Theophilus Abbah
16 November 2008
analysis
One of the achievements of former Nigeria President, Olusegun Obasanjo, was his administration's ability to convince the Paris and London Clubs to write off Nigeria's $19 billion foreign debt.
The debt was put at $35.9 billion, out of which government paid back $16 billion to the international creditors. The forgiven debt of $19 billion, Nigerian government agreed, would be put into the process of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). So far, N3 billion has been used, but investigations have revealed that most of the projects have been abandoned, while those executed fall below standard.
Scene one: Kalung village in Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State, North-Central Nigeria.
A large building with a weed-ridden forecourt stands alone in this remote village. Its gate stands ajar, with all indications that there is no occupier. The smell of new paints used to coat it hits the nostril even from afar. Its main entrance is under lock and key. The newly built structure is half-hidden among trees and shrubs that have overtaken the settlement, an evidence of abundant rainfall during the wet season. The building is situated close to a dusty road, almost a footpath that leads to the rural community.
This is a newly built hospital under the primary healthcare scheme sponsored by the government under the debt relief funds scheme. It is supposed to have been completed long before October, 2008 at the cost of N19,046,224.21 ($158,718.53). But the reason why the newly-built health centre was yet to be occupied was because the community was not satisfied with the quality of the materials used in constructing the building.
Longap Maigari, 30, was the first sign of life this reporter encountered in Katung and he explained the feeling of the people thus, "The community members refused to accept the hospital because the materials used by the contractor were substandard. The ceiling was leaking, while the wood used was not treated with insecticide, which makes them prone to insects."
The traditional ruler of this community of 10,000 peasants, Joseph B. Yilyaan (Niyu the third), aged 65, confirmed that the building was poorly constructed, adding, however, that he had to personally supervise the process of rectifying the faults.
He explained further that: "I have been supervising the construction of the building, except that the community complained that the roofing was not well done which was later rectified by the contractors. That delayed the handing over of the hospital to the community."
As a result of the delay in the construction work, pharmaceutical drugs supplied by another contractor began to expire, the paramount ruler added, "We were directed that the drugs should be used only when the new hospital is occupied. This makes some of the drugs to start expiring. So we had to call on nearby clinics in Shendam to come and buy off some of the drugs."
Scene Two: Dateline: Dandalama, Dawakin-Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State.
This rural community is about 1,000 kilometres away from Kalung village in Plateau State, but the people have a similar complaint as the peasants in Kalung. Indeed, the people of Kalung are quite lucky because, while the primary healthcare clinic built in Kalung is of a low quality, the project in Dandalama was abandoned at linter stage. Consequently, the walls started falling off, having been heavily beaten by the rainfall in 2008. Incidentally, in the books of the MDGs office in Abuja, it is indicated that the project, which cost N18,975,504.21 ($158,129.20) has been completed. Some leaders of the community told Sunday Trust that they would want the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the scandal and bring the contractors (names withheld) to book.
These are instances of how the $19 billion debt relief fund is being used to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Nigeria. The fund is the product of the seven-year campaign by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who argued at both the Paris and London Clubs from 1999 to 2006, that the country's heavy debt burden, put at some $36 billion, was standing in the way of the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Actually, in 2001, Nigeria opened an MDGs office under the office of the presidency. In 2005, Mrs Amina Ibrahim, a well-respected woman in the civil society organisations circles, was appointed as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The task of this office is to monitor the disbursement and implementation of the projects being executed with the use of the debt relief funds.
Every year, since 2006, the government sets aside the equivalent of $1 billion (about N120 billion). The fund is disbursed among the ministries of health, education, water resources, agriculture, works, women, youth development etc, to assist them in executing projects that would lead to the achievement of MDGs goals. Apart from ministries, the MDGs office releases funds to state governments to execute projects that are geared towards the achievement of MDGs. The states would, however, be required to provide counterpart funds and guarantees that the projects would be successfully executed. As at 2008 fiscal year, some $3 billion had been released for the execution of numerous projects under the scheme, some successfully completed, some leading to disappointments, as the situations in Kalung and Dandalama communities above indicated. Below is the outcome of the investigation conducted in several areas on the utilisation of the debt relief funds:
HEALTH:
MDGs objective: Reduce by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015, the under five mortality rate.
