Select committee: Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 12
Seventh Report - Lagos calling: Nigeria and the Integrated Review
Published 29 Apr 2022
Paragraph 36
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Foreign Affairs Committee Implementing the Integrated Review in Nigeria All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Nigeria’s security matters to the UK. Evidence described four significant security situations which make daily life in many parts of the country dangerous and sap the resources of the security services. Some of these crises, we heard, have the potential to threaten the very existence of the Nigerian state. These crises exacerbate levels of unregulated migration to the UK, the risks of doing business in Nigeria and the conditions in which international terrorism can be fomented. We recognise the importance of integrating diplomacy, aid and trade, as well as tangible military support, in addressing these issues. We recommend continued, highly focused, support to the Nigerian military in tackling Islamist groups and armed organised criminal groups whilst maintaining the highest standards of human rights. We recommend that this effort continues to go hand-in-hand with targeted overseas development assistance and investment to tackle the underlying causes of the conflict.
From: Foreign Affairs Committee, Seventh Report - Lagos calling: Nigeria and the Integrated Review (HC 202), paragraph 36, 29 April 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 13 July 2022 (deadline 29 June 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government partially agrees with the Committee's recommendation on a Nigeria delivery plan, stating that it does "not agree that we should publish a new integrated delivery plan within the next six months".
- The Government says an internal cross-government strategy already runs to 2023 and that it "will therefore look to refresh" it after the election, and will run a "light touch process" to develop One-HMG country plans "in due course".
- On the Benin Bronzes and colonial legacy it agrees with the recommendation, noting that museums operate independently of Government and decisions on collections are taken by each institution's trustees.
- It does not agree to quotas for the Nigerian civil service in skills programming, and does not agree to ring-fence support to human rights projects or British Council programming.
- It will continue funding the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub for 2022-23, and "potentially" to March 2025, "subject to final ODA allocations".