OP-ED:U.S. PRESIDENT’S MALARIA INITIATIVE

OPINION EDITORIAL
For publication on April 25, 2009 in local newspapers
Abuja, Nigeria
April 24, 2009

U.S. PRESIDENT’S MALARIA INITIATIVE, NIGERIA CELEBRATES PROGRESS; COMMEMORATES WORLD MALARIA DAY
By Ambassador Robin Renée Sanders
U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria

Today, we commemorate World Malaria Day with you, to celebrate your achievements, and rededicate the historic partnership between Nigeria and the United States to defeat this preventable and treatable killer.

For about half the world’s population, malaria remains one of the greatest threats to public health. It is a disease that causes poverty, disrupts the livelihood of families, and far too often, steals the future of Africa's children. In tropical Africa, the disease kills nearly 3,000 people each day with young children and pregnant women at greatest risk. Nigeria, with Africa’s largest population, has the world’s greatest burden of malaria illness and an estimated 300,000 children die here each year from this disease.

World Malaria Day is observed April 25 to call attention to the disease and to mobilize action to combat it. On World Malaria Day, Americans stand in solidarity with Nigeria and communities across the globe in the fight against malaria, On behalf of the American people, the United States Government (USG) has taken extraordinary steps to curb the spread of this preventable and curable disease both in Nigeria and throughout Africa. Under the President’s Malaria Initiative, $1.2 billion is being made available over five years to expand resources to fight malaria.

The strategy in Nigeria, as elsewhere in Africa, is straightforward. First, prevention: the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets or the provision of indoor spraying to provide protection from malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and preventive malaria treatment to expectant mothers during pregnancy. Second, treatment: new and highly effective medicines are distributed and health workers are trained on the proper use of those medicines.

In Nigeria all of the above measures have been introduced but need to be greatly expanded to achieve national impact. The Nigerian government, working with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank, the UK Department for International Development, World Health Organization, UNICEF and others, is poised for a dramatic expansion of its control program over the next two years, including a target of reaching 80% of all households in Nigeria with long lasting insecticidal bednets by the end of 2010. The U.S. Government through USAID has doubled its contribution to $16 million this year in order to play a larger role in this historic effort.

Similar programs in Rwanda, Zambia, and Tanzania are already showing signs of major reductions in the proportion of people infected with malaria. At the same time in Rwanda and Zambia, there has been a striking reduction in deaths among children under the age of five. On the isles of Zanzibar in Tanzania, malaria infection rates have dropped to less than 1% throughout the population of 1 million. Malaria prevention and treatment measures are associated with and can contribute to these reductions. Regional and district-level impact has also been reported from Mozambique and Uganda. With national expansion of key interventions, Nigeria should see similar reductions in infections and deaths.

Sustainability of malaria control programs is a critical goal of USG efforts. In Nigeria, the U.S. Government through USAID is helping to build capacity by training people to manage, deliver, and support the delivery of health services, which will be critical for sustained successes against malaria and other infectious diseases. We also partner with community groups and faith-based organizations. They bring tremendous value to malaria control efforts given their credibility within their communities, their ability to reach the grassroots level, and their capacity to mobilize significant numbers of volunteers.

Across Nigeria and all of Africa, children and their families are sleeping under bed nets; local groups are teaching mothers to take anti-malarial drugs when they are pregnant and seek proper treatment for their sick children. In schools and villages, community centers and places of worship, clinics and hospitals, optimism is growing that we can and will succeed. We share that optimism. The United States will continue to galvanize action and spur grassroots and private sector efforts to control this disease.

Ambassador Robin R. Sanders' Remarks at the First National Employment Summit

Remarks of U.S. Ambassador Robin R. Sanders

On the Occasion of the First National Employment Summit:

"Meeting the Employment Challenges of the Global Economic & Financial Crisis"

Remarks as delivered.
April 23, 2009, Transcorp Hilton
Abuja, Nigeria

All protocols duly observed.

