Leadership (Abuja)
Ese Awhotu
25 October 2009
Abuja — The Department for International Development (DFID), has reported that Northern Nigerian States have the worst human development indicators of any region which is not affected by conflict in the world. DFID noted that though Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa . 20 per cent of Africa 's poor people are Nigerians.
According to the agency's reports 2008-2009 report of its programme in Nigeria: "It is a country with huge oil wealth, yet, half the population still lives in poverty and its Northern States have the worst human development indicators of any region which is not affected by conflict" DFID in the report published by the ReliefWeb.com Friday warned that if Nigeria fails to make significant progress, the Millennium Development Goals which aims to improve people's lives through poverty reduction and increased access to basic services, are unlikely to be achieved globally. The report said the DFID has significantly increased its allocation to Nigeria in the seven years since the Committee's last visit.
Funding for 2009-10 is £120 million, up from £20 million in 2001-02, making it DFID's fourth largest programme in Africa . "The need is clear: One child in five dies before it reaches its fifth birthday; Nigeria has 2 per cent of the world's population but suffers 10 per cent of maternal deaths; and it has the highest number of children who are not enrolled in school of any country in the world, the majority of whom are girls. These factors are a key contributor to Nigeria being off-track on all the Millennium Development Goals".
The report observed that the obstacles to promoting effective poverty reduction in the country are huge. Oil wealth has distorted the economy and has discouraged growth in other sectors. Competition for a share of oil wealth dominates politics, feeds corruption, and diverts attention away from improving governance, management of public finances and delivery of basic services, all of which suffered under 30 years of military rule. Religious and ethnic diversity contribute to regional disparities in wealth and sometimes give rise to conflict and violence. DFID's programme focuses on building the capacity of the Federal, State and Local Governments in Nigeria, to provide the services which its people need and to do this in a transparent way with proper systems for
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