In an attempt to achieve this objective, the Nigerian government created a department called the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) vested with the responsibility of working towards improved healthcare for children under the age of five and maternal health. The strategy adopted include the building of primary healthcare clinics in rural communities, like Kalung and Dandalma, where immunisations against childhood diseases, and medical treatments are provided for children, mothers and the peasants in those communities. The sum of N33 million ($275,000) is voted for each of the model PHC, a breakdown of which are as follows: N20 million for Construction and Fencing; N6.7 million for equipment; N800,000 for drugs; N1.5 million for development of ward health systems and training of health workers and community members; and N1.3 million for grants to ward development committees.
Statistics from the MDGs office stated that in 2006 alone 166 new primary health care centres were built and 207 rehabilitated across the country. The projects are executed in the various geopolitical zones of the country, made up of South-West, South-South, South-East, North-West, North-Central, and North-East. As at May 2007, an additional 111 health care centres were supposed to have been completed, which could have led to a massive revolution in the primary health care delivery in Nigeria. The total sum of money budgeted for the execution of the primary health care centres, from 2006 to 2007, is N37 billion ($308.3 million).
However, visits by Sunday Trust reporters to some of the health care centres in North-West, North-East, North-Central, and South-West, indicated that only very few of these healthcare centres were actually built, completed, and supplied with drugs. In Kano State, North-East Nigeria, for instance, communities in Burji and Kwachiri located in two local government areas of Madobi and Fagge, where primary health care clinics have been fully completed and operational, the communities are full of praises for the government. Also, in Plateau State, the people of Kumkwam village are happy with the new health centre built under the MDG programme.
However, the story is different in Rikadawa, Dan-Zabuwa and Dan-Dalama in Madobi, Bichi and Dawakin-Tofa Local Government Areas of the state. In Rikadawa village of Madobi LGA, the contractor handling the project was yet to clear the site, more than a year after the contract was awarded to him, not to talk of laying the foundation for the clinic. Ironically, in spite of the fact that the structure in Rikadawa has not been built, the company awarded the contract for the supply of drugs and other hospital facilities had since July, 2008 supplied the items. According to the Chairman, Rikadawa Ward Development Committee, Mallam Razimu Ali, the community was planning to have those drugs sold to dispensaries and health centres in the area so that they did not expire. Unfortunately, in Rikadawa, there was cholera outbreak in September, 2008, leading to the death of, at least, 20 peasants in Rikadawa. There were no health facilities to respond to this attack.
A resident of Rikadawa, Alhaji Bello Musa, captured the plight of the people thus: "We are facing serious difficulties as far as health care service is concerned. We don't have even a single health facility in our area, not to talk of a hospital. We are calling on government to come to our aid by completing this project."
In Kogi State, the primary health care centre built in Ugbamaka in Olamaboro Local Government Area brought hope and excitement to the people, but it was gathered that six months after the structure was put up, nothing has been heard from the authorities. The building has been overtaken with weed, while some equipment said to have been supplied were kept at the residence of one politician. As a result of the non-commissioning of the hospital, some of the drugs supplied began to expire, forcing the health authorities to take them away.
The story of the primary health care centre in Dikko village, Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State is similar to that in several other states. While it is indicated on MDGs office documents that the project has been completed, a visit proved that it was not, as at mid-October, 2008. The structure is yet to be roofed. Here the only medical facility is a dispensary established by missionaries, and there are two medical doctors and a couple of nurses. With the growing population, the dispensary can no longer meet the health requirements of the community. A resident, Mrs Maimuna Bahago summed up the expectations of the people from the health centre, saying, "The establishment of a state-owned dispensary in Dikko will go a long way in augmenting the good work of the missionaries. We hope the centre will soon be completed so that our people can benefit from it."
