Aid deals with religious element risk ‘fanning flames’ of division, senior Nigerian minister says
Foreign aid arrangements with a religion-dependent focus risks “fanning the flames” of division, a senior Nigerian government minister has said
Mohammed Idris Malagi, Nigeria’s minister for information and chief government spokesperson, spoke to The Independent to mark Nigeria’s first state visit to the UK in 37 years.
In December, Nigeria was one of 14 countries that signed bilateral aid agreements with the US – known as health compacts – which included new stipulations about data sharing and restrictions on how the money should be spent.
The $2.1 billion (£1.6bn) agreement with Nigeria included “significant dedicated funding to support Christian health care facilities”, the US State Department said, and was “negotiated in connection with reforms the Nigerian government has made to prioritise protecting Christian populations”.
The religious make-up of the Western African country, which is split around almost equally between Muslims and Christians, had been under scrutiny by Washing..
