Bob Dewar

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Thursday 30 April, 2009

Met the Minister of Power to discuss his efforts to improve availability of electricity. Most people don't have regular power which is a real irony in a country which produces a lot of oil and gas- and one of the issues for power plants is just getting hooked up to the necessary gas. Rightly, the President and Government have made this a top priority. The Minister is hoping to reach 6,000 MW this year by rehabilitating existing turbines etc. We are trying to help through DFID, including on project management.

Midweek, there was the annual Queen's Birthday reception - which was well attended - and I used the opportunity to emphasise some key messages from the G20 summit, including the need for all of us to work together and to avoid protectionism, focusing instead on improving transparency, regulation and international banking standards. Nigeria is dependent on oil and gas revenue and the drop in the international price has hurt.

Thursday I handed over some cheques to the Foreign Minister - the latest assets to be repatriated from a UK court case of money laundering involving an associate of former Governor Joshua Dariye. The return fulfils our commitment under Chapter V of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and is the result of continued co-operation with the Nigerian authorities. Over £1.25 million have been returned and another £40 million could be returned subject to future court judgements. Important that the issue of top level corruption continues to be addressed vigorously, thus denting impunity. Such public money is needed for development, rather than being stolen for private pockets.

Dinner with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation in Lagos on Friday. Such civil society groups are even more important now, at a time when general forecasts - for example the future of rain forests - are gloomy. They play a crucial role in helping to raise awareness. We all need to work together to prepare for an ambitious outcome at the Copenhagen climate change conference. This is a joint endeavour for this planet. A balanced Nigerian voice and position at the Conference would be really helpful.