Appendix: Government response
The Government welcomes the International Development
Committee's report. We appreciate the report's support of the
UK's work in Nigeria, and its understanding of the scale of need,
challenge and potential impact. The report provides clear and
useful recommendations on moving forward.
DFID's Programme
[Paragraph 26] In such a vast and diverse country,
we believe that DFID is right to focus on a limited number of
States where the standards of governance are sufficient to permit
an aid programme to operate at a meaningful level and have a significant
impact. These focus States need to be chosen carefully and to
reflect DFID's overriding priority of poverty reduction. The Federal
Government and the focus States should be encouraged and supported
to share information about successful programmes so that other
States can replicate them using their own resources.
DFID has agreed a set of criteria for selection of
focus states with the Nigerian Government, represented by the
National Planning Commission, as part of its joint Country Partnership
Strategy (CPS 2) with the World Bank, African Development Bank
and USAID. CPS 2 was launched and disseminated in Nigeria in early
November 2009. The criteria to be applied for selection of focus
states include poverty and need, evidence of commitment by States
to improve standards of governance, and performance of any pre-existing
development partner funded programmes.
Information sharing and replication are an explicit
part of the mandate of DFID Nigeria funded programmes. We agree
that the Federal and focus State governments should be supported
to share information so that other States can replicate. In the
example of the Lagos Land Registry (cited in the Committee's Urbanisation
Report), good practice was shared by the DFID funded programme
in the South East with Enugu and in the North with Kano. Kano
State Government has subsequently disseminated further, independent
of DFID support, including by providing information and a training
resource to other interested northern states.
Provision of basic services
[Paragraph 32] It is vital that Nigeria
meets the challenge of ensuring a reliable power supply with sufficient
capacity to meet the needs of its people. If it fails to do so,
the country's economic development and progress towards the MDGs
will be jeopardised. This is therefore a crucial area for donor
support and we welcome DFID's contribution through the Nigeria
Infrastructure Advisory Facility: building capacity within Nigeria's
public sector to plan, manage and implement major projects will
be a key factor in transforming the power supply. DFID is a major
donor to the World Bank and shares the goals for Nigeria set out
in the joint Country Partnership Strategy. It should use this
position to ensure that reform and improvement of the power sector
remains a high priority for World Bank activity in Nigeria.
Nigeria's woefully inadequate power supply is identified
as a key constraint to growth in the analysis underpinning the
Country Partnership Strategy. The World Bank currently has three
power sector reform programmes in Nigeria (as well as some regional
projects that also cover Nigeria). Their newest project, the Nigeria
Electricity and Gas Improvement Project, was approved in June
2009 and is valued at $200 million.
DFID, through its Nigerian Infrastructure Advisory
Facility (NIAF), works closely with the World Bank in Nigeria.
NIAF is valued at £19 million and is due to end in 2011.
Design of a successor project is already under consideration.
Close collaboration between NIAF and the World Bank helps to maximise
the effectiveness of support provided by both partners. Regular
communication eliminates the risk of wasteful duplication, and
information sharing helps focus support in areas of greatest priority.
[Paragraph 39] At present, Nigeria is failing
to exploit the potential of its economically productive people.
Moreover, in an ethnically diverse country with a long history
of political instability, the existence of large numbers of young
unemployed men presents risks to stability and security. Nigeria
needs support from donors to build its non-oil economic sectors
and to generate jobs. DFID's Growth and Employment in States (GEMS)
programme clearly has the potential to bring much needed jobs
to Nigeria. The current target of 100,000 jobs is a promising
start. However, given the size of the population in Nigeria and
its rapid growth, and existing high levels of unemployment, it
is important that it acts as a catalyst for Nigeria's State and
Federal Governments to allocate resources to create similar programmes
of their own. We recommend that further details about the economic
sectors in which the GEMS jobs will be created, and in which parts
of Nigeria, are provided in response to this report. We also request
further information about how DFID's job generation programme
is expected to complement the work of other donors and the Nigerian
government's own efforts to create employment opportunities, and
facilitate economic growth and private sector development.
