Canada restates support for research in Nigeria

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

The President of the Canadian International Development Research Centre, David Malone, has restated the centre’s support for research in Nigeria.

According to him, the IDRC will assist Nigeria’s development efforts in the areas of health, agriculture, and its socio-economic policy.

Malone said this at a press briefing in Abuja, on Tuesday.

He said although the IDRC was small, compared to the Canadian International Development Agency, it spends about $280m a year.

Malone said, “Here in Nigeria, we have partnerships with the Canadian Cedar that IDRC implements in the area of health research and we are active in two states drilling quite deep into maternal care and so on.

“What works and what doesn’t work. The second thing we have been working hard on in Nigeria is to support Nigerian think tanks.

“We always think there are three sectors, Government, Private Sector and Civil Society but actually, each of them can benefit from strong think tanks.

“And in countries like the United States, Britain and Canada, like India think tanks are a very important components in society because they keep producing ideas that inform policy that are of interest to the private sector and that often mobilize civil society to demand action in different areas.”

Also speaking at the event, the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Chris Cooter, said the Nigerian economy had enjoyed a faster annual growth rate than India.

He said, “Your economy is growing faster than India at the moment, but there should be an evaluation to get to know whether the people are getting the benefit (of this growth).”

-Punchwp_posts