| UK aid to Nigeria
increases to N30bn
FROM DESMOND MGBOH/KANO
Friday, November 20, 2009
UK aid to Nigeria has increased from $15m to $120m(N30
billion) since 1999, when the country re-established
itself as a democratic nation, the Country Representative,
UK Department for International Development, Mr. Richard
Montgomery has said.
Speaking at a launch of a Joint Country Strategy for
Northern Nigeria, Mr. Montgomery disclosed that the
aid program to the country would increase to $140 million
(35million) by the year 2010 in the light of Nigeria
’s poverty reduction challenges and her reform
efforts.
He pointed out that the new Joint Country Partnership
Strategy will help the development partners get behind
the Federal and State Governments’ reform efforts
and support Nigeria’s new vision, the 20:20 20.
He further disclosed that the DFID is present in 29
states of the federation but has five key states, namely
Lagos , Kano , Kaduna , Jigawa, and Enugu State as its
key focus, while adding that in this states, DFID’s
support is through a set of interconnected reform programs
on good governance, the people’s voice, service
delivery, growth and justice.
He observed that their support program in Northern Nigeria
has led to remarkable successes in several sectors adding
that, for instance, their Girls Education Program has
led to a tripling of girls’s enrollment in 720
schools in states like Bauchi, Kastina, Sokoto and Niger
States . He said that their program has also led to
a reduction in the rate of maternal mortality and the
deaths of new born children in several communities in
Jigawa States through the Safe Motherhood Program.
In his remark, the Sector Leader, World Bank Country
Office, Abuja, Professor Foluso Okunmadewa said the
CPS strategy have three main pillars, namely sustaining
the Non- Oil Sector, by removing the constraints on
public policies, infrastructure, and skills; the improvement
of the human development index through a better Service
Delivery to the people as well as improving Governance,
as both a core theme and a cross cutting issue.
Kano State governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau in his
speech, challenged the International partners to ensure
that their strategies and programs are aligned to the
interest, culture and development outcomes of the people
of Northern Nigeria . He added that it is only through
genuine collaboration, continuous human development
and strengthening of governance that Nigeria will be
able to make an effective use of its finite material
resources.
Make
N3 million by referring a bullet-proof car buyer
How
to Get Any Woman You Want. Click Here!
Make
N450,000 Online Monthly. Click Here |