GEMS is a joint programme with the World Bank. It
will work in six sectors. The estimated jobs created in each are
as follows:
- Information technology—15,000
- Construction—20,000
- Meat and leather—5,000
- Entertainment—50,000
- Hospitality—10,000
- Wholesale and retail—5,000.
The programme will work in Kano, Kaduna, Cross River
and Lagos States.
GEMS will complement the work of other donor programmes
and the Nigerian Government's efforts. Similarly to the Security,
Justice and Growth (SJG) programme's work on land administration,
GEMS will act as a catalyst for the State and Federal Governments
to undertake similar programmes. SJG's reform work in four States
was taken up by a further six States after lesson sharing at dissemination
workshops. During implementation ongoing dialogue with other donors
engaged in these areas will ensure support is coordinated and
effectiveness maximised. Key Government stakeholders in each State
will chair the GEMS state Steering Committees and the National
Steering Committee will be chaired by the Federal Ministry of
Commerce, ensuring effective coordination.
[Paragraph 40] We note that the Growth and Employment in States
programme is expected to benefit 600,000 people in Nigeria. The
recent DFID White Paper gives an overall commitment to create
jobs which will benefit 7.5 million people in five countries.
This leaves nearly 7 million beneficiaries to be reached through
DFID's programmes in the other four countries in the next five
years (Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nepal and Yemen). We request, in
response to this report, a breakdown of the number of beneficiaries
which DFID expects there to be in each of these four countries
and further details about the types of employment it expects to
generate through its programmes in each case.
Exact targets for individual countries have not yet
been finalised, as interventions are still being designed. Current
plans for employment creating programmes include:
- Nepal: DFID funded programmes
will create 150,000 jobs through labour intensive public works
on rural infrastructure and climate change adaptation, principally
community forestry. DFID investments will contribute to the creation
of 62,000 jobs by 2011/12; these will come from skills
development, market development in tourism and agriculture, and
investment climate reform.
- Afghanistan: agriculture, rural enterprise and
private sector development programmes will help create an estimated
300,000 jobs by 2013.
- Ethiopia: DFID supports about 83,000 jobs a year
in Ethiopia through the Protection of Basic Services and Productive
Safety Nets programmes. Not all these jobs are permanent. At the
request of the Government of Ethiopia, DFID is supporting growth
diagnostics work to explore ways to generate more permanent employment.
- Yemen: DFID expects that at least 72,000 economic
opportunities will be created through an International Finance
Cooperation Private Enterprise Partnership, aimed at improving
access to investment and finance. DFID will support about 100,000
people through cash transfers. We also contribute to a Social
Fund for Development which plans to create a large number of jobs.
In total, DFID plans to create up to 1.25 million
new economic opportunities across post-conflict and fragile countries
by 2013. These opportunities will benefit 7.5 million people,
based on an average household size of 6.
[Paragraph 44] Nigeria's future economic growth
will require much greater access to finance and banking services
for small and medium-sized business, and for individuals. The
DFID supported Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access for the
Poor (EFINA) project has done valuable work to establish statistics
on the existing levels of access. It now needs to move quickly
to the next stage of devising schemes which will fill the gaps
and help businesses and individuals to gain access to loans and
financial services. We believe that EFINA should also seek to
exploit the potential of banking services through mobile phone
technology, which has worked so effectively in other African countries.
EFINA has made good progress in the second half of
2009. The organisation's Innovation Fund's first request for proposals
is complete and EFINA will be awarding its first grant shortly,
directly increasing access to finance. EFINA also is working closely
with the Central Bank of Nigeria to create an enabling environment
for private sector operators of mobile banking. In early 2009
EFINA organised a conference together with the World Bank and
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to discuss mobile banking regulations
to which private sector stakeholders were invited. EFINA will
continue to support the CBN in fine tuning these to allow mobile
banking to take off in Nigeria. Access to finance, particularly
in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim northern regions where access
is very low, will benefit greatly from a well functioning Islamic
banking sector. In this regard EFINA has been instrumental in
setting up an Islamic Finance Working Group for the sector's stakeholders.