In Nasarawa State, several primary health care centres have been rehabilitated and new ones built, but, as usual, they were not without complaints. For instance, at Adogi, a rural community, the primary health care centre was 'upgraded' with the use of the debt relief money. All that was done were the repainting of the structure and the construction of a new fence. There was no new equipment or facilities supplied. The beddings are in a very bad shape, looking old and worn out. Though our reporter could not ascertain how much was spent on the rehabilitation, it was gathered that the upgrading ought to have included the provision of new equipment at the health centre.
The story is the same at a primary healthcare centre in Dome Road, in Lafia, the federal capital, which has been painted and covered with new roofing materials. When our reporter visited the health centre, he found a crowd of about a hundred women, who were being attended to by only one nurse. There were no midwives or qualified doctors. Gidan Waya, a village, has had its primary health care clinic upgraded. It has been fully built, but the beddings and other furniture spoke of old age. There is a new laboratory there but other equipments were conspicuously missing. This health centre caters for peasants in four villages of Gidan, Ehim, Mashiri, and Angwar Sabon. It boasts of one midwife, one nurse and a laboratory.
Other health centres visited included Abogini South and Adudu villages, where the traditional ruler, Mohammed Abba, remarked that, as far as he was concerned, where the projects were executed, it "starts and ends with fencing and painting. No medicine or equipment is supplied." He complained further that at the clinic in his rural settlement, the company to which the contract for the construction was awarded had abandoned the project six months earlier, and nothing had been done about it. On his own, Dr. Kabir Musa Ibrahim, the chief of Azara in Awe LGA complained that the villagers could not access some of the primary health care centres because of bad roads.
There are a few issues that are not clear about the award of contracts for primary health care centres across the country. First, the contract sums are exorbitant. Some of the structures being built for N19 million, could be successfully prosecuted with about six million Naira. Secondly, some of the health centres are sited in communities that would rather prefer other amenities. For instance, the people of Abbare in Lau local government of Taraba State complained that they did not need a primary health care centre. A ward head told Sunday Trust that, "The people of Abbare are in dire need of clean water due to the prevalence of water borne diseases. Prevention, they say, is better than cure. If we prevent ourselves from water borne diseases by consuming clean water, we will not be sick, hence the need for boreholes instead of clinics." The people of Zangon Kombi community in Ardo-Kola Local Government Area, raised the same complaint, saying they preferred boreholes to the health centre built for them, because they could access the hospital in Jalingo, the state capital, when faced with serious health crisis.
On their part, the people of Yakoko village in Zing Local Government Area, Taraba State said although the medical facilities in the primary health care centre were impressive, they would not patronise the clinic because they had more confidence in the missionary hospital, which has qualified doctors. The health centre in Yakoko does not have a qualified doctor. Abigail Musa, a resident of Yakoko explained thus, "We are more comfortable with the missionary hospital where we have been receiving qualitative medical care over the years."
Where projects are executed, there are evidence of poor finishing and the use of substandard facilities. At Kwachiri health centre in Kano State, the floor of the hospital, which was constructed only six months before this investigation, has been scrapped off, so that dust has begun to issue out of the supposedly concrete floor. Complaining about this abnormality, the officer-in-charge of the centre, MallamYusuf Lawan said, "The issue is that the actual construction was not concrete, therefore, it started breaking off not long after the project was commissioned. We called the attention of the contractor who sent one of his boys to come and address the issue. On coming here, he directed the labourers to scrap the floor in order to allow them cast another foundation. Six months after, nothing has been done. In September, the wife of Kano State Governor, Hajiya Halima Shekarau visited the centre and promised to reconstruct the floor, but no contractor has turned up to carry out the repairs."
In places where the projects have been completed, there is the lack of water and electricity. What the MDGs office does is to provide solar energy to provide electricity, but in some cases, the communities have to source their water and electricity. In Kwachiri village in Kano, the relatives of patients, especially, those who put to bed in the health centre, are asked to purchase water from vendors for the hospital to use. Also, patients are asked to contribute money for the purchase of fuel for the standby generator at the centre. Mallam Yusuf said, "we are not happy doing that, but the problem is beyond our control and, therefore, we are left with no option than to operate that way."
