How Nigeria can fight corruption Says Calderwood,Canadian envoy
What is the relationship between Nigeria and Canada like?
I am coming to the end of my term; I have been in Nigeria for the past three years. It’s a very easy job because I found in Nigeria that I am well received, whether it is the politicians, the civil society, I find that Nigerians are very warm towards Canada and this makes my job very easy. Given that the relationship between our countries is very dynamic, there are lots of things happening, overwhelmingly positive, so it is exciting being part of building the relationship between the two countries. I have got about five specific areas of relationship between the two countries in the areas of trade and investment. I am excited to see areas of growth in investment by Canadian companies and people exploring opportunities in Nigeria.
How many Canadian companies are in Nigeria and in which sectors are they active?
We have around 70 companies that are active in various sectors of the Nigerian market. Nigeria is one of our leading trading partners in Africa. The part I think is most exciting is when I look at the potential and I think we are only scratching the surface. There is potential for a much more economic fulfilment between the two countries. When you look at the areas that are priorities for Nigeria in respect of the efforts of your country to diversify the economy, these are areas Canada has great experience and expertise. President Buhari mentioned mining and agriculture which are sectors Canada is leading in, in the world. For more than a century, Canada has great experience, technological expertise. Canadian companies have made great strides to ensure that mining investment and mining activities benefit not just the country, but the communities where they are located. There are huge Canadian mining investments in many African countries. It is not very much in Nigeria yet because it is an area it has not focused on until very recently. I am very encouraged that the government and Minister Fayemi are determined to develop the sector.
On Agriculture, our environment is very different from Nigeria’s, but we have great experience in the whole value chain. Canada is also very strong in terms of renewable energy and we also have great hydro-electric resources. If there is one thing holding back Nigeria from growing more quickly, it is the lack of reliable, affordable energy sources. I really hope in the future we can find ways to help Nigeria develop its potential in terms of renewable energy which has a spill off effect on the entire Nigerian economy.
In what ways has Canada assisted Nigeria in its fight against insurgents?
On the security side, we have tried to identify niches, that is areas where we can be helpful. Because there are few countries with presence in Nigeria providing some major support, we try to identify ways to complement rather than to duplicate what those countries might be doing. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had conducted various training programmes for the police, including post-blast investigation trainings. If my memory is correct, we have offered four courses in a period of two years, two-week duration for around 30-35 officers, it would be something over 100 officers that had benefitted from that training. Some of it is crime-related, such as post-blast investigation; for example, it is specifically related to terrorist attacks. A good part of that training is focused on combating terrorism. I should also say that more than 209 Nigerian military officers have benefitted from training under the military training assistance programme in the last five or six years. A lot of that training was focused towards peace-keeping activities rather than combating terrorism. Canada has a lot of experience in peace-keeping and expertise we can share with other countries. On that point, we have great admiration for the roles Nigeria has played in peace-keeping, contributing troops to UN and African Union peace-keeping operations.
What is your evaluation of the anti-corruption fight of the government and what judicial reforms do you think Nigeria should pursue to strengthen the judiciary?
That is a difficult question; I am not a lawyer or anti-corruption expert, so I would only give general answers. The commitment to combat corruption is very strong on the part of the government. I think there are capable people in the EFCC and other institutions who are doing their jobs. I think Nigerians collectively and also the Nigerian Bar Association which I met, they are very committed, very keen to see corruption being combated. As a lay person, I would say that great effort has been made and put in place and to perfect processes and institutions of government to prevent corrupt practices from taking place. In the period I have been in Nigeria, I read reports in newspapers about million dollars missing here, there or elsewhere. In well run institutions, the accounting should be such that that doesn’t happen. Again, I am talking as a lay person, not as an accountant or a lawyer. I can say in a country like Canada, it is very, very rare and unusual, that a thousand dollars is missing let alone a million dollars or a billion. So, I think the challenge for Nigerian government in deciding is to look at your institutions very carefully and learn from mistakes of the past and ensure that in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and in all of the government ministries, the processes are in place to ensure that funds cannot just disappear, small funds let alone big funds. There is probably a fair bit of work that has been done based on the number of corruption cases or allegations that are out there. I think that is the key.
Obviously, the legal system has to pursued people in order to bring an end to the culture of impunity. But looking forward, you need to get those institutions in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening and I think it can be done. If you look around the world, you’ll see that there are countries that have achieved significant progress in combating corruption in a reasonable period of time. It is not going to be overnight, it’s a big project, but with that determination by government, and the support of the society at large, I think over the course of a few years, you can make great progress. Another thing I would say is, at the popular level, people have to collectively refuse to tolerate corruption; you can’t expect all the change to come from the top.