Good morning. The timing of this summit is very appropriate. Today, we are experiencing a global economic and financial crisis that is challenging our confidence, creating insecurity in world markets and disrupting the lives of those who make up the backbone of our global economies –the men and women who make up the global work force. This also includes the workforce of tomorrow--our youth-- who face a bleak employment outlook and are at risk of not realizing their full potential.

The U.S. Government's efforts to ease the burden of the financial crisis are not just aimed at home. To assist those countries hit hardest by the crisis the United States and its global partners are moving to increase significantly the resources available to international financial institutions, and to modernize the governance of these institutions to better reflect the realities of today's world economy. Just two days ago, President Obama asked the U.S. Congress to increase U.S. contribution to the International Monetary Fund to one hundred billion dollars ($100 Billion).

In Nigeria, through our Framework for Partnership with the people and government of this country, my team at the U.S. Mission is investing in the people of Nigeria by emphasizing the rule of law and accountability of government to its people, and by supporting diversified economic growth so that people can support themselves and their families. I want to highlight for you a few examples of how we are working with you on job creation in Nigeria:

First of all, the U.S. Government's Africa Growth and Opportunities Act, or AGOA, provides trade preferences for duty-free entry of more than six thousand five hundred (6,500) different goods into the United States. By accessing AGOA, Nigerian companies have the opportunity to drastically increase exports to the United States, which in turn creates real jobs and real opportunities for real people.

Over the last two years, our Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites program, or MARKETS, created nearly forty-five thousand (45,000) jobs along the value chains for rice, sorghum, and cowpeas. This program generated revenues of over $75 million and leveraged $20 million in credit. Productivity in these sectors increased by an average of 118%.

Another project of the U.S. Government, the Cassava Enterprise Development Project, created more than 7,000 jobs during the first nine months of 2008. It increased incomes by an additional $800,000 over the same time period and boosted productivity to over 25 tons per hectare from a baseline of less than 10.

One of the major roles of the U.S. Government's Commercial Service is to facilitate entry and participation of American companies into the Nigerian economy. In one example, at the end of last year the American company Cisco Systems had established 75 academies across Nigeria that trained over 6,000 Nigerians in technologies that will help them find and create jobs, to secure their livelihoods and their family's future.

As you develop your National Employment Program of Action, I encourage all of you to focus not only on creating employment opportunities but more broadly on promoting opportunities for decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equality, security and human dignity —for both men and women. These same fundamental rights apply to Nigeria’s children as well, who are especially vulnerable to the worst forms of labor as well as child trafficking. I urge you to not only prosecute and punish those who commit these horrible abuses, but also urge you to provide opportunities for children to enjoy their right to a good education and a bright future because, after all, they are your future.

I encourage you to reach out to all sectors of society to hear about their issues. In this way you can ensure that what is being done is what you as Nigerians truly want, need, and desire. The ultimate success or failure of an initiative depends on the buy-in of the people it aims to support.

This also includes organized labor. In closing I want to say that organized labor has a key role to play in the development of your National Employment Plan. Although in the past few months we have witnessed frustration from several of Nigeria’s unions, organized labor and management must come together to work toward mutually beneficial solutions for all Nigerians. And government must be a partner in development, fundamental to extending and strengthening your economic growth. The U.S. Mission to Nigeria is also ready to work in partnership with the people of Nigeria as we move together toward a new era of increased trade and investment, improved transparency, the transfer of best business practices, and support for government organized labor, and the private sector so that all Nigerians can realize their right to dignified and decent employment.

Thank you.

Remarks by Robin R. Sanders at ECOWAS Conference

Remarks by Robin R. Sanders


Permanent Representative to ECOWAS And U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria


For immediate publication
Abuja, Nigeria
April 20, 2009

All protocols duly observed

It gives me great pleasure to be here this morning to participate in the opening ceremony of this conference on Security Sector Reform sponsored co-jointly by the esteemed and respected West Africa regional body ECOWAS and the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (or ACSS) of the United States of America.

I believe that we are all here today not only because we recognize and appreciate the leadership of ECOWAS under its august President, Dr. Chambus but also because we all know the importance of regionalization in order to further the political security economic social and developmental integration of the West Africa Region.