An official of the Monitoring and Evaluation team at the MDGs office in Abuja confirmed that the department was aware that some of the jobs were poorly done, and that the office was not going to be quiet about it. But he did not outline measures being put in place to ensure a redress.
To buttress what the official said, a report by the Monitoring and Evaluation team, obtained by our reporter has this to say: "Many PHCs were completed but could not be commissioned either because electricity and/or water supply had not been provided by the LGAs, or healthcare staff had not been provided by the State/LGA. This situation would greatly limit the usefulness of the completed centres, and seriously dampen confidence on the programme by host communities..."
In another section the M&E report says, "There was a recurring problem of PHC equipment and drugs being supplied with no place to keep them because construction of the PHC itself was uncompleted. Equipment and drugs have therefore been kept with the local chiefs, at the LG offices, in other health centres or in the uncompleted facilities where the security and safety of the supplied equipment were invariably jeopardised."
On the supervision of the project, the team has this to say: "There was also substandard quality of work and the use of substandard materials on the projects across the zones, which suggests inadequate supervision and management by the Consultants commissioned to carry out that aspect. Problems range from poor quality building materials, poor workmanship with some buildings collapsing before completion, lack of adherence to contract specifications (e.g casting 3" DPC instead of 6", lack of use of BRC, using inferior wood for roofs, etc.) This will shorten the lifespan of the structures and affected sites will soon be in need of rehabilitation. In many cases, the quality of supplied equipment was unsatisfactory, and in some cases some supplied equipment were rejected by the Zonal Technical Officers. This programme, even though nationwide, also shows differing levels of success for different locations in the country.
On the level of completion of the projects, the team said, "Projects under this programme have recorded low completion rates across the nation. As at June 2007, majority of the PHCs were still ongoing or not started at all, and only about 26 centres had been completed nationwide (out of 111). PHCs renovation on the other hand had not commenced in most (73%) of the sites. Only about 24 centres (14%) had been completely renovated and the rest were still ongoing.
The M&E is not satisfied with the supply of drugs, saying, "This component proves to be more problematic. First, the award did not go through due process, i.e the contracts were not advertised. Secondly, the contracts for the supply were awarded (and the suppliers mobilised) at almost the same time as that for construction/renovation. As a result drugs have been supplied to PHCs that have not been constructed and renovated. These drugs have a limited shelf life. Many are expired, about to expire, or will expire before they are put to use.
The team also said the renovation component of the scheme was problematic. According to the team, "Contracts were awarded and contractors mobilised, but there were no designs, drawings or bills of quantities. In many instances, even sites had not been decided. A detailed costing of the individual projects was supposed to have preceded the determination of the contract sum for each site. Obviously, this had not been done. For instance, as at July 2007, only one site has been handed over to contractors in the South-East. Secondly, the choice of locations was a major problem. Many locations had not been chosen at the time of ward of renovation contracts. Some of the chosen location was not in need of renovation as they had only recently been renovated - either by the LGA or in some cases by philanthropists..."
POVERTY ALLEVIATION:
Target: Halve between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than a dollar a day... Halve between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger...
Conservative estimate has it that the population of Nigerians living below poverty line is not less than 65%. With about 70% of the 140 million Nigerians living in rural areas, where the basic source of income is from farming with the use of local farming tools, the challenge of the eradication of poverty is real. The agency vested with the task of fighting poverty in the country is the National Agency for Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), which is coordinated by Dr. Magnus Kpakol, a Senior Special Assistant to the President. Information available to this reporter has it that not less than N10 billion has been channelled into various schemes proposed for execution geared towards poverty eradication. They include the following:
Keke NAPEP:
Under this scheme, tricycles purchased by government from an Indian automobile company, are given out to Nigerians through a soft loan scheme repayable over a period of time through microfinance banks. Going by the projection and funds released, NAPEP is supposed to have taken delivery of 5,000 units of Keke NAPEP and distributed to all states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja by December 2008. As at the time of filing this report, only 500 units of this tricycle has been supplied, with 4,500 still being awaited from the contractors, just two months to the deadline for the distribution of the vehicles.