What is your assessment of the current administration in Nigeria compared to the previous government? What has been your intelligence gathering of activities in Nigeria like?
I will share some of the things I know, I am not going to share everything. First things, I would want to say, it was fascinating for me and a privilege; I was excited to be here at the time of elections in 2015. It was an exciting experience to be here because I was able to witness a defining moment and that was a peaceful, orderly transition from one political party to another. For the first time, Nigeria’s democracy was restored, this is the first time Nigeria accomplished this.
On Election Day, I went around and I was impressed to see people lining up, in some cases, for hours to vote and they went twice, in the morning for accreditation and in the afternoon to vote. I would tell you, in Canada, with our years of mature democracy, I would be surprised if that number of people would go out to vote. I say that as a commendation to the Nigerian people for voting. That was a historical event and I was happy to be here then. Back to your question: President Buhari when he was elected said his areas of focus would be the economy, anti-corruption, combating insecurity in the country.
On the corruption front, we follow with great interest the subject. Again , I think the scenario is that Nigerians collectively want to see change in the country; they want to see steps taken to combat corruption, and I think they are very supportive of those efforts. Corruption in Nigeria, like in many other countries is deeply rooted, so, it is difficult to correct everything overnight. So, I would say, it is somehow early to determine or evaluate how much progress has been made but I do applaud both the Nigerian government and Nigerian people as a whole for their commitment and efforts. Canada is in support as we possibly can. I believe with sustained efforts and with firm leadership, the government change agenda can be achieved. I was in Maiduguri some weeks ago and I can say great progress has been made in combating insurgency. At the same time, you see the security challenges in other parts of the country, in the Niger Delta, in the middle belt, you see flashes, so there is still a lot of work to be done.
But we are encouraged things are moving in the right direction. The challenge is big and is on the economy side. As you know, this is a tough time for any country that relies on oil revenue. In the case of Nigeria, there has been over-dependence, and the result of this is when the price of oil drops, export earnings and oil revenue drop. So it is a very challenging environment for all countries that depend on oil revenue. I believe the government has a strong commitment to economic diversification and I believe Nigeria would get through this challenging time.
I am coming to the end of my term; I have been in Nigeria for the past three years. It’s a very easy job because I found in Nigeria that I am well received, whether it is the politicians, the civil society, I find that Nigerians are very warm towards Canada and this makes my job very easy. Given that the relationship between our countries is very dynamic, there are lots of things happening, overwhelmingly positive, so it is exciting being part of building the relationship between the two countries. I have got about five specific areas of relationship between the two countries in the areas of trade and investment. I am excited to see areas of growth in investment by Canadian companies and people exploring opportunities in Nigeria.
How many Canadian companies are in Nigeria and in which sectors are they active?
We have around 70 companies that are active in various sectors of the Nigerian market. Nigeria is one of our leading trading partners in Africa. The part I think is most exciting is when I look at the potential and I think we are only scratching the surface. There is potential for a much more economic fulfilment between the two countries. When you look at the areas that are priorities for Nigeria in respect of the efforts of your country to diversify the economy, these are areas Canada has great experience and expertise. President Buhari mentioned mining and agriculture which are sectors Canada is leading in, in the world. For more than a century, Canada has great experience, technological expertise. Canadian companies have made great strides to ensure that mining investment and mining activities benefit not just the country, but the communities where they are located. There are huge Canadian mining investments in many African countries. It is not very much in Nigeria yet because it is an area it has not focused on until very recently. I am very encouraged that the government and Minister Fayemi are determined to develop the sector.
On Agriculture, our environment is very different from Nigeria’s, but we have great experience in the whole value chain. Canada is also very strong in terms of renewable energy and we also have great hydro-electric resources. If there is one thing holding back Nigeria from growing more quickly, it is the lack of reliable, affordable energy sources. I really hope in the future we can find ways to help Nigeria develop its potential in terms of renewable energy which has a spill off effect on the entire Nigerian economy.
In what ways has Canada assisted Nigeria in its fight against insurgents?
