The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Richard Mills yesterday debunked the allegation that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) bankrolled the Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria.
He made the rebuttal after holding a meeting with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) in Abuja.
The ambassador said the US had been Nigeria’s most supportive and vocal in its condemnation of Boko Haram and the isurgents’ disregard for human life.
“Let me be clear, there’s no friend of Nigeria that has been stronger in its condemnation of the violence of Boko Haram and Boko Haram’s contempt for human life than the United States.
“We have labeled Boko Haram since 2013 a foreign terrorist organisation. A designation that was designed to block Boko Haram from carrying out any asset transfers to the United States.
“It allows us to arrest and seize members of Boko Haram and allows us to cooperate in investigations with the Nigerian government,” he said.
The envoy said there was no iota of evidence pointing to the fact that any USAID aid was diverted for subversive operations in Nigeria.
“Well I can assure you, we have policies and procedures in place to ensure that USAID funding, or any of our assistance funding, whether it comes from USAID, the Department of Defense, the State Department, is not diverted to a terrorist group like Boko Haram.
“There is absolutely no evidence that that has occurred. And certainly if we ever had evidence presented to us that a programme funding was being diverted to Boko Haram, we would immediately investigate along with our Nigerian partners.
“And so I just want to be clear that when it comes to Boko Haram, the United States stands with Nigeria in wanting to rid this country of the scourge that that organization represents,” Mills said while addressing journalists.
Speaking on his engagement with the NGF, the ambassador said he outlined the director of the US-Nigerian relationship after his first six months in Nigeria and under a new administration.
“I explained to them we’re going to be focusing on four key priorities over the coming years. The first is how to improve the business environment so there’s more trade between the United States and Nigeria, more investment on both sides.
“Second, a new renewed focus on improving transparency and accountability in this country, how to fight corruption and empower Nigerian voices that are fighting for more transparency here.
“Third, we want to be more engaged at the sub-national level, at the state level, and with the local governing authorities.
“That’s, I think, an area where the Embassy needs to do a bit more engagement as we develop our programmes and our assistance.
“And lastly, we talked about our health care programmes because our health care programmes are a large part of US assistance to Nigeria.
“And as those programmes are succeeding, as less people have HIV, as polio vaccinations have helped eradicate polio, we want to start transitioning those programmes, keep them sustainable, and turn them over to the Nigerian government at the federal level, at the state level.
“So how do we keep our health programmes sustainable and transfer it over to the Nigerian government so they can run them and make them more effective, and a new health care future? Mills said.
Speaking on the US policy to reduce aid to Nigeria and some other countries, Mills said: “First, let me clarify one thing. Right now, the new administration has put in a 90-day pause on our assistance.
“No assistance has been cut yet. No decisions have been made about the future of our assistance. In fact, Secretary Rubio has said, this is not about ending foreign assistance to our partners and friends like Nigeria.
“It’s about how to make the assistance more effective and how to make sure that it aligns with U.S. government policies and interests.
“So, that’s what this 90-day pause is for in our assistance. But I think many of you have seen, I hope, that there are waivers.
“Waivers for our assistance that’s life-saving, that provides humanitarian, life-saving assistance, whether that’s to HIV patients or to mother and child nutrition needs or to internally displaced people, so that continues. Where we’ll be in 90 days, we will know,” the US Envoy said.
The envoy also expressed the embassy’s readiness to help develop capacity of the states and local governing authorities.
“I think this is partly driven by the Supreme Court decision last summer that is going to give, I think, the local government areas, if this unfolds the way we think it will, perhaps some more authority, more fiscal responsibility.
“So, we want to help the LGAs transition, take on this new responsibility, and make sure they can work well with the states, based on our experience in the United States, where we have a federal system, too, and we have a federal system too, and we have a federal system too, where one of our governing principles is the most effective government is the government that’s closest to the people.
“So that’s what we’re looking for. Okay, talking about collaboration between Nigeria and the United States government here.”
The meeting was attended by 18 governors including the forum’s chairman, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State and his Deputy, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State; Messrs Babajid Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Hyacinth Alia (Benue); Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau); Peter Mbah, (Enugu); Charles Soludo, (Anambra), Umar Namadi (Jigawa); Ahmad Aliyu, (Sokoto); Alex Otti (Abia); Umo Eno, (Akwa Ibom); Bala Mohammed, (Bauchi), Mohammed Bago (Niger); Adedapo Abiodun, (Ogun); Muhammad Yahaya, (Gombe); Douye Diri, (Bayelsa), Abba Yusuf, (Kano), and Francis Nwifuru, (Ebonyi as well as four deputy governors from Kaduna, Katsina, Yobe and Zamfara states, respectively.
