E.E.R: US Moves to Aid Northern Nigeria in Poverty Fight and Insecurity

Thursday, May 8, 2014

US Moves to Aid Northern Nigeria in Poverty Fight and Insecurity

US Backs North To Fight Insecurity, Poverty

Ahead of the Northern States Governors’ Forum/USA Investors and Aid Agencies Forum, billed to hold on Saturday, the United States Agency for International Development has said the US Government will intervene in critical sectors of the North’s economy to end poverty and insecurity.

Administrator of USAID, Dr Rajiv Shah said on Wednesday that the United States Government would make direct investments in agriculture, infrastructure, power/energy and health/education with a view to mitigating poverty and ending insurgency.

This was the highlight of a meeting between USAID and Northern States Governors in Abuja on Wednesday night.

Chairman of NSGF and Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, said the collaboration between the forum and the US Government would provide a broader platform for agricultural development as it could generate about 70 per cent of the nation’s workforce, while accounting for slightly more than 40 per cent of the Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.

“Under the partnership, we intend to build collaborative business skills of smallholder farmers and associations and increase access to credit and electronic payment services and advancing the development of evidence-based agricultural policies,” Aliyu said in a statement by his spokesman, Danladi Ndayebo.

He said the intervention of the US through its agencies would help to develop a policy environment for small businesses and expand access to market-driven vocational and technical training linked with private sector employment opportunities and also expand access to commercial financial services, including microfinance.

In the area of education, USAID promised to support equitable access to quality basic education through teacher training, support for girls’ learning, infrastructure improvement, community involvement, and reading and literacy skills development, targeting public, Qur’anic and Islamiyya schools.

“Qur’anic schools focus on learning the Qur’an and Islamic values while Islamiyya schools integrate classes to build skills in reading local language and numeracy into the traditional Qur’anic curriculum,” Aliyu added.

Punch.

Ahead of the Northern States Governors’ Forum/USA Investors and Aid Agencies Forum, billed to hold on Saturday, the United States Agency for International Development has said the US Government will intervene in critical sectors of the North’s economy to end poverty and insecurity.

Administrator of USAID, Dr Rajiv Shah said on Wednesday that the United States Government would make direct investments in agriculture, infrastructure, power/energy and health/education with a view to mitigating poverty and ending insurgency.

This was the highlight of a meeting between USAID and Northern States Governors in Abuja on Wednesday night.

Chairman of NSGF and Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, said the collaboration between the forum and the US Government would provide a broader platform for agricultural development as it could generate about 70 per cent of the nation’s workforce, while accounting for slightly more than 40 per cent of the Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.

“Under the partnership, we intend to build collaborative business skills of smallholder farmers and associations and increase access to credit and electronic payment services and advancing the development of evidence-based agricultural policies,” Aliyu said in a statement by his spokesman, Danladi Ndayebo.

He said the intervention of the US through its agencies would help to develop a policy environment for small businesses and expand access to market-driven vocational and technical training linked with private sector employment opportunities and also expand access to commercial financial services, including microfinance.

In the area of education, USAID promised to support equitable access to quality basic education through teacher training, support for girls’ learning, infrastructure improvement, community involvement, and reading and literacy skills development, targeting public, Qur’anic and Islamiyya schools.

“Qur’anic schools focus on learning the Qur’an and Islamic values while Islamiyya schools integrate classes to build skills in reading local language and numeracy into the traditional Qur’anic curriculum,” Aliyu added.