On the security side, we have tried to identify niches, that is areas where we can be helpful. Because there are few countries with presence in Nigeria providing some major support, we try to identify ways to complement rather than to duplicate what those countries might be doing. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had conducted various training programmes for the police, including post-blast investigation trainings. If my memory is correct, we have offered four courses in a period of two years, two-week duration for around 30-35 officers, it would be something over 100 officers that had benefitted from that training. Some of it is crime-related, such as post-blast investigation; for example, it is specifically related to terrorist attacks. A good part of that training is focused on combating terrorism. I should also say that more than 209 Nigerian military officers have benefitted from training under the military training assistance programme in the last five or six years. A lot of that training was focused towards peace-keeping activities rather than combating terrorism. Canada has a lot of experience in peace-keeping and expertise we can share with other countries. On that point, we have great admiration for the roles Nigeria has played in peace-keeping, contributing troops to UN and African Union peace-keeping operations.
What is your evaluation of the anti-corruption fight of the government and what judicial reforms do you think Nigeria should pursue to strengthen the judiciary?
That is a difficult question; I am not a lawyer or anti-corruption expert, so I would only give general answers. The commitment to combat corruption is very strong on the part of the government. I think there are capable people in the EFCC and other institutions who are doing their jobs. I think Nigerians collectively and also the Nigerian Bar Association which I met, they are very committed, very keen to see corruption being combated. As a lay person, I would say that great effort has been made and put in place and to perfect processes and institutions of government to prevent corrupt practices from taking place. In the period I have been in Nigeria, I read reports in newspapers about million dollars missing here, there or elsewhere. In well run institutions, the accounting should be such that that doesn’t happen. Again, I am talking as a lay person, not as an accountant or a lawyer. I can say in a country like Canada, it is very, very rare and unusual, that a thousand dollars is missing let alone a million dollars or a billion. So, I think the challenge for Nigerian government in deciding is to look at your institutions very carefully and learn from mistakes of the past and ensure that in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and in all of the government ministries, the processes are in place to ensure that funds cannot just disappear, small funds let alone big funds. There is probably a fair bit of work that has been done based on the number of corruption cases or allegations that are out there. I think that is the key.
Obviously, the legal system has to pursued people in order to bring an end to the culture of impunity. But looking forward, you need to get those institutions in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening and I think it can be done. If you look around the world, you’ll see that there are countries that have achieved significant progress in combating corruption in a reasonable period of time. It is not going to be overnight, it’s a big project, but with that determination by government, and the support of the society at large, I think over the course of a few years, you can make great progress. Another thing I would say is, at the popular level, people have to collectively refuse to tolerate corruption; you can’t expect all the change to come from the top.
What is your assessment of the current administration in Nigeria compared to the previous government? What has been your intelligence gathering of activities in Nigeria like?
I will share some of the things I know, I am not going to share everything. First things, I would want to say, it was fascinating for me and a privilege; I was excited to be here at the time of elections in 2015. It was an exciting experience to be here because I was able to witness a defining moment and that was a peaceful, orderly transition from one political party to another. For the first time, Nigeria’s democracy was restored, this is the first time Nigeria accomplished this.
On Election Day, I went around and I was impressed to see people lining up, in some cases, for hours to vote and they went twice, in the morning for accreditation and in the afternoon to vote. I would tell you, in Canada, with our years of mature democracy, I would be surprised if that number of people would go out to vote. I say that as a commendation to the Nigerian people for voting. That was a historical event and I was happy to be here then. Back to your question: President Buhari when he was elected said his areas of focus would be the economy, anti-corruption, combating insecurity in the country.
On the corruption front, we follow with great interest the subject. Again , I think the scenario is that Nigerians collectively want to see change in the country; they want to see steps taken to combat corruption, and I think they are very supportive of those efforts. Corruption in Nigeria, like in many other countries is deeply rooted, so, it is difficult to correct everything overnight. So, I would say, it is somehow early to determine or evaluate how much progress has been made but I do applaud both the Nigerian government and Nigerian people as a whole for their commitment and efforts. Canada is in support as we possibly can. I believe with sustained efforts and with firm leadership, the government change agenda can be achieved. I was in Maiduguri some weeks ago and I can say great progress has been made in combating insurgency. At the same time, you see the security challenges in other parts of the country, in the Niger Delta, in the middle belt, you see flashes, so there is still a lot of work to be done.
But we are encouraged things are moving in the right direction. The challenge is big and is on the economy side. As you know, this is a tough time for any country that relies on oil revenue. In the case of Nigeria, there has been over-dependence, and the result of this is when the price of oil drops, export earnings and oil revenue drop. So it is a very challenging environment for all countries that depend on oil revenue. I believe the government has a strong commitment to economic diversification and I believe Nigeria would get through this challenging time.
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