West Africa has come along way with ECOWAS at its helm on these issues and I am pleased to say that the United States of America through programs capacity building and training provided by the ACSS has played a supporting role in this progress.

Part of the reason why we are all here today is to ensure that there is continued movement on the things most important to a fully integrated West Africa that include first and foremost cooperation understanding coordination interoperability and -- last but not least -- respect among the militaries and civilian leadership of this region.

This conference is another step along the road to realizing all of these goals. During the next four days the participants in this conference will have not only the opportunity to discuss the future security framework of the region and the continent from governance to maritime issues but also how we can all work together to help post conflict countries make that delicate transition from elections to stability -- all key elements in the global society today and key parts of the global challenges that the world faces today particularly right here on the Continent.

In addition security sector reform for the region must be at the forefront of any resolution to these issues. We have all seen recently the fragile environments in some of the neighboring states including a number of coups which have tried to set parts of the region back. However we have seen the role and appreciate the leadership that ECOWAS as well as Nigeria as chairman has and is playing to ensure that the clock does not get turn back and that democracies continues to become the order of the day for the region.

For the conference participants I want to say something specifically to you. You represent not only the best thinkers and strategists of your nation but I see you as the planners of our future and how we work together to address conflicts build the peace and bridge differences across regions across nations and across continents.

You will be the civilian and military leaders at the mid-point of the 21st Century and it is your participation in conferences like this that will serve you and your nation well as we work together to ensure a peaceful future for the region and certainly for the Continent of Africa.

Remarks of Ambassador Robin Renée Sanders at the Nigerian Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) Graduation

Remarks

Ambassador Robin Renée Sanders

Nigerian Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) Graduation

Abuja, Nigeria March 16, 2009
Remarks as prepared for delivery.

All protocols duly observed.

Good morning. At the outset, I would like to congratulate Minster John Odey on his recent appointment by President Yar’Adua as the Minister of Environment, Housing, and Urban Development. I wish you, Honorable Minster, success in the many opportunities and challenges your new appointment brings, and I look forward to working with you in areas of mutual interest.

I would also like to thank Dr. Bamidele Ajakaiye, the Director General of the Nigerian Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), for his strong leadership and commitment in building this young organization. Your leadership is very important for an economically and environmentally sustainable oil and gas industry in Nigeria.

I also want to recognize and congratulate each and every one of the graduates here today for successfully completing this U.S. Government funded course on Oil Spill Detection and Recovery. As environmental officers, you are the first responders to assess the disasters that oil spills can cause. You lead all efforts to mitigate their impact, and you restore areas that they have impacted. You are also entrusted with prevention; that is managing risks so that they do not eventually cause oil spills. It is my sincere hope that the skills and knowledge you have acquired through this three-week course will enable you to perform your important duties more effectively and efficiently.

But your technical and scientific skills are only one element of the arsenal you will need to conduct your duties to the best of your abilities. You will also need to develop close working relationships with counterparts in the oil and gas industry, and with federal, state, and local law enforcement and other emergency responders. Most importantly, you will need to work with the communities that are disproportionately impacted by oil spills, particularly in the Niger Delta.
Nigeria, as we all know, is endowed with vast oil and gas reserves. It is crucial that these resources are tapped in an economically and ecologically sustainable manner that does not jeopardize the livelihoods of the people and their environment. Every year, unacceptable levels of oil spills occur from deteriorating oil and gas infrastructure, industrial accidents and incidents, and illegal activity normally referred to as “bunkering.” Addressing these challenges requires the commitment and cooperation of all.

The U.S. Government will continue to partner with you, providing you with technical assistance for capacity-building and fostering dialogue among all stakeholders. Let me again thank our partners, the Ministry of Environment, Housing, and Urban Development, and NOSDRA. I congratulate all of you and wish you continued success in this very important work that you do.

Thank You!

Ambassador Sanders' Remarks at the Lagos Business School Executive Breakfast

Remarks by U.S. Ambassador Robin Renée Sanders

The Economic Hard Choices We All Need To Make For Our Nation

Lagos Business School Executive Breakfast
Lagos Business School
March 3, 2009

• Professor Doyin Salami, Host of LBS Breakfast Session
• Members of the Lagos business community
• Members of the U.S. Mission
• Faculty and students
• All other distinguished ladies and gentlemen
• All other protocols duly observed.