In an interview with Sunday Trust Dr. Kpakol blamed the delay in the supply of the tricycles on government's decision to cancel waivers for the import of such vehicles, and the fact that the supplier complained of the lack of storage facilities for them. However, the NAPEP boss insisted that the supplier would deliver the goods by the end of 2008, or the agency would be compelled to seek refund, if they are not supplied three months after the expiration of the deadline for the supplies. There is a bond in the contract agreement with a bank that makes it possible for NAPEP to seek a refund in case the supplier defaults in the supply of the outstanding 4,500 vehicles.
This is a source of controversy at the agency, as tongues have begun to wag over the cost of the vehicle and the terms of the contract. For instance, Sunday Trust gathered that when the scheme started, the unit cost of the tricycle was N180,000, but an operator, Sani Lawal, said because of the scarcity of the vehicle, the price has been raised to the point that they can no longer afford them. For one, the current unit cost is put at about N430,000, but because of measures by microfinance banks that provide guarantee for the loans, any persons subscribing to it would pay as much as N700,000 before he can become the owner of just one. In order to meet up with the repayment schedule for this huge sum of money, operators have to make monthly payment of N40,000 through the microfinance banks, a sum that is considered too high, going by the meagre sum money the operators earn daily from the transportation scheme. Apart from this difficulty, some of the operators complained of the lack of spare parts for the vehicle. An operator, Aliyu Obaje argued thus, "If government is really serious about alleviating poverty, it should not only provide the Keke, it should also make available the spare parts. How do we maintain the Keke when there are no spare parts to replace the worn out parts?"
Conditional Cash Transfer:
Under this scheme, cash is expected to be transferred to 6,250 households in 12 pilot states of the federation, including the federal capital, Abuja. Recipients must been seen to be 'vulnerable households'. A total sum of N1.6 billion has been set aside for the cash transfer in 2008. As it were, the cash transfer scheme has put NAPEP on the pages of newspapers on a daily basis, as the funds are distributed through different means. In Sokoto State alone, N14 million was given to 28 mosques and churches for distribution to 500 poor people in the congregations to enable them become self-reliant. In the same state, it is earmarked that 13 poorest households identified in 23 local government councils would be placed on a monthly stipend of N1,500 each (about $10), if the number of children is not more than three. But if they are more than this figure, then each of the 13 identified poor families would be given N1,000.00 each every month. This scheme has come under serious criticisms as there are accusations that these funds are always channelled through traditional rulers who put the names of their family members on the list of recipients. Sunday Trust could not confirm if this accusation is true, but in a country in which over 80 million persons are believed to be living below the poverty line, selecting 13 households for support may not make any impact.
Village Economic Development Solutions:
The government is putting as much as N5.6 billion into this scheme in which micro credit is provided to cooperative societies in all states of the federation. This huge sum is supposed to have been fully disbursed by December 2008. When asked to provide the modalities for the selection of the cooperative societies, officials at NAPEP declined, saying that it was part of the office's secrets. However, it was gathered from sources in the office that, under the scheme, the various state governments are required to provide counterpart funds. But this is not being done. Unconfirmed reports said in spite of the fact that they do not provide the counterpart funds, some state government officials still access their share of the micro credit facility through banks. In many states, the list of cooperative societies is obtained from the office of the Deputy Governor, and it is difficult to verify the existence of the groups, as they have been set up on emergency purposely to access the NAPEP loans. However, Dr. Kpakol insisted that he ensures that cooperative societies meet certain criteria before loans are approved for them. The test-case for this scheme would be when the loans are due for repayment.
In an interview, the coordinator of NAPEP in Jigawa State, Alhaji Usman Alto Roni, complained that the manner in which poverty alleviation programmes were being run left many questions unanswered. He alleged that most of the funds being released by government to fight poverty were being diverted into personal accounts of the heads of such departments.
He said, "Most of the funds the federal government is releasing for poverty alleviation are being diverted into personal pockets of the heads of such agencies. If there are equipments, they end up in their farms or factories."
