Nigerian lawmakers approve $200 million to offset shortfall from US health aid cuts
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with more than 200 million people, was among the top ten recipients of aid from the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2023. USAID's funding has been frozen for 90 days by the Trump administration.
The Nigerian senate appropriations chair Sen. Adeola Olamilekan said during the parliament's budget session on Thursday that the country could suffer 'adverse effects' from the U.S. foreign aid cuts, especially affecting disease control efforts.
The $200 million spending plan, part of the $36.6 billion federal budget, will 'fill the gap created by the U.S. Government's suspension of intervention to the health sector,' according to the bill approved on Thursday. Much of the money is intended to supply vaccines and treatment for epidemic diseases.
The U.S. invested over $600 million in health assistance in Nigeria in 2023 alone, according to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, mostly to support efforts to prevent malaria, end HIV and deliver vaccines.
The funding freeze from the U.S. could also affect the country on other fronts, including humanitarian assistance in the northeast where Islamic extremists have waged an insurgency against the government since 2009, resulting in a deadly war that has spilled over to Nigeria's northern neighbors Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
USAID, for instance, partnered with the U.N. migration agency in Nigeria in its Rapid Response Fund project that addresses emergencies such as shelter, sanitation and protection in the conflict-hit region.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
12 minutes ago
- Buzz Feed
Nick Offerman Blasts Donald Trump For Cutting National Parks Budget
Hot Topic 🔥 Full coverage and conversation on Politics Nick Offerman has called out President Donald Trump after his 'big, beautiful bill' — which he signed into law earlier this month — slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to America's national parks. 'Let me get this straight, Mr. President. You cut $267 million to get back $90 million. Now, I'm no mathematician but I believe that's called shitting the bed,' said Offerman in an appearance on Tuesday's episode of The Daily Show. 'But then again, I didn't go to Wharton Business College.' The Parks & Recreation star — who portrayed libertarian official Ron Swanson — turned to several news reports detailing how America's 'pastoral gifts' are 'under attack' as staffing levels have seen a notable dip across the National Park System since January, per the National Parks Conservation Association. One clip noted that park scientists, in some cases, have been forced to help clean toilets due to staffing shortages. Offerman — who quipped that the situation is like " Good Will Hunting but in reverse" — stressed that the cuts are a 'huge mistake.' 'No scientist has the strength to clean the skid marks of a man who's been eating beans and campfire hot dogs for the past three days! They're weak,' he joked. He went on to refer to Trump 'shaking down foreigners' after he issued an executive order earlier this month that calls for foreign tourists to face higher park entry fees, a move that the administration expects to generate more than $90 million annually. After highlighting how national parks contributed a record $55.6 billion to the U.S. economy and supported over 415,000 jobs just two years ago, Offerman explained why the parks are a 'true miracle.' 'It is an affordable vacation that everyone can take inside our own borders, whether you're traveling with your family or abandoning your constituents during a crisis,' quipped the actor as a photo of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) amid his Cancun controversy appeared on screen. Offerman, who recently revealed why Ron Swanson would've 'despised' Trump, then mocked the president for speaking so 'fondly' of national parks in years past. He turned to a 2020 clip of Trump who, when referencing sequoia trees at Yosemite National Park, appeared to pronounce the park's name as 'yo-semites.' 'It's Yosemite,' Offerman remarked. ''Yo, Semites,' is what a bad undercover cop might say to a group of Hasidic Jews.'
The Hill
12 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump posts fake video of Obama getting arrested
President Trump posted a fake video to Truth Social Monday showing former President Obama being arrested in the Oval Office with the song 'YMCA' playing in the background. The video of Obama, which seemed to originate from TikTok before being reposted by the president, appears to be AI-generated. It was preceded by a 30-second compilation of real clips from Democratic officials saying the phrase 'no one is above the law.' In the video, Trump is seen sitting across from his first-term predecessor, grinning as Obama is led away by FBI agents. The song 'YMCA' is often played at his campaign rallies. Obama's office did not respond to a request for comment. The video follows allegations from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that Obama officials 'manufactured intelligence' that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Gabbard said last week in a memo that she was turning over evidence to the Justice Department for possible criminal referrals. Democrats have panned Gabbard's assessment as politically motivated. Trump's video repost comes as the president has attempted to redirect focus from controversy around disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a debate that has roiled conspiracy theorists and members of his base alike. The president often reposts AI-generated or manipulated videos to his Truth Social account. His recent post about Obama appears to draw on a meeting the two men had in the Oval Office in November 2016, The New York Times reported. During his first campaign, Trump famously led calls to jail Hillary Clinton with the chant 'lock her up.' The refrain was thought at the time to be an unusually strident attack on an opponent.
The Hill
12 minutes ago
- The Hill
Russia sticking to its war demands amid Trump sanctions threat
The Kremlin is sticking to its war demands, even as President Trump makes new threats of sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine in less than 50 days. 'Russia is ready to move swiftly. The most important thing for us is to achieve our goals. Our goals are clear, obvious, they have not changed. But the process does not depend on us alone,' Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in an interview published by Russian state news agency TASS. Trump warned on July 14 that Russia had 50 days to agree to a deal, or the president said he was prepared to levy 100 percent economic sanctions targeting nations that do business with Russia. The threat came on the same day Trump announced a deal with NATO to provide weapons to Ukraine. The president has in recent weeks expressed increasing frustration with Putin as Moscow continues to fire missiles into Ukraine despite the White House's push for a ceasefire. The White House doubled down on its position in a statement responding to Peskov's recent comments. 'The brutal Russia-Ukraine War was brought on by Joe Biden's incompetence, and it has gone on for far too long,' White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. 'President Trump wants to stop the killing, which is why he is selling American-made weapons to NATO members and threatening Putin with biting tariffs and sanctions if he does not agree to a ceasefire,' Kelly added. Peskov also said on Monday that Putin is planning to travel to Beijing in September and didn't rule out the possibility of a meeting with Trump — should the president decide to join. The White House has not indicated any plans for Trump to travel to China at that time. 'We are preparing for a trip to Beijing,' Peskov said, according to TASS. 'It is indeed on the agenda of the head of state. But we have not heard that President Trump is going to Beijing as well.' 'If it so happens that he will also be there, it can't be ruled out that a question will come up about whether it will be reasonable to hold a meeting,' Peskov continued. The Russian president plans to travel to Beijing to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. China is planning a parade on Sept. 3, one day after Trump's 50-day deadline would be due to expire.
