USAID/OTI Nigeria Field Report
March 13 - 27, 2000
Country
Situation
The controversy over Sharia, the riots in Kaduna
and the recent rash of inter-communal conflicts dominated events in
Nigeria. Concern in the North over Sharia increased when an Islamic
court in Zamfara ordered the amputation of the right hand of a
convicted cow thief. On an interview with the BBC, President
Obasanjo condemned this decision as a violation of an agreement he
reached with northern governors in a recent meeting of the National
Council of States. Human rights lawyers have initiated legal action
against the governor of Zamfara State. Religious riots also broke
out in the northeastern state of Borno. The death toll there now
stands at fifteen. In the wake of these events, the exodus of Igbos
and other non-Muslims from the North continues to grow, despite some
northern leaders' requests that they remain. The exodus of Igbos
from cities in the North has increased the rate of withdrawals from
northern banks. The Senate's Committee on Sharia has directed states
that have adopted it to suspend it until the Supreme Court
rules.
The death toll among Igbos in the Kaduna riots has
led the Houses of Assembly in three southeastern states to pass
motions supporting confederation. Afenefere, an influential group of
southwestern leaders, joined them. Political leaders from the north
and the Middle-Belt, however, have denounced confederation.
President Obasanjo called on those governors supporting
confederation to resign from office, and characterized their
position as "unpatriotic" and contrary to a governor's
oath of office.
Communal clashes have escalated in number and
intensity around the country. The 200 year-old Ife/Modakeke conflict
(Southwest) erupted again, resulting in heavy damage to property.
Fighting also resumed between the Eleme and Okrika communities,
resulting in several casualties and significant delays in the
delivery of petroleum products to many major cities. Nigeria's first
and largest refinery is located on land belonging to these two
communities. Recognizing that many inter-communal clashes turn on
conflicting land claims, the federal government has charged
Nigeria's Boundary Commission to assist with the peaceful resolution
of land disputes between states and communities.
Security has been further intensified around
Kirikiri maximum security prison after the discovery of plots to
storm the facility to free Maj. Mustapha, Gen. Abacha's Chief of
Security, and Gen. Bamayi, his Chief of Army Staff (they are
awaiting trial for murder and attempted murder, respectively).
The National Assembly approved President Obasanjo's
budget for 2000. Critics charge that the delay in passing the budget
has driven interest rates up to 35 percent. Fuel scarcities continue
in Edo, Plateau and Kano States. In Port Harcourt, the price of fuel
has tripled from N20 per liter to N60.
The National Workshop on 'Fiscal Federalism under
Democratic Dispensation and Prospects for Growth in the Nigerian
Economy' scheduled for March 21 was cancelled by President Obasanjo.
The President worried that some participants might use the occasion
to pursue objectives inconsistent with the goal of revenue sharing.
In a letter, the President said, "the theme of the workshop, as
advertised in the media, was likely to draw a crowd of politicians
who may use that opportunity in a mischievous way to further
heighten the tension following the sectarian disturbances."
Noting that the debate on fiscal federalism has been ongoing, he
added that it would be dangerous to exacerbate the situation through
an unguided, open debate. He observed that certain technicalities
concerning fiscal policies require some elucidation by experts for
the understanding of all stakeholders.
OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
The relevance of OTI/Nigeria's major transition
themes - conflict management, good governance, and economic reform
are underscored by events in the past two weeks. The current
centerpiece of OTI's programming in Nigeria, a nationwide conflict
management Training of Trainers' effort moved into its second phase.
Between March 13-25, about 200 representatives of community based
organizations in the South/South zone were trained as conflict
mediators. Training exercises will be underway in the remaining
zones through June 3. These efforts are designed to increase the
availability of conflict mediators at the community level. It is
expected that they will use their training to identify potential
conflicts and move to mitigate them. To that end, OTI has devised a
"fast track" plan to assist these local conflict mediation
groups with funding of up to $3,000 for local interventions.