Rehabilitation of skill acquisition centres and training of unemployed youths in 6 pilot states:
Under this scheme youths are supposed to be trained in the following trades: GSM repairs, electric and gas welding, auto-tronics rice milling, fish farming, palm oil processing, yam flour process etc. A total sum of N1.6 billion has been earmarked for this project, which timeline is put as December 2008. In order to achieve this objective, NAPEP is expected to rehabilitate 18 skill acquisition centres in six pilot states and training 4,500 youths in various skills. When this reporter asked NAPEP to provide information on the locations of the skill acquisition centres and how the training programmes are being run, the agency's officials declined to provide the details, saying they would need to consult with higher authorities before they could release any information on the scheme. It was, therefore, impossible to state categorically whether or not this scheme is being implemented.
HIV/AIDS
Objective: Have halved by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of HIV/AIDS
Nigeria is one of the countries with high incidences of HIV/AIDS. As at 2005, when the last situation analysis was conducted, there were 2.9 million persons infected with the incurable virus, with about 500,000 of them in need of medical attention. On the African continent, Nigeria is second to South Africa in HIV/AIDS prevalence. Perhaps, this is one area in which the debt relief funds has been actively utilised, except in the case of 2008 budget which has been held down as a result of the bottleneck in the due process which has led to a delay in the release of funds. Apart from the MDGs funds, the department got donations from WHO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, DFID and CIDA, to execute different aspects of the project.
According to Dr. Henry Akpan, of the Federal Ministry of Health, the HIV/AIDS section intended to achieve the following:
Statistics shows that one out of every 13 new HIV infections in the world occurs in Nigeria. Also, one out of every 14 deaths as a result of HIV infection occurs in Nigeria, and one out of every 14 adults and children living with HIV is in Nigeria. The geopolitical zones where HIV is prevalent include the North-Central, North-East, South-East and South-South, but there is no state or local government area where the spread has risen to the state of an epidemic. Urban and rural areas are almost equally affected. In some states, rural areas recorded high HIV prevalence than some urban areas.
Sunday Trust gathered that in 2006, out of a total budget of N4.7 billion allocated for the prosecution of HIV/AIDS programmes, a total sum of N3.525 billion was released by the MDGs office. In 2007, the department got the total sum allocated to HIV/AIDS to the tune of N4.47 billion, in addition to N670 million from the federal government for capital and recurrent expenditure. However, for the year 2008, out of a total allocation of N6.2 billion, as at the time of filing this report, only N2.2 billion had been released. The implication is that most of the projected activities for this year have not commenced. From this fund, in 2006, the sum of N3.4 billion was used for the procurement of Anti-retroviral vaccines (ARVs), local production of test kit (Trinity Biotech) and the training of different cadres of health workers in health facilities across the country. In 2007, the drugs and equipment procured cost the sum of N6.1 billion. For 2008, the priorities were for the procurement of more ARVs, test kits, laboratory reagents and consumables, drugs for treatment of opportunistic points, distribution of all HIV/AIDS commodities to service delivery points, training of different cadre of health workers in health facilities across the country, and the like.
In many rural communities in Nigeria there are actually massive enlightenment programmes in hospitals. Every patient who visits the hospital is given the choice of a free HIV test, and the result dictated to them. This is done under the Provider Initiated Counselling and Testing (PICT) scheme. The sick and women who visit hospitals for ante-natal care are offered HIV tests in maternity wards.
In 2008, activities in the HIV/AIDS section of the Ministry of Health actually came to a standstill as a result of the non-release of the remaining N4 billion budgetary allocations as at the end of October, 2008. For instance, the advocacy, communication and mobilisation department has not been engaged in mobilisation. Sunday Trust gathered that the few activities carried out were funded from the 2007 budgetary allocations. There was confusion, however, as to why the outstanding N4 billion was not released. It was gathered that the government department has not been able to satisfy the due process conditions for the release of the funds. Apart from the non-release of the budgetary allocations, some other setbacks facing the HIV/AIDS programme include epileptic power supply as there is no back-up generator; poor internet service; low human resources capacity; ignorance and fear; stigma and discrimination against HIV/AIDS victims, poverty among the people, the non-commitment to the project by the leadership of the country and the low access to service.
