The federal government and the Japanese government have signed a $17.3 million aid agreement to support the health and education sectors of the economy.
The sums of $4.1 million and $13.2 million (about N2.88 billion altogether) were earmarked for both health and education respectively.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Abuja, Minister of National Planning (NPC), Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, who signed on behalf of the federal government, said the assistance would help to fill critical gaps in Nigeria’s development drive as well as complement the country’s effort in education and health and enhance capacity to meet the MDGs targets.
Noting that the Japanese government had been supportive of Nigeria’s development drive in form of grants and technical assistance, the minister described the education grant in Oyo State by the Japanese government as having a strong positive impact on the education sector of the state.
The Japanese health support is meant to equip hospitals with medical devises and instruments produced by the Japanese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) while its education intervention is expected to aid the construction of 261 classrooms, 258 toilet booths and other school facilities in 36 schools in Oyo State in order to improve access to primary education and the school environment in the country.
Suleiman said: “Nigerian government, like other African countries, is putting everything in place to meet the basic needs of the people, particularly in the areas of education, healthcare and shelter.”
Specifically, he noted that Japan’s support in technical assistance to the country had aided the enhancement of the capacity of the workforce while the Japanese African Business Entrepreneurs Initiative which seeks to empower young Africans with relevant skills and competence, the latest in Japan’s technical support to the acountry had been highly beneficial.
On his part, Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Ryuichi Shoji said the overall objective of the grant aids was to create inclusive society for growth through providing support for health and education sectors, which according to him, is one of the Japan’s priority target areas at the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), held in June 2013.
He said the Government of Japan made a commitment to provide financial support of $500 million in the health sector to emphasise the importance of promoting the universal health coverage in Africa whereby people are able to receive basic health services.
Accordingly, he said the government of Japan decided to extend a loan of up to $85 million to Nigeria for the Polio Eradication Project adding that the efforts reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to the future of Nigeria. He said his country remained committed in helping Nigeria pursue its Vision 20:2020 aspirations
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