National Programming Activity
In order to instill leadership skills in young
people and enable them to succeed in a democratic Nigeria, OTI has
teamed up with the Africa Leadership Forum (ALF) to organize six,
five-day training workshops to help young people with demonstrated
potential learn how to organize effectively. The workshops will
bring together ten participants from each zone with twenty from
other zones in order to promote interaction among Nigerians from
different regions. The goal is to exchange views on democratic
values that will promote political unity in Nigeria. This six-week
program will develop a cadre of 180 trained young people who
ultimately will be poised to assume leadership positions in Nigeria.
OTI's Country Director has begun discussions with US oil
companies to see if they will fund paid internships at local or
national institutions for these graduates.
Regional Programming Activities
Working with a local NGO, Community Partners for Health, OTI has
taken the concept of enhanced political participation through
improved dialogue between citizens and their elected officials to
one of the poorest districts in Lagos, Mushin. Long neglect by
successive military governments has left the area's people
dispirited and illiterate and the district politically volatile.
This workshop will create a basis for useful, productive dialogue.
Ultimately, the workshop will educate the community as to its civic
rights and duties, the advantages of democracy and the obligations
of elected officials to those who put them in office.
In an effort to slow the rising tide of conflict in the South,
OTI has joined with the Champion of Women Development Foundation
(COWDEF) to conduct a variety of sensitization projects designed to
focus on the need for conflict prevention. COWDEF is working in a
region that saw serious reprisal attacks on northerners after the
riots in Kaduna. The project, spread over four of the five states in
this region, focuses on ways in which women can make a meaningful
contribution to conflict mediation activities. This campaign will
start with media roundtables that highlight brainstorming on peace
and mediation strategies. The expectation is that female journalists
will report these encounters. The roundtables and the media
campaigns will, in turn, be reinforced by "advocacy/
sensitization" visits to traditional rulers, opinion molders
and community leaders. This entire approach will be amplified by a
series of jingles commissioned for broadcast on four radio and four
television stations in the region.
OTI's efforts to improve economic policy-making has taken the
form of workshops on poverty alleviation strategies designed to
refresh the skills of one hundred selected planning and budget
officers at the local, state and federal levels. A local NGO,
Development Policy Center, will conduct two workshops in Ibadan, in
Nigeria's South/West. Using a case study method, the two-week
workshop will expose participants to poverty alleviation strategies
that have succeeded elsewhere. After the participants return, they
will submit written reports on poverty alleviation strategies that
they have employed in their work.
B. Grants Activity Summary
OTI Nigeria grant numbers break down as follows, FY00:
Total number of grants FY00: 82 = $2,074,124.30
Total number of contracts
FY00: 1 = $ 192,686
Total committed: $2,266,810.30
Grant numbers by sector:
|
Civilian/Military |
1 grant
1 contract |
$4,577
$192,686 |
|
Conflict Resolution |
24 grants |
$717,060.80 |
|
Dialogue & Advocacy |
1 grant |
$2,000 |
|
Anti-corruption |
11 grants |
$529,550.89 |
|
Fiscal Federalism |
4 grants |
$120,853.98 |
|
NGO Capacity Building |
2 grants |
$215,413 |
|
Good Governance |
7 grants |
$ 27,182.22 |
|
Civic Education |
4 grants |
$ 133,471.53 |
|
Media |
16 grants |
$ 167,711.11 |
|
Economic Growth/Reform |
7 grants |
$ 129,935.80 |
|
Women |
5 grants |
$ 27,366.48 |
FY99 & FY00 Total grants and contracts:
$7,044,132.81
C. Coordination
The European Community Coordinator for Human Rights and
Democracy, Marianne Nolte, has indicated that the EU will soon
establish a new foundation in Abuja that will concentrate on the
quick review, approval and funding of proposals. She asked for
materials describing how OTI is organized and how it manages its
program in Nigeria.
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