Nigeria

Canada's Commitment
Results
Country Profile

Canada's Commitment

Since its return to civilian rule and democracy in 1999, Nigeria has embarked on ambitious reforms aimed at laying the foundation for sustainable poverty reduction. Nigeria is also the most populous country in Africa-with the greatest number of poor. Therefore, progress toward the continent-wide Millennium Development Goals hinges largely on Nigeria's success in meeting its own development objectives.

For both of these reasons, Canada made a commitment in 2000 to resume its programming through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and to assist in addressing the Nigerian government's priorities.

CIDA's bilateral program in Nigeria is focused on two high-priority sectors: health and governance.

Nigeria also benefits from a number of initiatives funded through regional programming, such as the West Africa Regional Program and Pan-Africa Program.

In addition, CIDA supports regional humanitarian, as well as peace and security, initiatives with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and UNICEF. The Agency also participates in multilateral initiatives to fight polio, eradicate guinea worm, and control malaria and river blindness.

Canadian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have had a long-term presence in Nigeria, and have recently also undertaken CIDA-supported work in the country.

CIDA's Youth Action Program has placed interns with Nigerian civil society organizations, while Canadian private sector firms have been involved in rehabilitating Nigerian port and electrical infrastructures through support from the Industrial Cooperation Program.

CIDA will continue to work with other development partners to support, reinforce, and institutionalize the reform process. This includes working at both the state and local levels to demonstrate improvements in service delivery, along with support to civil society groups monitoring the progress of reform.

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Results

To date, the bulk of CIDA's programming in Nigeria has been in the health field, including immunization, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS. This has resulted in health workers having a strengthened capacity to provide reproductive health services through the distribution of contraceptives and safe-motherhood kits. CIDA has also helped increase vaccination coverage, and is contributing to the eradication of polio in Nigeria.

In the governance sector, CIDA has been working to improve the living conditions of the poor-particularly women-by enhancing the technical capacity of government agencies, NGOs, and community organizations to manage natural resources. Collaboration with all stakeholders has targeted the sustainable management of land and water resources in Nigeria. CIDA's assistance in this area has resulted in the destruction of stockpiles of obsolete pesticides.

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Country Profile

After nearly 31 years under successive military regimes, the 1999 democratic transition created momentum for economic growth and development. In 2004 a reform agenda for the economy, political system, and government institutions, including significant anticorruption measures, was put forward. The government produced the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), Nigeria's home-grown poverty-reduction strategy.

The NEEDS strategy provides an ambitious framework for positive change and focuses on macroeconomic reform and economic growth as the fundamental building blocks for poverty reduction. The strategy champions a social charter for the people, growing the private sector, and reforming the way government works.

However, the country continues to face enormous challenges. Recent reports indicate that 70 percent of Nigerians live in absolute poverty on less than US$1 per day, and 90 percent live on less than US$2 per day. Health and education indicators are accordingly very low. For instance, there is only about 13 percent immunization coverage for routine childhood diseases. To add to these challenges, Nigeria's estimated population of more than 130 million is projected to double by 2050.