Known for its abundance of oil, Nigeria is a key player in the West Africa region, and indeed alongside the Republic of South Africa is among the key economic and political actors of the entire continent of Africa. At the same time, Nigeria’s population of 133 million inhabitants makes it Africa’s most populous country.

Although Nigeria – the most oil-rich country of Africa - possesses enormous resources, over 70% of the population live in absolute poverty. The per capita income of US$ 310 is barely higher than that of the resource-poor Sahel states.

Despite the trend towards democratisation witnessed in recent years, the dramatic deterioration in living conditions experienced by the majority of the population has exacerbated social tensions. These regularly erupt into violent conflicts that are ethno-religiously motivated, or to be more accurate give rise to situations where ethnic and/or religious motifs can be - and are - instrumentalised to fan the flames of discord.

MISEREOR has been supporting partners in Nigeria in their development efforts since the 1960s.

MISEREOR’s promotion in Nigeria has most recently focused on democratisation (election monitoring in 2002 with 35,000 monitors of the Catholic Church, monitoring of public budgets etc.), strengthening of democratic legal institutions (reform of penal and judicial systems), and peace-building.

These activities are complemented by MISEREOR’s traditional involvement in health, HIV/AIDS (also as a cross-cutting theme in other sectors), rural development and drinking water supply.

MISEREOR’s main partners in Nigeria are the Catholic Church’s local structures for development, justice and peace, as well as a number of non-Church NGOs.

MISEREOR’s average annual budget for Nigeria amounts to approx. EUR 3,500,000. In 2003, 49 projects were supported.