Nigeria: Actionaid Sets Agenda for Hillary Clinton
The Day via allAfrica.com
Aug 8, 2009
Lagos — Corruption, Niger Delta and aid effectiveness are among issues that ActionAid Nigeria has flagged off to engage the attention of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she begins her visit to Nigeria tomorrow
In a two-page letter addressed to the former New York Senator titled "Our 7-Point Agenda for Your Visit to Nigeria" and signed by its Country Director, Hussaini Abdu, ActionAid Nigeria has called on the U.S. government to secure a guarantee of commitment to its war against corruption.
"Furthermore," said the statement "it should, and encourage other G8 to, deny entry visas to the politicians and their family members."
According to Abdu, "Much of the social upheaval that constantly erupts in the country, sometimes triggered by religious differences or clashes by neighbouring communities over land, is underpinned by poverty, which is fuelled by corruption."
Accusing the federal government of insincerity in its anti-corruption war, the statement said: "We call on U.S. and Nigerian authorities to evolve a bilateral framework to enable repatriation of laundered funds But we need also to point out the duplicity of American companies and individuals in much of the corruption happening in Nigeria. We urge the U.S. government to act swiftly against such duplicity. Let American companies refuse to give bribes"
On the Niger Delta, ActionAid believes that "American oil companies are part of the problem in the Niger Delta. Their defective corporate social responsibility strategies and poor environmental records have fuelled unrest in the region." It therefore calls on the US government to audit the activities of American companies in Nigeria, particularly in the restive Niger Delta."
While acknowledging the U.S. government's contribution to the effort to address AIDS, Malaria and TB, through the Global Fund, contributing 75% of this fund, it expresses concern that much of the funding goes back to America through "expensive technical missions, imposition of procurement guidelines that restrict aid recipients to hardware items that are not suited to the Nigerian environment, and other phony channels that 'phantomise' U.S. aid."
On agriculture, while also acknowledging that Nigeria is receiving substantial assistance from the government of the United States of America, it cautioned against "the choices that international donors encourage Nigeria to make." It continues: "While the U.S. government, officially, does not promote genetically modified organisms in bilateral programmes, there is evidence that initiatives supported by American interests discreetly propagate GMOs, a notable example being the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)."According to ActionAid, "Millions of Nigerians look up to the U.S. to make the G8 countries redeem their commitment of $20 billion over the next three years in support of food security in poor countries." It also hopes that Senator Clinton will encourage Nigeria to support smallholder farmers as a solution to its food security challenges, noting that "much of their soil is fragile, and susceptible to degradation from intensive mechanisation, smallholder farmers are the ones on whom the potential for national self-sufficiency in food production rests." It also says that the good intentions of the African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) "are undermined by the fact that the conditions for products from Nigeria to reach U.S. markets are too stringent. Meanwhile, subsidies to U.S. farmers give them a competitive edge over their Nigerian counterparts in Nigerian markets, resulting in the continued decline of local agriculture as a result of unfair trade practices from the US."
