UK Expands Aid Package to Nigeria by £200 Million

On Wednesday, August 30, the UK International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced an extended five-year package of help to Nigeria, costing an extra £200m, to prevent 1.5 million people lapsing into famine and help keep a 100,000 boys and girls in school. The package also includes the restoration of key infrastructure and services in the north-east of the country. She made this disclosure during a joint visit with the UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson to Maiduguri, Borno State. It was both ministers’ first joint outing and was aimed to show solidarity with Nigeria in her fight against insurgents. Johnson said he was proud of the help the UK was providing: “This is about helping a Commonwealth partner in its time of need as well as addressing the root causes of international challenges such as migration.”

In the course of their trip, they met survivors of Boko Haram violence, including bomb and gunshot victims, and also saw internally displaced persons. Patel described the conflict as “catastrophic” and noted that the incidence of hunger and child malnutrition were now at critical levels. The new package expands an already robust British aid portfolio that has underwritten several interventions including the training of 28, 000 Nigerian soldiers and the deployment of over 40 UK military personnel on a long-term basis.