The American government said there is no truth in the allegation that its agency, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is sponsoring Boko Haram in Nigeria.
US Congressman, Scott Perry, at the inaugural hearing of the subcommittee on “Delivering on Government Efficiency,” alleged that USAID funded terrorist organisations in the world, including Boko Haram.
“Who gets some of that money? Does that name ring a bell to anybody in the room? Because your money, your money, $697 million annually, plus the shipments of cash funds in Madrasas, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS Khorasan, terrorist training camps. That’s what it’s funding,” Perry said.
President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to shut down the agency as part of its policy to cut down the cost of governance.
But American Ambassador to Nigeria Richard Mills (Jnr.) who appeared before Nigerian governors during their monthly meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, said America was vocal in the condemnation of the violence being perpetrated by Boko Haram.
Mills who spoke to journalists after his meeting with the governors, recalled that America, in 2013, labelled Boko Haram as a terror organisation.
“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 labelled 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,” he said.
According to him, the action allows the US to arrest and seize members of Boko Haram and to cooperate in investigations with the Nigerian government.
He disclosed that policies and procedures were in place to ensure that USAID funding or any America’s assistance funding agency, “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 I have seen 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.”
Ambassador Mills assured that the American government will support Nigeria rid the country of the scourge that Boko Haram represents.
The Ambassador also denied that America has stopped its foreign assistance programme, pointing out that what the Trump administration did was to suspend the programme for 90 days.
“No assistance has been cut yet, no decisions have been made about the future of our assistance. In fact, Secretary (Marco) Rubio has said this is not about ending foreign assistance to our partners and friends like Nigeria,” he assured.
He explained that the suspension was to enable America to decide how to make the assistance more effective and ensure that it aligns with US government policies and interests.
Ambassador Mills said the American government is going to focus on four key priority areas in Nigeria in the coming years.
He listed the areas to include improved the business environment between the United States and Nigeria; fight against corruption; engagement with government at the subnational level including the local authorities; and health care.
“Our programmes are more focused on the states. We’d like to help develop the capacity of the states and the local governing authorities,” he stated, expressing the hope that last year’s Supreme Court judgement will give local government councils “more authority, more fiscal responsibility.”
Later in a communiqué at the end of the meeting, governors welcomed a shift in the Nigeria-America relationship from a donor-recipient model to mutual collaboration.
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, underscored the importance of fostering economic opportunities for Nigerians.
AbdulRazaq who is also governor of Kwara State emphasised the critical role of states in driving economic and social development and called for the deepening cooperation between Nigeria with the US.
He disclosed that governors reaffirmed their commitment to collaborating with state legislatures to advance governance reforms and ensure effective policy implementation at the subnational level.
