Investment Opportunities in Nigeria

Nigeria has abundant investment opportunities in the solid minerals sector.

According to the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, the following investment opportunities exist in Nigeria:

Nigeria has the potential to become one of  the 20 leading economies in the world. My recent Fellowship with Atlas Corps in the United States afforded me the opportunity to see the relevance and importance of community-driven development as well as volunteerism to helping Nigeria in its socio-economic and political development. It will be recalled that during the recent commemoration of the fifty year partnership between the World Bank and Nepal, it was pointed out that community-led efforts was one of the reasons why Nepal has met one of the Millennium Development Goals goals of halving poverty.

The European Union through various programs has tried to foster community-driven development approaches in its programs. Other development agencies have also tried in this regard. I believe that more will be achieved by the development community in Nigeria with more coordination in the area of community-driven development efforts.

Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa

Following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, eight international development goals known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) were officially adopted by the international community. All 193 United Nations member states have agreed to achieve these goals by 2015.

 One of the eight goals was to "eradicate extreme poverty and hunger".

 Based on statistics available as of June 2012, the MDG Achievement progress chat compiled by Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, paints the following picture for Sub-Saharan Africa regarding the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger:

 The targets to "reduce extreme poverty by half" and "reduce hunger by half" have already been met or are expected to be met by 2015.

 However, in the area of fostering "productive and decent employment", progress so far is insufficient to reach projected targets if prevailing trends persist.

 Poverty remains at the root of various socio-economic and political challenges faced by Sub-Saharan Africa. More concerted efforts are required by all stakeholders not only to bolster the progress that has already been made but also to develop more effective ways to eradicate poverty and extreme hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa, post 2015.

Winning the Anti-Corruption War in Nigeria

One of the fundamental approaches needed to win the anti-corruption war in Nigeria remains the provision of information to the citizenry regarding the workings of government (i.e. the constitution, budgets, operational procedures) as well as equipping them with tools they can use.

This is a clarion call to all international agencies - including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), etc- funding programmes in Nigeria in the area of anti-corruption in Nigeria to more effectively integrate this perspective in their work.

Agriculture and Nigeria's Vision 2020

Agriculture remains the backbone of the Nigerian economy.

Against this backdrop, the federal government of Nigeria recently launched an Agricultural Transformation Action Plan (ATAP).

I am calling on all stakeholders in Nigeria including farmers groups, civil society organizations as well as international agencies including the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to support the Nigerian government move to strengthen the Agricultural sector, particularly as it relates to theaAccountability and good governance imperatives of the ATAP.