[Paragraph 50] DFID's support for Nigeria's health
services has provided significant resources and made a real impact
on services in the States where the programmes have operated.
However, there is still a very long way to go until service provision
is anywhere near adequate, even in the States where DFID is providing
assistance. DFID's focus in the second stage of its Partnership
for Transforming Health Systems Strengthening programme seems
to us to be the correct one: as in other areas of public services,
the emphasis must continue to be on building up the Nigerian authorities'
own ability to plan, fund and deliver health care and improving
the level of co-ordination between the different tiers of government.
It is vital that those least able to pay for health services are
given priority in measures to increase access. The new Country
Partnership Strategy states that the poor and vulnerable will
be a key focus for health service support from donors. We invite
DFID to provide us with further information, in response to this
Report, on how this targeted assistance will be delivered.
DFID endorses the IDC's view on DFID's health programmes
in Nigeria and its recommendation for DFID to continue to build
the Nigerian authorities' own capacity.
Our approach in Nigeria is in line with the Country
Partnership Strategy to increase access and utilisation of health
services by the extreme poor and vulnerable. Our health programmes
therefore focus on primary (as opposed to secondary) health care:
this is critical to addressing the needs of the vulnerable and
the poor as these services are closest to where they live. In
addition, primary care is the most cost-effective approach, important
where resources are limited.
Nigeria is implementing various approaches to improve
access to health services for poor people and DFID Nigeria's programmes
are helping assess their potential. DFID supports the removal
of user fees for primary health services. Several States have
already introduced policies for free maternal and child health
services. DFID Nigeria has assisted the drafting of supportive
legislation and is advising on policy costings. We will continue
to provide assistance to ensure that adequate resources are available
to support these policies.
In addition to state level resources, there are substantial
resources at the federal level in the draft national health bill
to expand primary healthcare coverage to the poor. DFID and its
programmes have been supporting the passage of the bill.
As a relatively new approach, our maternal and child
health programme is planning to pilot the use of conditional cash
transfers, which will improve access to maternal and child health
services for the poor and most vulnerable.
[Paragraph 53] Malaria is a major cause of child
death in Nigeria and has a serious impact on economic output.
Bed-nets are a cheap and effective way of preventing malaria and
we commend DFID's significant support for the Nigerian National
Malaria Programme. We recommend that DFID provide us with further
details of progress on implementation of the programme in response
to this report.
The National Malaria Control Programme is making
substantial progress with the implementation of its current Strategic
Plan for malaria control, which includes ambitious plans for massive
scale-up of coverage of malaria control interventions across the
country. In the last few months a total of 5.8 million long lasting
insecticide treated nets (LLINs) have been distributed to 2.9
million households in two Nigerian States. Two million of these
nets were provided by DFID. The balance was provided by the US
Government (1.2 million LLINs) and through financing from the
World Bank (2.6 million LLINs). The pace of distribution is accelerating
rapidly—a further 15.5 million LLINS will be distributed
to 8 million households in an additional nine States by the end
of January 2010. By the end of the net campaign in December 2010,
a total of 62 million nets will have been distributed to Nigeria's
31 million households in 37 States.
In addition to resources being provided for malaria
control by several Nigerian States and Federal Government, Nigeria's
National Malaria Control Programme is also receiving substantial
global support. In June 2009, the World Bank approved additional
financing of $100 million for Nigeria's World Bank Malaria Booster
Project; and in October 2009 the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB
and Malaria (GFATM) signed a $300 million grant to support the
first phase of Nigeria's malaria control plan. Nigeria has also
recently received provisional approval for funding from the Affordable
Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm), a DFID supported initiative
which aims to provide effective malaria treatment at affordable
prices in poor countries. When fully operational, this support
will make possible an unprecedented expansion in access to malaria
prevention and treatment interventions across the country.
