1. The Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President
Olusegun Obasanjo, and the Director General of UNESCO, Mr. Koïchiro
Matsuura, signed on 8 February 2000 in Paris, an Aide -Mémoire reviewing
past co-operation between Nigeria and UNESCO and expressing their commitment
to its reinvigoration.

President Obasanjo and the Director-General agreed that UNESCO would
continue its collaboration with Nigeria as provided for in the Special Plan
of Action established in 1999 and on the basis of Resolution 56 adopted at
the 30th Session of the UNESCO General Conference.

During this meeting, President Obasanjo requested the
Director-General that UNESCO assume an important role in the efforts
deployed by the Government of Nigeria to design a sound education policy and
to prepare a comprehensive development programme based on Universal Basic
Education (UBE).

2. After consultation with the relevant Nigerian authorities, the Task
Force on UNESCO-Nigeria Co-operation, created by the Director-General and
Chaired by Mr. Dragoljub Najman, has identified a number of priority areas.
In line with an interim report prepared by UNESCO,  President Obasanjo and
Director General Matsuura, at their meeting of 23 April 2000 in Abuja,
agreed to pursue their co-operation particular emphasis on the following
areas:

i) Basic Education.
ii) Education Sector Analysis (ESA).
iii) Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
iv) Policy and Strategy Advice in the field of Science and Technology.

1. On the occasion of the opening of the 31st Session of the General
Conference of UNESCO, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and
the Director-General met on 15 October, 2001 in Paris.  They reviewed the
implementation of the Special Plan of Action covering the co-operation
between UNESCO and Nigeria.  In addition to activities agreed upon at
earlier meetings, it was agreed to launch a Feasibility Study for a Nigerian
Virtual Library for Universities and Other Institutions of Higher Education.
It was also agreed that co-operation between the Federal Republic of Nigeria
and UNESCO would be developed in the field of Culture.


2. In the context of the second meeting of the High-Level Group on
Education for All (EFA), the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
and the Director-General of UNESCO met in Abuja on 18 November 2002 to
discuss further co-operation between Nigeria and UNESCO.

It was agreed that the co-operation between Nigeria and UNESCO has
been exemplary and that it should be pursued in the following areas:


Universal Basic Education (UBE)

3. This programme of co-operation is intended to build a national
capacities in universal basic education for the effective management of
larger - scale activities that are being or have been planned for Nigeria.
It was expected that the groundwork would be laid and that other sources
(including resources from the Nigeria Government) would enable the programme
to be expanded.  Much emphasis has been placed on the networking of
institutions and on establishing centres of excellence to support
improvement in education.

There are five components for the implementation of this activity:

i. Improving community education and literacy using the media .
ii. Improving capacity for local-level management:
a. managerial skills development of the Local Government Educational
Authority (LEGEA);
b. institutional strengthening of the National Institute for
Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA).

i. Education quality assurance capacity-building for inspectors of
schools.
ii. Teacher education enhancement programme;
a. Training of teacher educators in information technology;
b. Revitalization of science education in teacher training
institutions.
i. Improving learning opportunities in the early primary grades.

The Federal Ministry of Education is leading the programme for co-operation.
UNESCO works in collaboration with Nigerian officials and educators to plan
and implement the programme, which will be carried out in two phases.

The proposed budget amounted to US$3 million over a three year period.
UNESCO provided US$700,000 to implement Phase 1 from regular programme
funds.   The government of Nigeria has approved US800,000  for the
improvement of the inspectorate.  UNESCO has assisted in mobilizing the
remaining US$1.5 million from extra budgetary sources.  The UNESCO Office in
Abuja is responsible for coordinating inputs, including technical
backstopping from UNESCO Headquarters.


Support for the Education Sector Analysis (ESA)

1. The preparatory stage of the project should be completed by the end
of 2002 and the diagnostic phase is expected to commence in January 2003.
The slow pace of the activities is due to lack of provision of agreed-upon
counterpart funds.  Since 2000 the following achievements have been
registered:

* national workshops on ESA for major stakeholders;
* capacity-building of selected staff of the Federal Ministry of
education at the International Institute of education Planning (IIEP) and
elsewhere;
* location, equipment, staffing and functioning of the ESA
Secretariat;
* establishment of six ESA working groups and appointment of lead
consultant, as well as nomination of the host institution of the working
group;
* Defining and developing a methodology for ESA;
* Producing and harmonizing budget proposals for the six working
groups;
* Reviewing landmark literature on education in Nigeria and producing
two draft monographs;
* Completing baseline 2001; and
* Organizing workshops on cost and financing of education and
inspectorate reform.
*
* The following activities are in progress:
*
* literature review on specific studies outlined in the six working
groups proposals;
* planned orientation workshop for the review and collation of
available data on selected studies on ESA.

One problem among others for the continuation of the programme aimed at
supporting the Education Sector Analysis in Nigeria is the lack of provision
of agreed-upon counterpart funds.  It was agreed that the Government of
Nigeria would make those funds available in good time so as to enable the
programme to be implemented successfully.

