§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial aid is now being given to Nigeria to help in the reconstruction of the East Central State; and what additional help will be made available to the Nigerian Government.
§ Mr. KershawAn interest-free loan of £1 million was made to the Federal Military Government of Nigeria in the Autumn of 1969 for reconstruction. This was subsequently increased to £1.55 million. The remaining balance of some £120,000 is likely to be used for restoring telecommunications links in the eastern part of the country.
These amounts are exclusive of the separate provision of £5 million which was made available to the Federal Military Government in January, 1970, for purposes of relief and rehabiltation; and also of the contribution which Her Majesty's Government hope to make towards the implementation of the recently-published Nigerian Second National Development Plan 1970–74. The Plan envisages a total capital investment of some £1,860 million, of which £350 million will be used for reconstruction. The proportion of the sum allocated for reconstruction which will be spent in the East Central State is not yet known. Talks at official level on British aid for the Development Plan are due to take place in Lagos in the very near future.
In addition, we are, of course, continuing with a technical assistance programme amounting to approximately £1.5 million a year of which part is directed to the East Central State.