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EU Grants $1bn Facility To N’Delta
The European Commission has signed a $1 billion development pact with Nigeria to tackle corruption and promote peace. A substantial amount of the funds is to be spent on resolving conflict in the oil-rich Niger Delta, EU’s Development Commissioner Karel De Gucht has said. The money would also target electoral reform and improve human rights. “I’m delighted that a substantial amount of this financing will go to support conflict resolution and the peace process in the Niger Delta which has been ravaged by years of unrest,” the EU official stated. Thousands of militants had recently disarmed in an amnesty package offered by the Federal Government in return for promise of education and jobs. A three-month respite from the violence has revamped oil and gas production, but skeptics fear the former fighters could resume violence if government does not fulfill its part of the bargain.