[Paragraph 60] Better maternal health in Nigeria
will only be achieved if there is improvement in two areas: access
to and quality of health services; and women's status in society.
Changing negative attitudes to women requires an innovative and
multi-dimensional approach. It is unacceptable that women's lives
are being lost in childbirth because some societies fail to value
them and allow them the access to the care which they need. DFID
has a clear commitment to gender equality. Improving maternal
health is an integral part of progress towards such equality.
We accept that donors must act sensitively in raising these issues,
and must take account of varying societal factors in different
countries and in different regions of the same country, but maternal
mortality rates, particularly in northern Nigeria, provide a clear
indication that the most basic rights of many of the country's
women are not being met. We recommend that DFID, in partnership
with the Nigerian authorities, other donors and with organisations
which have been successful in changing attitudes to women elsewhere
in Africa, devote more resources and effort towards ensuring that
real progress is made on reducing the number of women who die
needlessly through lack of care. This would be a major justification
for DFID's Nigeria programme, which is large in terms of the contribution
made by the UK taxpayer but small in proportion to the scale of
the challenge.
The UK-Norway joint MNCH (maternal, newborn and child
health) initiative is providing approximately £42 million
to support four States in Northern Nigeria (where maternal mortality
rates are highest) to reduce maternal and child morbidity and
mortality. The programme helps address the lack of maternal health
services with a holistic approach addressing governance, human
resources, drug and equipment supply and the management of these
resources. The programme also addresses poor access to maternal
services through work on community knowledge and awareness raising
(including on gender issues), working with men and traditional
leaders as well as women.
Although our other health programmes do not explicitly
address maternal mortality, our PATHS 2 programme (Partnership
for transforming health systems, £140 million) supports the
strengthening of state health systems, a prerequisite for improving
maternal health. Our malaria programme (SuNMap) includes provision
of bed nets and preventive treatment for pregnant women, as malaria
is a major cause of maternal mortality. Our voice and accountability
programme (SAVI) is supporting the passage of legislation to support
free health services for women and children.
We are currently undertaking exploratory work on
how we can increase resources to improve maternal health by addressing
three of the indirect causes of maternal mortality. Firstly we
are looking at how we can strengthen DFID Nigeria's work on nutrition.
Malnutrition is an important factor in maternal mortality in Nigeria
so additional nutrition work would provide an additional dimension
to our, primarily, health systems approach. Secondly we are planning
to increase our support to family planning. Total fertility rates
are very high in northern Nigeria and child spacing is important
to reduce maternal mortality. Finally, another potential new area
of support is the 'Girl's Hub' initiative where support may be
given to adolescent girls using economic, communication or civil
society approaches, addressing some of the cultural barriers to
good maternal care.
DFID and our programme staff regularly undertake
advocacy visits to political, traditional and religious leaders
with maternal health high on the agenda. We will ensure that gender
aspects are addressed in a culturally-sensitive way.
[Paragraph 68] We support DFID's view that it
is for State governments in Nigeria to provide education, not
DFID. However, the capacity of States to do this remains weak
and DFID's Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN)
is providing much-needed assistance to increase government's ability
to provide education. The support through ESSPIN for the integration
of religious and secular education in Islamiyya schools in northern
Nigeria is an innovative approach which we welcome. It is essential
for the development of the country that all children have access
to good quality education in subjects which will help them to
find employment and improve their life chances. The impact of
DFID's support for Islamiyya schools does, however, require careful
monitoring. We recommend that DFID provide us with further information,
in response to this Report, on the evaluation it plans to undertake
on the effectiveness of the ESSPIN programme and in particular
the Islamiyya element.
DFID's support through ESSPIN helps to
ensure that faith based schools provide high quality education
that will equip students for the modern world. So far most of
the effort has been around illustrating best practice, researching
local models of integrated education provision and supporting
institutional reforms. Work to support Islamic faith based schools
in delivering good quality secular education works better when
it is not perceived as being imposed by outsiders. As part of
our support to Islamiyya schools in three districts in Kano, meetings
are being held with community leaders and religious representatives
of the Kano Emirate Council to foster understanding.
