DATE=03/26/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-287996

TITLE=NIGERIA / MEETING (L)

BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

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INTRO: Leaders and officials from more than a dozen African nations are meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, for talks about ways to promote economic development and good governance on the continent. V-O-A's Luis Ramirez reports from our West Africa bureau in Abidjan.

TEXT: The meeting in Abuja brings together representatives of nations that make up the initiative known as the New Partnership for Africa's Development, or NEPAD a coalition of nations in both northern and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The gathering follows a U-N summit this month in Monterrey, Mexico, in which members of the international community decided that aid should be increased to developing nations that carry out substantial economic and political reforms.

With this in mind, African leaders who attended the summit in Mexico met in Abuja Tuesday to discuss ways to improve economic and political conditions in their countries.

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Nations represented include Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Senegal, among others.

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Isaac Aluko-Olokun is the chief Nigerian delegate to NEPAD. He says the meeting in Abuja is a step toward addressing the continent's problems at their roots.

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We cannot remain the poorest region of the world in spite of our generous endowment by nature. There has been unprecedented expansion and economic prosperity in the world in the last one or two decades. So we should ask the question: why do we remain in abject poverty, where in Nigeria, 65 percent of our population lives under one dollar a day? That is untenable. That should not be. Our potential is much, much more than that. If only we could come together and pull our resources together and make sacrifices where they are necessary. Then [we could] engage the developed partners.

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In opening remarks, the host of the meeting Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said African leaders must resolve the continent's numerous conflicts if there is to be a basis for economic growth. He said peace and security must be the bedrock of any sustained development.

Following the opening ceremony, leaders began work that includes discussion of a plan aimed at bringing Africa out of poverty and underdevelopment.

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Among the issues discussed is the establishment of what representatives say would be a code of conduct for African leaders. The code, to be enforced by NEPAD, would seek to promote good governance by establishing a system of accountability.

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African leaders attending the meeting in Abuja hope their new resolve to improve conditions in their countries will influence wealthier nations to increase aid to the continent.

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Six African leaders are expected to make that case next month when they meet with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien in Nigeria. Mr. Chretien is to host the next G-Eight summit of the world's most developed nations in June.

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