone. A technical issue might quietly create a reputational problem, which could then influence regulatory attention and ultimately trigger operational disruptions. The framework underscores a central reality of modern business: vulnerabilities are rarely solitary. By visualising risks in this holistic way, organisations gain an early warning system that sharpens judgment, strengthens preparedness and transforms general uncertainty into focused, actionable insight.

The characteristics of the RUDE world reinforce why this expanded perspective is crucial. Randomness reflects shocks that arrive without pattern, limiting the usefulness of historical data. Unpredictability captures the sudden emergence of disruptive forces—from new technologies to shifting cultural attitudes—that can overturn entire industries. The dynamic nature of global systems means decisions taken in one office can ripple across an entire enterprise. Entropy reflects internal decline, including wasted energy, weakening accountability and loss of clarity in purpose.

Each of these threats is countered by the CALM disciplines. Consistency helps organisations absorb random shocks. Anticipation equips them with informed foresight. Logic provides clarity within complexity. A measured approach prevents gradual internal deterioration.

The risks of ignoring this interconnected structure are evident in the typical progression of a cybersecurity breach. What begins as a technical glitch quickly evolves into legal challenges, reputational harm, financial strain and internal cultural damage that erodes trust. Treating such an incident solely as an IT failure prevents organisations from seeing its broader implications. This siloed approach represents one of the key vulnerabilities the RUDE framework seeks to address.

According to the authors, RUDE also creates a common language for institutions that often struggle to communicate across departments. It highlights the connections linking one risk to another and embeds foresight into daily operations, enabling leaders to anticipate how minor disruptions can mature into systemic challenges.

The overarching message from the research is clear: risk management can no longer be confined to compliance routines or emergency manuals. In a RUDE environment, risk becomes more than a threat—it becomes a resource, offering competitive insight and strategic advantage. A robust, integrated risk programme becomes not just a protective brake but a steering mechanism, guiding organisations with greater confidence through increasingly turbulent conditions.

For leaders seeking not only to withstand disruption but to navigate it effectively, the transition from RUDE to CALM is emerging as a strategic priority. The uncertainty of the future remains, but with the right framework, it becomes something that can be monitored, interpreted and managed. The waves of disruption may continue to rise, yet organisations equipped with the CALM approach are learning how to sail through them with greater control and purpose.

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Governments, institutions, and global organizations have spent years developing frameworks, launching awareness campaigns, and introducing well-meaning policies aimed at advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, progress has been painfully slow—and in some regions, entirely stalled. A major reason is the heavy dependence on outdated systems and rigid, top-down structures that are often disconnected from the communities they’re meant to serve.

Fragmentation remains a critical flaw. Many sustainability projects function in isolation, lacking continuity and coordination. Implementation is sluggish, largely because of manual data processes and an absence of real-time decision-making tools. Worse still, many of these strategies neglect the very communities they aim to uplift. Policies are frequently designed without the inclusion of marginalized voices, and the result is a misalignment with local needs and realities. Generic, one-size-fits-all solutions ignore the cultural and regional nuances necessary for success, leading to poor adoption and minimal long-term impact.

Against this backdrop, we stand at a crucial crossroads. And at this intersection lies a powerful, transformative force: Artificial Intelligence (AI).

But the AI we need isn’t just high-tech—it must be inclusive, ethical, and impact-driven. According to renowned global strategist and sustainability advocate, Dr. Orlando Olumide Odejide, AI presents “an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate the SDGs, but only if we use it responsibly, equitably, and with the needs of people at the core.” Dr. Odejide has consistently emphasized the need for African and global leaders to move beyond the superficial use of sustainability as a buzzword, and instead embed innovation into the very fabric of development strategies.

READ MORE:
Africa Gears Up for First-Ever Sustainability Summit – ASP 2025

Dr. Odejide, who has advised institutions on digital transformation and sustainable governance, argues that the future of sustainability must be both tech-enabled and human-centered. He notes that the power of AI should be harnessed not only for environmental preservation but also to drive social inclusion, economic equity, and digital empowerment—areas where traditional approaches have largely fallen short.

This new direction calls for bold, future-focused frameworks that intentionally integrate AI into the heart of sustainability planning. It’s no longer enough to simply deploy technology; the real challenge is ensuring that technology works for everyone—especially those who have historically been left behind.

In Nigeria, where the digital divide is still significant and social inequality remains a challenge, this shift is more than timely—it’s urgent. We need systems that are agile, inclusive, and capable of learning from real-time data to adapt quickly. Imagine community-based agricultural projects enhanced by AI-powered weather forecasting, or education systems that use machine learning to personalize learning for underserved regions. These are not far-off fantasies—they are tangible outcomes we can achieve with the right vision and infrastructure.

At its core, sustainability must now evolve from intention to execution. And that execution must be powered by innovation, rooted in empathy, and designed for impact. As Dr. Orlando Odejide rightly puts it, “Sustainability isn’t just about saving the planet—it’s about empowering people.”

The future of sustainability will not be built by outdated policies and siloed projects. It will be shaped by how boldly we embrace inclusive technology, how intentionally we design for local impact, and how courageously we commit to leaving no one behind.

Follow Dr. Orlando Odejide on Linkedin

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Dr. Orlando Odejide, a leading voice in sustainability strategy and the founder of A4S Limited, has raised a red flag on the dangers of greenwashing and its long-term consequences. According to him, organisations risk undermining years of brand equity and stakeholder trust through misleading claims that could easily have been avoided with integrity and transparency.

“Greenwashing is more than just a reputational risk—it is an ethical and operational failing that can derail genuine progress in sustainability,” Dr. Odejide stated. “We have observed a worrying trend where companies, knowingly or unknowingly, use carefully packaged language and reports to appear eco-conscious while doing very little in real terms.”

To combat this trend, A4S Limited has taken a proactive step by publishing a comprehensive white paper on the key principles and dimensions of greenwashing. The document is designed to help businesses, governments, and institutions around the world identify and eliminate deceptive sustainability practices. It aligns with globally recognised frameworks and provides practical insights that can guide decision-makers towards credible, impactful environmental stewardship.

READ ALSO: Africa Gears Up for First-Ever Sustainability Summit – ASP 2025

In addition, A4S has developed a practical checklist that allows organisations to evaluate whether their operations and communications reflect true sustainability or fall into the trap of greenwashing. “Sometimes, it’s not about intent. A simple choice of words or a misaligned marketing message can contradict an organisation’s actual sustainability efforts,” Dr. Odejide explained.

The increasing involvement of investors and regulators in sustainability oversight has raised the stakes. Companies that fail to align with verified environmental and social standards are not only at risk of public backlash but may also face financial consequences and legal liabilities. Conversely, those that commit to transparent, measurable, and verifiable sustainability practices are more likely to attract investment, unlock innovation, and gain competitive advantage in evolving global markets.

Dr. Odejide’s message is clear: true sustainability is not about appearances—it is about verifiable action. “We must move beyond image-driven strategies to value-driven transformation. Only then can businesses build trust, contribute meaningfully to the planet, and future-proof their operations in a world that increasingly demands accountability.”

Through tools like its white paper and sustainability checklist, A4S Limited continues to lead the charge in fostering a culture of corporate integrity and environmental responsibility—not only in Nigeria but across the global business landscape.

Download A4S’ Greenwashing Whitepaper here!

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