I have been wanting to do this breakfast for several months now, and I am happy we were finally able coordinate our schedules to make it happen. This advanced educational institution, while still young, has contributed significantly to the training and development of business leaders, and has provided a forum for practical learning and discourse through events such as this monthly Executive Breakfast session. It is apropos for me to come here this month as one of my last activities in the U.S. Mission to Nigeria’s two weeks of National activities and following the inauguration of our 44th President of the United States, President Barak Obama.

As business leaders, I imagine that you are focused on the global economic crisis which is really going to be the platform for my remarks today. I want to begin with the U.S. approach to the economic crisis; discuss the challenges that Nigeria may be facing; the way forward in the U.S. as outlined by my President; and what and how the cooperation between the U.S. Mission to Nigeria and Nigerians can affect these challenges, including what we see your government doing to address these issues.

On February 17, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- an economic stimulus package designed to create over 3.5 million jobs while investing in priorities like health care, energy, and education that will jumpstart economic growth in the U.S. The Act focuses on investing in several things, from new technologies to produce clean energy, to science and infrastructure development to improving our health care system and schools. All together, these changes will lay the foundation for our nation for a rebirth in our values and American leadership.

But how did we get to this point?

President Obama attributed the current U.S. financial crisis and economic slow-down to the "greed and irresponsibility on the part of some" and "also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age," the Information Age. The rising rates of unemployment, housing foreclosures, and businesses going under have forced Americans to examine what went wrong and why and to recommit ourselves to the hard work of rebuilding the economy, reinvesting in the growth of American society, and remaking our institutions, particularly our banking sector, to being more transparent with effective macro economic solutions. The President, through his Treasury Secretary, has instituted for example, the Financial Stability Plan will:

Infuse fresh capital into banks deemed healthy and with at least $100 billion in assets;
Establish a public-private investment fund with up to $1 trillion to buy and manage bad asset-based securities; and;

Expand effort for small business lending, commercial mortgages, and consumer loans.
In addition, I know there are questions about the “Buy American Provision,” but that is just what it is, a provision, not protectionism. It does not apply to iron, steel , and manufactured goods produced by least developed countries or LDC’s. It will ensure that our trading partners will continue to have access to procurement in accordance with current WTO and FTA agreements. And, it does not apply to all manufactured products. It only applies to public buildings and public works that are funded by money appropriated by the U.S. Congress.

My president has also said he plans to increase our foreign assistance to our overseas friends from $25 billion to $50 billion, pending of course approval of the U.S. Congress, which will help if passed, all of our friends and all of our partners such as Nigeria.

Now turning to Nigeria. What are your challenges? I think you know them as well as I do.

First and foremost, I want to state for the record that I think Nigeria has the potential to be one of the largest burgeoning emerging markets in the world. Although there was a lag of about six months from when the global financial crisis hit the developed world and when it caught up to the developing world, there is no doubt that it has now arrived in Nigeria.

So what are we seeing here: problems to access capital markets, high interest and lending rates in your banking sector, pressure on the naira, signs of inflation, and economic growth around 3.5 per cent, down from earlier estimates of 6 to 7 per cent for 2009. There is a constriction in your economy registering itself slowly, but surely as the economic downturn takes hold here.

Your Government, under the able leadership of your new Finance Minister, has created several economic committees to look at macro economic issues, to review Nigeria's financial and monetary health, calling on the service of public and private sector experts, which I understand include a few members of this very audience to holistically examine what can and should be done, including action-to-consequence scenarios to help Nigeria weather this financial storm. These will protect some of the good economic decisions that have been made in the recent past and develop workable solutions to include enhancing financial transparency, better utilizing your revenue and wealth to help the common man, and diversifying your economy, with particular focus on the revitalization of your agricultural sector. Other issues on the top of this list include further reducing restrictive trade bans and barriers to help spur investment, particularly on Foreign Direct Investment and enhance trade relations with the U.S. and other countries.

