Communiqué

Synthesis Workshop for an Alternative Poverty Eradication Strategy

Lagos

Communiqué issued by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) at the Synthesis Workshop for an Alternative Poverty Eradication Strategy for Nigeria held at the Women Development Centre, Ogba, Lagos, from 28-29 November 2003

PREAMBLE

As part of its poverty eradication project, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) held a synthesis workshop for an alternative poverty eradication strategy for Nigeria. The workshop reviewed the past and present poverty alleviation, reduction and eradication strategies in Nigeria and concluded that there is the need for an alternative.

NEED FOR AN ALTERNATIVE

The workshop agreed that there is the need for an alternative strategy for the following reasons:

From the implementation of the CDD Poverty Eradication Programme, it was clear that the perceptions and strategies of the poor were quite different from official strategies.

Production of alternative strategy is in accord with Africa’s development thinking since independence where African have always drafted their own indigenous development paradigms with the principles of self-reliance, regional integration, partnership, popular participation and respect for human rights and democracy.

The PRSP in Nigeria had a pre-determined outcome of promoting neo-liberalism in its crudest form and implementing policies of the Bretton Woods institutions.

Even within the PRSP framework, the exercise in Nigeria falls short of expectation. Consultation with the people was very minimal and equity issues were not addressed.

There is the need for a bottom-up participatory approach that will in the final analysis lead to advocacy by self for self rather than the top-down approach, which supports the principle of advocacy by another for another.

OUTLINE OF AN ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY

The workshop considered the draft of the alternative strategy and agreed that it should among other things address the following issues:

Justification for the production of an alternative strategy paper highlighting the deficiencies of the government led process.

Exposing the myths of the PRSP that it can lead to poverty reduction and that it is pro-poor.

Exposing the poverty of poverty reduction and bringing back the debate on development and devising long-term strategies for national development.

Outlining development and poverty eradication strategy that will be based on economic autonomy, reform of the state to expand democratic rights and improvement of the welfare of the people.

Discussing the issue of agricultural transformation and rural development especially as to how the agricultural sector will become a major foreign exchange earner and ensuring food security.

Addressing specific sectoral actions that are needed to eradicate poverty in Nigeria especially the kind of support to agriculture and livestock production, agricultural inputs, land reform, water resources and economic infrastructures (Road, Rail and Air Travel and Energy) etc.

Enumerating a social security framework and strategy for empowerment of the poor and marginalized.

Elucidating on the importance of human resource development and training and the linkage to improvement of the quality of life and good governance.

Developing a monitoring and evaluation framework that will focus among other things on key governance issues with benchmarks and indicators.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY

Participants commended the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) for its initiative to produce the alternative poverty eradication strategy and called on governments at all levels to utilise the strategy in eradicating poverty in Nigeria.

Participants also called on civil society, labour, students, women groups, professional bodies and indeed all interest groups in Nigeria to advocate for the adoption of the alternative strategy by the Nigerian government. In addition, participants emphasized the need for civil society to step up efforts in budget tracking.

Participants equally called on international donors and development agencies truly interested in Nigeria’s development to consider the alternative strategy for poverty eradication in Nigeria.

Finally participants called on government involve the people and bring back public debate into the formulation of government policies.

Dr. J. ‘Kayode Fayemi
Director

Ms Stella Amadi
CDD Rapporteur