This and other initiatives of ESSPIN are subject
to annual reviews being commissioned through external consultants
to both monitor progress and evaluate impact. In addition work
to support the annual school census will allow better statistical
evidence to become available from all types of schools to measure
impact on the education MDG indicators. Classroom observation
and student learning assessment surveys are also being undertaken
to support impact evaluation of ESSPIN's interventions. DFID will
take the IDC comments into account during the next major annual
review of ESSPIN in mid 2010.
[Paragraph 72] The disparity between the number
of boys and girls in school, particularly in northern Nigeria,
is a clear indication of gender inequality. UNICEF's Girls Education
Project, supported by DFID, has demonstrated that resistance to
sending girls to school can be overcome if the barriers are addressed
in a sensitive way. We recommend that DFID continue its support
for UNICEF's work and seek to build on this where it has proved
effective in increasing girls' enrolment rates.
While accurate and up to date statistical information
is lacking, all sources indicate (i) very low school enrolment
rates and (ii) a major gender disparity against girls in the North
West and North East zones of Nigeria. This informed DFID's decision
in 2004 to start the targeted programme on girls' education
in partnership with UNICEF.
The Girls' Education Programme (GEP) has evolved
over time to promote more effective interventions (e.g. advocacy
with traditional leaders, female teacher training and community
support modalities) and also to mainstream this approach into
the government education systems. A national component of the
programme promotes the spread of best practice and gender education
policy to other states. Through these practices, media communications and broader
DFID influence on national policy, the successful interventions
on girls' education are being more widely promoted across northern
Nigeria.
DFID is currently discussing with UNICEF how to fast
track funds to mainstream activities and lever government co-financing
in supported states. This could lead to additional funding through
UNICEF for girls' education in 2010 and 2011.
Governance
[Paragraph 85] Fair and free elections are not
the only element in a functioning democracy but they are an essential
one and give a clear indication of whether a developing country
is making the necessary progress towards proper governance. The
2007 elections demonstrated that Nigeria is a long way from achieving
this. The political elite needs to do more to demonstrate that
it understands that politicians are accountable to the people,
that political power must be bestowed by the people through the
ballot box, and that it has moved away from a situation where
power is carved up between those with vested interests, in a crude
'sharing of the spoils'. We believe that donors, including DFID,
need to apply increased pressure on the Nigerian authorities,
and work with them, to continue to reform the political system.
This should include a new and fully independent Electoral Commission,
whose recommendations are properly considered and implemented.
DFID will continue to provide technical support to
reform the political system in Nigeria. We supported the electoral
process in 2007 and our £20 million, five-year programme
to deepen democracy will start in early 2010. DFID and FCO will
also collaborate with others to conduct a full assessment of the
National Electoral Commission.
DFID will continue to work with FCO colleagues and
other like-minded missions to develop and deliver consistent messages
to the Nigerian authorities on the need for political reform.
[Paragraph 91] We have made clear in the past
our view that parliamentarians have a specific and important role
to play in promoting transparency and accountability in developing
countries. Nigeria has a long way to go in this respect and it
is vital that the National Assembly is assisted by the international
community to understand and fulfil its scrutiny role. We are not
convinced that DFID yet understands the centrality of parliaments
to effective governance and this is reflected in the small proportion
of DFID's governance budget which goes to parliaments. We urge
DFID to live up to the renewed commitment to transparency and
accountability made in the White Paper by ensuring support to
the Nigeria National Assembly is a central and properly funded
pillar of its new Deepening Democracy in Nigeria programme. DFID
should provide specific support to the National Assembly to help
develop robust mechanisms for holding the government to account,
and assist individual MPs and committees to become more effective.
DFID has prioritised support to the essential work
of parliaments in Nigeria and to this end implemented a successful
programme of support to the National Assembly (SNAP) between 2005
and 2009. Building on the success of this programme, we are exploring
the feasibility of additional support for the period 2010 to 2013.
