UK demands value for intervention in Kano, budgets £14.7m

The United Kingdom (UK) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Nigeria, has said the British government wants to see value for every shilling spent on social intervention in Kano and other states.

Besides, the UK donor agency declared a paradigm shift on government development programmes, saying the FCDO intervention will only focus on the sustainable framework on human development and social protection.

The Development Director, FCDO Nigeria, Dr. Christopher Pycroft, disclosed the new commitment during a strategic dialogue between the Kano government and FCDO on Mutual Accountability Framework (MAF), yesterday, at Government House, Kano.

Pycroft, who had re-echoed the slash of UK global intervention from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of the UK Gross National Income (GNI), which he said was occasioned by the impact of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), noted that FCDO would not be able to implement all its developmental intervention originally slated in Kano.

Despite the 29 per cent slash in the global intervention, the FCDO boss said the agency projected £14.7 million in its 2020/2021 budget for humanitarian development in Kano.

He explained that the MAF project was aimed at improving coordination and support the government’s efforts at implementing reforms that would drive developmental and social protection growth in Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa states.

The director emphasised that the MAF blueprint, developed by FCDO, would eliminate cash support and replace it with technical assistance in concrete areas of good governance, economic recovery, investment opportunity and poverty reduction through human capital development, particularly in the areas of health, education and social protection.

To actualise the foregoing, Pycroft reminded the Kano government to be ready and willing to make “critical and at times painful transformational decisions” that would lead to economic growth and development with governance and investment on the people of Kano.

Over the last seven years, from 2014 to 2021, FCDO has spent in excess of £130 million in Kano through our interventions, in which £14.7 million was projected to be spent in the 2020/21 financial year.

“We believe that through our mutual commitment, dialogue, transparency and accountability from all parties, we can achieve great impact and support to Kano government’s own effort through this mutual accountability framework.

“But, like you, Mr. Governor, our minister wants to see value for money, to see results for every pound spent. To achieve this, we want to shift our relationship away from unsustainable direct delivery to long term institutional strengthening that will enable the state government sustainably deliver services and reforms themselves,” he said.

On his part, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the state government demonstrated commitment through a strong institutional framework and human capacity development in the state.

Ganduje, who applauded the continuous intervention of the UK government in Kano, expressed the commitment of his government to fulfil all technical agreements and frameworks required by FCDO to support education, health and social protection programme in Kano.