Britain, the only major donor which continued operations under military rule, last year spent some 20 million dollars in Nigeria compared to a total of around 150 million dollars in Uganda and Tanzania, whose combined population is estimated to be a third of Nigeria's. Following the return of civilian rule with the inauguration on May 29 of President Olusegun Obasanjo, those donors who had stopped operations are now resuming. But now, looking at the situation, looking at the poverty, and after the effect of military rule, that view is changing. The key question facing returning donors is how to spend the money they have. Corruption and mismanagement under military rule have left much of past development efforts in tatters.
Good governance is considered crucial by all donors.
The EU team coming to Nigeria this month will report to Abuja and Brussels in six-months time on how to best spend the money. The areas selected for programmes are support for the national and state assemblies, economic good governance programmes, a series of micro projects in the troubled Niger delta and a number of rural water supply projects across the country. British aid work is targeted on health, education, governance and poverty and is expected to grow in coming years. The World Bank is in lift-off phase. Now we are normalising our relations.