Nigeria is not getting real value from
funds donated by international
organisations for most pro-
development projects, an
investigation by LEADERSHIP
Weekend has revealed. There is a
strong collaboration between the
donor bodies and some ministries,
departments and agencies (MDAs) of
the federal government to make
Nigeria get less value from the funds,
it was gathered.
Even the House of Representatives
Committee on Donor Agencies and
Civil Societies alluded to this finding
when it questioned the shadowy
manner donor agencies execute their
development projects in Nigeria.
The committee said that the failure of
the donors to make public the
amount of money they bring into the
country for various projects and how
it is spent points to the fact that the
nation is after all being fleeced. It
noted that bogus figures being dished
out as financial aid to Nigeria have
not reflected the development on
ground.
The chairman of the committee, Hon.
Ini Akpan Udoka, told LEADERSHIP
Weekend: “We have observed that
what these donor agencies term
development assistance to Nigeria is
actually managed without proper
accountability. No one knows what
the actual expenditure on each of the
projects they execute is. The practice
whereby a bogus amount is quoted
as financial aid for development
projects in Nigeria without disclosing
how the money is spent is misleading
and unacceptable. The committee
has resolved to find out what is going
on and some of them we have spoken
to have pledged to appear before the
committee to give relevant
explanations.”
The National Planning Commission
(NPC), in a list made available to
LEADERSHIP Weekend, disclosed
some of the development partners as
the United Kingdom Department for
International Development (DFID),
Agence Francaise de Developpment
(AFD), Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA), United
States Agency for International
Development (USAID), German
International Cooperation (GIZ),
Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA), Korean International
Cooperation Agency (KOICA),
Embassy of the Federal Republic of
Germany, British Council, British High
Commission, People’s Republic of
China and High Commission of
Malaysia.
However, a World Health
Organisation (WHO) Report entitled
“WHO Country Strategy 2008-2013”
indicated : “With a rising foreign
reserve profile, Nigeria is not an
Official Development Assistant (ODA)
-dependent country. Indeed, ODA
constitutes about 1per cent of gross
national income. Nigeria receives on
average about $2 per capita a year
whereas the African average is about
$28. However, in an effort to fulfil its
commitment to the implementation
of the Paris Declaration, the federal
government introduced in May 2007
its policy on ODA.”
http://leadership.ng/news/261013/how-donor-agencies-mdas-fleece-nigeria-investigation