DFID's £20 million Deepening Democracy in Nigeria
(DDiN) programme which is expected to start in March 2010 will
also help to build the institutional capacity of the National
Assembly.
At State level, DFID's £20 million programme—State
Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI)—is focused on
building the capacity of State Houses of Assembly. This includes
support to strengthen the linkages between House members and their
constituents and budget oversight skills. The programme is also
working to improve civil society's working relationship with the
State Houses.
[Paragraph 96] We support DFID's approach that
puts good governance at the core of its programme in Nigeria.
It is right that corruption should be tackled both through direct
and overt support for bodies such as the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission and through programmes which reduce opportunities
for corruption and build Nigeria's own systems of accountability
and transparency. However, this is a battle which is nowhere near
being won: as DFID acknowledges, corruption remains endemic in
Nigeria. It is a canker which, if not removed, will continue to
obstruct improvement in the lives of millions of poor Nigerians.
We recommend that DFID and its international partners continue
to press the Nigerian Government to prioritise tackling corruption
as the most effective route to overcoming many of the other obstacles
which threaten development in the country.
DFID will continue to work with FCO colleagues and
others in the international community to press the Nigerian government
to address corruption. See further details below.
[Paragraph 99]
A key part of the support which the UK can offer Nigeria in tackling
corruption is to ensure that its criminals do not find refuge
in the UK. Strong and concerted measures must be taken against
them in the UK justice system, including the recovery of assets.
DFID has given a commitment in its new White Paper to triple the
funding for tackling corruption in developing countries. Nigeria's
endemic corruption is an obvious target for additional effort
and resources, both in-country and in the UK. We recommend that
DFID provide us with details of specific action the Government,
the Serious Fraud Office and other UK agencies intend to take
to assist Nigeria to reduce corruption, under the White Paper
proposals.
DFID's programmes to tackle corruption in Nigeria
in accordance with White Paper commitments include:
- £30 million on-going Security,
Justice and Growth (SJG) programme, which addresses corruption
within the judiciary and also supports the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) —a key anti-corruption agency.
A new Justice for All programme is in the final stages of design
and due to start in March 2010. It will support a wider range
of anti-corruption agencies including the Independent Corrupt
Practices Commission (ICPC), the Code of Conduct Bureau and the
Special Control Unit on Money Laundering.
- £7.5 million support to the civil society
programme Coalitions for Change, which brings together civil society
and government to address issues of procurement and transparency
in key ministries.
- We have supported Nigeria's Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (NEITI) which aims to generate greater
transparency in the flow of revenues from extractive industries.
- Current and proposed support to the National
and State Houses of Assembly (see above) is intended to strengthen
oversight and increase transparency.
- To complement the specific anti-corruption work
DFID supports improved public finance management at State level
through the £42 million programme on Accountability, Responsiveness
and Capability (SPARC). DFID also provides £19 million to
help reform the public sector. A new £25 million public sector
reform programme is currently being designed. It is due to start
in March 2010.
Other partners across government are also working
to combat corruption in Nigeria:
- The Metropolitan Police regularly
shares evidence with the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) to combat grand-scale corruption.
- The UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)
supports Nigerian law enforcement and the Nigerian Postal Services
to improve their capacity to intercept fraudulent documents destined
for the UK.
- The UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) collaborates
with the Nigerian authorities under the Mutual Legal Assistance
Treaty. This facilitates the exchange of information on on-going
court cases including those related to money laundering.
- The UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) regularly
shares information with Nigerian financial institutions.
[Paragraph 104] Civil society is an essential
pillar in the transparency and accountability structure of any
country. Given Nigeria's challenges of endemic corruption and
huge inequality in access to basic services, the role of the country's
non-governmental sector in voicing demand for services, securing
a fair share of resources and ensuring public money is not stolen
or wasted, are central to the country's development. We believe
that DFID is right to provide strong support to Nigerian civil
society. In such a large and diverse country, it is however important
to ensure that this support is not just provided to high profile,
educated and largely middle-class organisations in the cities.