Most of the training and monitoring programmes earmarked for 2008 were never carried out. One indication of the slow pace of activities in the HIV/AIDS department in the Ministry of Health is the fact that since 2005, there has not been a comprehensive information on the situation of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Therefore, the ministry cannot provide a researcher with information on the current number of Nigerians infected with HIV as at 2006, 2007 and 2008. Information concerning the impact of HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nigeria, its projection and the factors driving the epidemic in the country is not available. Officials merely made deductions and projects based on the data obtained as at 2005 when the last National Situation Analysis of the Health Sector Response to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria was published by the Federal Ministry of Health.
Perhaps, the last aspect is more critical as a result of the fact that the primary health care centre projects have been bungled because of poor implementation. With many rural areas lacking access to medical facilities, and with the people having to travel for kilometres before accessing a secondary medical care centre, it is difficult for government to reach the rural poor. As a result of this situation, the Monitoring and Evaluation team in the MDGs office recommended a review of the HIV/AIDS programme. In its report on this situation, the M&E team said, "It is strongly recommended that the HIV/AIDS programmes be reviewed such that there is coordination between training and expanding HCT and ART sites on the one hand, and the procurement of HIV kits and ARVs on the other. No ARVs should be procured unless all preparations required to utilize them have been completed."
Government recognises the critical role that primary health care centres can play in the fight for the eradication of HIV/AIDS. In its 2005 situation analysis, the ministry of health said thus: "Primary Health Care is the backbone of the health care delivery system and the role of PHC in the health response to HIV and AIDS is vitally important. It provides an appropriate entry point for the people seeking care for management of STIs and opportunistic infections and for care givers who need advice and support on universal protection, nutrition and general care of the sick... The contribution to the HIV & AIDS response by PHC has not been well defined and appears to have been given little priority. OI drugs are generally not available and patients buy them from the market. A strengthened PHC response is vital with stronger links between the NPHCDA, the Department of Community Development and Population Activities and NASCP."
Assorted projects and their implementations:
From the assessment of the three major MDGs projects above, there is evidence that the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, which is the coordinating office for the utilisation of debt relief funds, is doing its best to ensure that funds are released and projects are executed, but there is a disconnect because the various ministries, agencies and government departments involved are not operating in tandem with the zeal of the MDGs office.
As a result, targets are not being met, making it difficult to believe some of the documents alleging that projects have been executed and completed. For instance, the MDGs office claimed that in 2006, 4,000 kilometre roads, mainly rural feeder roads were constructed nationwide, but investigations revealed that some of the roads were not completed, and contractors are owed a huge sum of N8 billion from 2006. As a result, no road project was executed in 2007 and 2008. The funds for feeder road projects in 2007 was not released, while as at October 2008, the year's budget for road construction projects under MDGs had not been accessed.
Also, the agency claimed that N20 billion was spent on rural and urban water projects, but investigation revealed that most of the water projects were not executed by contractors. For instance, in Taraba State, borehole contracts were awarded in eight communities in eight local government areas. Official figures indicated that N40 million has been paid as mobilisation fee for the projects, but there is no evidence that work has commenced on any of the projects. Some of these communities have complained to the governor and asked for a probe into the scandal. The state's House of Assembly officials said the contractors would appear before the parliament to give an account of their contracts, but it has not happened.
In the education sector, in 2005, about 145,000 teachers were given in-service training, for instance. About 40,000 others have been trained under the MDGs teacher's scheme. But many of these trained teachers are not absorbed by state governments, and in some places where they are being absorbed, they are not given appropriate salaries. The MDGs office has supplied Mathematics and Science equipments to nine schools in Nasarawa State. It has also released funds for the renovation of secondary schools and for the provision of furniture and conveniences. But an investigation showed that at Government Secondary Schools, Lafia and Nasarawa Egon, no renovations took place, in pite of the fact that the necessary funds were disbursed, allegedly through the Ministry of Education. At GSS Nasarawa Igon, as a result of inadequate Eurniture, students have to squat on the bare floor to receive lessons, in spite of the fact the funds had been released for the provision of seats in classrooms.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
