Nigeria (Hansard, 21 January 1969)

§ 5. Mr. Dalyell
asked the Minister of Overseas Development what assistance he is giving to all parts of Nigeria.

§ 10. Mr. Hordern
asked the Minister of Overseas Development what is the level of aid and interest-free loans offered to the Federal Government of Nigeria by Her Majesty's Government.

§ Mr. Prentice
The estimated expenditure on our aid programme to Nigeria during the current financial year is between £5 million and £6 million for capital aid and about £1.6 million for technical assistance.
Most of this programme is for projects in areas not affected by the war, but it includes some expenditure on urgent reconstruction such as the restoration of communications and the establishment of a child medical care unit at Enugu.
In addition to this aid programme, Her Majesty's Government have promised £970,000 for emergency relief in Nigeria to assist those affected by the war.

§ Mr. Dalyell
Is my right hon. Friend aware that it was the opinion of the Animu Kano at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference that, besides medical supplies, it was important that basic educational supplies should be provided as soon as possible for schools which have been destroyed?

§ Mr. Prentice
Some of our technical assistance is in education. I gather that my hon. Friend is referring to schools in certain areas which have been damaged during the fighting. We have not had any request directed specifically to schools in those areas, but we should sympathetically consider any request of that kind.

§ Mr. Hordern
Will the right hon. Gentleman give a categorical assurance that none of this money is being used to buy arms from the United Kingdom to prosecute a genocidal war against Biafra?

§ Mr. Prentice
Absolutely none of this money is being used for the purchase of arms.

§ Dr. John Dunwoody
Can my right hon. Friend assure the House that the grant of nearly £1 million to which he refers for the relief of war victims in 224 Nigeria will not result in any cut in overseas aid expenditure elsewhere in the world or in this part of West Africa?

§ Mr. Prentice
The sum of money concerned has come from within the total provided for overseas aid this year. It was possible to do this without making cuts because of some under-spending and some slower development projects both in Nigeria and elsewhere.

§ Mrs. Ewing
In calculating the amount of emergency aid which the right hon. Gentleman mentioned, did he attempt to estimate the daily number who are dying and who will die unless the war is brought to an end? Was the sum based on such an estimate?

§ Mr. Prentice
It was ultimately based on that; it was based on the requests made by the International Red Cross, which is receiving money also from other countries officially and from voluntary contributions both from Britain and elsewhere. Clearly, those estimates are based on the actual needs of the people in the area concerned.

§ Mr. Dempsey
As Biafra is still an integral part of Nigeria, can my right hon. Friend say what proportion of this sum will be spent in that area which has been largely ravaged as a result of the dreadful civil war?

§ Mr. Prentice
I take it that my hon. Friend's question relates to the £970,000 for emergency relief. That money is being spent in Biafra and also to some extent in parts of the territory under Federal control which are part of the war zone. My original Answer gave total figures for aid to Nigeria, and most of that larger total is being spent in areas away from that part of the country where the fighting is going on.