Under-represented sections of society, in rural and remote areas,
are most likely to be the poor and marginalised people who have
the greatest need for services and the least access to ways of
voicing this need. We request that DFID, in response to this Report,
provide more details on ways in which it aims to support civil
society, and in particular organisations which represent the interests
of people living in more remote areas, who do not have access
to the internet and other information networks.
DFID agrees with the IDC's view of the importance
of civil society, and works with civil society organisations at
community, state and national levels. DFID has made a substantial
investment in State-level education and health programmes—£106
million and £148 million respectively. They both work with
representative community level civil society organisations and
structures. Another example is the £38 million Girls Education
Project (GEP), and in particular its work with school-based management
committees.
Oil wealth and the Niger Delta
[Paragraph 112] The Nigerian Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has brought a very welcome increase
in transparency and accountability to the country's oil sector.
We commend DFID for taking such a strong lead in supporting this
initiative. However, as its Chairman made clear to us, NEITI is
an important, but at the moment isolated, element in what needs
to be a much broader, integrated and government-led programme
to reform both the oil industry and its relationship with the
country's economic and political structures. While oil and politics
remain inextricably linked, corruption and mismanagement will
prevail. We recommend that DFID take every opportunity to apply
pressure to the Nigerian Government to prioritise oil industry
reform measures, including publication of data on the contribution
which oil revenues make to public finances and on the programmes
which oil revenues fund, and the separation of oil from politics.
These measures should also include provision of adequate resources
to NEITI to build upon its excellent work to date and full co-operation
with NEITI in the provision of data to ensure that publication
of the audits for 2006-08 can be expedited.
The Government of Nigeria is currently planning wholesale
reform of the oil and gas sector through draft legislation currently
going through parliament. DFID is focusing its dialogue with Government
on the implications of reform for improved transparency and accountability
in the collection and management of oil revenues.
DFID is supporting NEITI to become a stronger organisation.
It needs to have better technical capacity to undertake and share
analysis. But it needs more than resources to do this. It also
needs political support from the Nigerian Government, which we
have seen decrease in recent years.
DFID is working with FCO colleagues at the British
High Commission to encourage Government to implement the recommendations
from NEITI's audit reports and mainstream these issues into the
planned industry reforms. This was part of Baroness Kinnock's
recent dialogue with the President of Nigeria when they met in
early November 2009.
[Paragraph 123] Violence and instability in the
Niger Delta are having a serious impact on Nigeria's oil industry
and therefore on its economic situation. The people of the region
suffer poverty and live in fear, despite the wealth being generated
in the region. The causes are complex and reflect the interaction
between oil, politics, crime and corruption in Nigeria which have
to be tackled in a co-ordinated and integrated approach. We believe
DFID must do more to support the Nigerian authorities to meet
their responsibility to provide this response. This should include
the adoption where necessary of stronger legislation to compel
oil companies to honour the rights of local people and to conduct
their business in a way which enables Nigeria's oil wealth to
be shared with its people, with robust mechanisms in place to
guarantee transparency and accountability in the flows of money
and oil.
DFID, working closely with the FCO and MoD, has maintained
regular dialogue with the Niger Delta States Governments and with
relevant elements of the Federal Government on issues affecting
the region and the on-going but fragile amnesty between Government
and militant groups. DFID has offered strategic support for the
amnesty alongside the UN. The UK Government is also exploring
how best to support the reintegration of ex-militants and mid
to long-term development plans for the region.
DFID does have a number of programmes that work in
the Niger Delta, or which impact upon governance, transparency,
and financial accountability issues in the region. The Stakeholder
Democracy Network manages a £2.7 million project which aims
to improve local governments' delivery of basic services in Rivers,
Bayelsa and Delta States. DFID's support to NEITI (see above)
has made a significant contribution to increasing accountability
in the use of oil revenues. We also contribute to development
in the Delta through the work of the European Commission (EC).
Since 1999, the EC has provided €63 million to fund community
development projects in the region.
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