Support for revitalizing Technical and Vocational Education an Training
(TVET) in Nigeria.

1. A Project Document and a Plan of Operation concerning the
implementation of the project Support for revitalizing technical and
vocational education in Nigeria - Phase 1 were signed by UNESCO and the
Federal Government of Nigeria on 15 December, 2000.

The aims of the project are to set up continuing staff development
systems for training technical and vocational education (TVE) managers and
technical teachers, revise and update TVE curricula and introduce
information and communication technologies (ICT) in the TVE system, both as
a discipline and as an educational tool.

UNESCO and the Nigerian executing agency, the National Board for
Technical Education (NBTE), launched the implementation of the Project at
the beginning of February 2001.  During 2001, UNESCO and Nigerian experts
carried out major curriculum revision for 28 disciplines in technical
colleges and polytechnics.  Seven zone Staff Development Centres (SDCs) - at
Auchi, Bauchi Bida, Kaduna, Lagos, Nekede, and at the NBTE headquarters -
were also set up and core teams of trainers were prepared.  Since February
2002, the new curricula are being introduced to the staff of TVE
institutions through training activities.  In the past six months SDCs have
trained more than 570 technical teachers, principals and heads of
departments (about 10 per cent of the national TVE staff) through 34
training workshops.  Planned activities for the rest of 2002 include
training up to 900 technical teachers.

Proposed activities for 2003 will focus on continuing and expanding
the training programmes offered by SDCs for technical staff in TVE
institutions as well as starting non-formal training programmes for the
unemployed and the community as part of the poverty alleviation effort.  A
second "Training of Trainers" workshop is also planned in order to increase
the training capacity of SDCs.

The major problem facing the project to date is the
non-implementation of the commitment to provide the second installment of
counterpart funding.  As envisaged in the Project Agreement, the Nigerian
Government counterpart funding was to be provided in two parts, i.e 50 per
cent (or US$1.01 million), as second installment was due in January 2002.

Another constraint is the unavailability of ICT equipment to achieve
the third aim of the  project.  The second part, "Phase II: the Provision of
ICT Equipment" which is an integral and essential part of the Project,
requires separate funding, estimated at US$1.5 million.  The
Director-General will try to obtain extra budgetary resources, including
among others funds from the African Development Bank (ADB), needed for the
implementation of Phase  II of the project.

It was also agreed that the preparatory work should start on
planning a programme aimed at technical teacher training.


Feasibility Study:  Nigerian Virtual Library for Universities and
other Institutions of Higher Education.

2. The project was approved by the Director-General of UNESCO and the
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2002.

The purpose of the Feasibility is to access what elements are needed
and what steps will have to be taken to develop a Virtual Library in
Nigeria.  It is intended to serve as an action-oriented policy and project
development tool for the large-scale implementation of such a project in
Nigeria.  To date, several meetings have been held between different HQ
staff and Nigerian officials concerning this project.  An initial technical
mission for the purpose of formerly launching the Nigerian Library
Feasibility study and of meeting and interacting with all appropriate
national authorities and stakeholders to chart the conduct and focus of the
study as well as outlining the schedule for the project was fielded in the
first half of November, 2002.


HIV/AIDS Preventive Education

3. Under the UNAIDS Unified Budget Workplan (UBW), UNESCO has granted
$300,000 for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria for:

i. National strategy advocacy and development; and
ii. Public awareness campaign and mobilization.

Policy and Strategy Advice in the Field of Science and Technology.

Completed Tasks

1. The major emphasis during the first phase was on improving the
procedure for the programming and budgeting of scientific and technological
activities and on the restructuring of the national science and technical
system.  A training programme was conducted for senior officials of the
Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) and the Directors of
Research Institutes.

Proposed Tasks for Next Phase

2. A project was designed to provide assistance to the Ministry in a
pre-investment analysis of the performance of the federal science and
technology policies, programmes and institutions in the country with a view
to identifying measures to revitalize the science and technology (S&T)
system and increase its effectiveness in meeting society's needs,
particularly for economics competitiveness.

Government counterpart funds in the amount of$500,000 are now required as
well as an equivalent amount from other sources for execution of the
proposed reform programme.

In addition, other new activities have been identified:

i. training and briefing of the members of the various science
committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
ii. Extension of the reform of the science system to the state level,
focusing possibly on six states, one from each of the political  regions.
iii. Elaboration of operational projects with a view to mobilizing funds
from  the private sector inside and outside the country, as well as other
donors.

Culture

1. Following the visit to UNESCO Headquarters of the Honourable
Minister of Culture and tourism in January, 2002, it was agreed that
concrete cooperation between UNESCO and the Federal Republic of Nigeria in
the field of culture would be initiated.

Proposed activities for the forthcoming period will concentrate on the
development of a National Culture Policy.  UNESCO will provide particular
input with respect to the Slave Route, and to World Heritage, more
specifically focusing on art works of the Benin Kingdom.



     Signed
O. Obasanjo

K. Matsuura

18 - 11 - 2002.