Bob Dewar

Getting rid of malaria in Nigeria

Great news that the programme to get rid of malaria in Nigeria and distribute over 63 million nets got a significant boost last week.  The idea is to get two nets distributed to every household by the end of next year, reaching over 30 million homes and hopefully saving thousands of lives.  In fact, Nigeria counts for over a quarter of all cases of malaria in Africa. 

The UK and others are working together, supporting government health services in rolling this out, including £50 million of British aid delivered through DfID.  The shocking statistic is that half of all Nigerians get infected with malaria each year, and over 30% of childhood deaths and 11% of maternal deaths are caused by it.  And those deaths are preventable.   Hopefully that will change with this new push. Picture by Williams Daniel.

Posted at 15:56 08 September 2009 by Bob Dewar  |  Comments[0]

House of Commons Committee visits Nigeria

The international Development Committee of the House of Commons are here to review the DFID programme in Nigeria and also to look at urban poverty. What better way to start than to look at the issues facing Lagos, the mega-city of West Africa and one of the largest in the world. Urban poverty is often forgotten in Africa but ever more people are migrating to cities looking for a better life.

Lagos has particular issues because it is very low-lying near the sea. Transport provides special problems- there are already some amazing motorways over the swamps. Affordable housing and other services are also needed on a large scale.

The UK through DFID is already helping the State to fast track legal processes in courts and land registry. Basic issues for development. But one real headache confronting the city right now is how to plan best for sea level rise in the face of global warming. We want to help the dynamic State government in confronting such challenges.

Posted at 08:57 16 June 2009 by Bob Dewar  |  Comments[0]

Improving availability of electricity

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.

Posted at 14:57 30 April 2009 by Bob Dewar  |  Comments[0]

A visit to Enugu

Visited Enugu for the day with the Head of DFID Nigeria, Eamon Cassidy, and the World Bank Director.  Enugu is one of the States where the UK has a development partnership, offering technical support to help it improve governance, growth and human development.  The funds offered are relatively modest in comparison to Enugu’s own resources (and we design our support to bring about better use of the State’s own money) and much depends on the political will and commitment of the partner.  The Governor chaired an informal and direct talking round table with us, stressing that he wants to tackle corruption, improve infrastructure and agriculture, and reform the police.  An encouraging “relaunch” of our partnership with this important State.

Posted at 12:37 25 February 2009 by Bob Dewar  |  Comments[0]