The European Union (EU) has said it is withdrawing its financial support for Nigeria, claiming that the country has sufficient resources to meet its developmental needs.

“We are not offering more financial support, we are proposing more political and policy dialogue, technical assistance, capacity building, training, transfer of technology, more advocacy for more private investments and other innovative sources of funding. To finance the development of the country, Nigeria must collect much more taxes, five times more, to reach an average of 20% of the GDP, and spend better,” Michel Arrion (photo), the Head of EU delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said at an annual lecture titled “40 Years of EU in Nigeria, Lessons and the Way Forward”.

Arrion urged the Nigerian government to start looking beyond Official Development Assistance (ODA) and “attract much more foreign investment and put in place more and better private/public partnerships.” Giving a breakdown of EU’s operations in Nigeria, he noted that it has been 40 years now that the body has cooperated with the country in the sectors of agriculture, infrastructure, health, water, energy and other micro-projects.

“More recently, a much more political approach has been adopted in our cooperation with Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) towards the de-radicalization, counter-radicalization of Boko Haram, fight against corruption as well as humanitarian assistance, and aid to reconstruction of the North-east,” he added.

Anita Fatunji