As for the U.S. – Nigeria bilateral business relationship, we think the current economic environment might serve as a platform to encourage more two-way trade, lower trade barriers, and for Nigeria, to better utilize the benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act or AGOA which Nigeria has been eligible for since 2000, but has failed to fully capitalize on using this provision.

Nigeria was the second largest export market for U.S. goods and services in 2007, totaling $2.7 billion dollars with the total two-way trade figure between our two countries standing at $35.5 billion. However, for me the real indicator of the potential in our trade relationship is that total U.S. imports from Nigeria were $33 billion. This figure constituted about 48% of all U.S. imports from all of Sub-Saharan Africa with over $70 million coming from non-oil imports, up 45 per cent from 2006.

But the United States and Nigeria can do better as trading partners. Let's be honest, it is in both our best interests to do so.

We at the U.S. Mission to Nigeria will continue to seek ways in which we can engage and assist the Nigerian government, Nigerian businesses and Nigerian civil society in addressing key issues during these difficult financial times under our Framework for Partnership.

What we have been doing over this last year has been: helping spur more business ties through our export credit workshops; holding nation-wide AGOA related workshops to help explain the AGOA legislation and what it takes to be export ready for the U.S. market; sending Nigerian business people and poultry farmers to U.S. trade shows; and holding energy sector seminars with our export-import bank and our trade and development agency to demonstrate our commitment to help Nigeria in this sector.

I cannot forget, however, our efforts to help Nigeria reach international aviation standards through our seminars and workshops so that it achieves category one status and TSA approval, so Nigerian airlines can at last fly direct to the United States. However, both your airline industry and regulator still have a lot of work to do.

Going forward, we plan to continue our practical workshops, focused particularly on agriculture through 2009 and have asked other U.S. government agencies to send experts on power and energy issues to dialogue with your government and the private sector.

We hope that we can really jump start, and further advance negotiations with your government on our U.S. -Nigeria Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, or TIFA, as well as at last have a Bilateral Investment Treaty or BIT, so that we can have the same trade frameworks that we have with so many other countries, but not with Nigeria, and not for our lack of trying to do so. As long as we have been friends, we have not had these standard trade frameworks with Nigeria.

On energy, we have also invited your financial leaders to attend a sub-Saharan Africa infrastructure conference in May 2009 in Dakar where your officials can interact with U.S. private sector representatives about shaping the legal and regulatory framework to assist in your efforts in the power sector.

On development, we are working with other donors and your government on a Country Partnership Strategy to ensure Nigerian Government priorities are reflected in donor efforts to increase the effectiveness for Government of Nigeria assistance and foster Nigerian ownership of its development strategy.

On agriculture, through our $25 million Global Food Security Response Program, we are focusing on your agricultural sector with capacity building, value chain and processing improvements, including help with crop yields.

In the Niger Delta, we have conflict abatement programs and a range of development projects that help with clean water – particularly in the oil-polluted creeks of the Niger Delta, and helping with vocational and educational programs.

Of course, I cannot leave out education, which is one of our key areas where we have educational exchanges and training for teachers as well as scholarships for primary school children.

Much remains to be done, and the U.S. Mission is ready to work with willing and able partners to advance our common goals of ensuring economic freedom and prosperity for the Nigerian people and for generations to come.

We thank you for being our friend and for your regional leadership in so many areas, certainly your political stance on Zimbabwe, your peace keeping efforts in Darfur, and we are counting on your fulfilling your promise to send troops to Somalia.

I must close, however, by stating something that I truly believe. Nigeria is a country with incredible natural as well as intellectual wealth. You, in this room, are an example of this. I have a challenge for you and it is my expectation of you. Your country faces challenges economically as we have already highlighted, politically, certainly with the need for election reform, and on ethno-social issues with pockets of religious tension, particularly in the Niger Delta.

You are leaders here with impressive knowledge and talent, and the best solutions for Nigeria must come from you. You need to be engaged with your leaders and your populous, particularly civil society in making things better for the overall Nigeria public. This is what I expect from you. And this is what I know the Nigerian people want from you. We can be supportive, but you must lead.

Thank you.