KOWA YA TUNA BARA!
GENERAL SANI ABACHA
A Special Investigation by Alfijir Labarai
EDITION 4
In Edition 1, we examined some of the major development projects and initiatives associated with the General Sani Abacha era.
In Edition 2, we focused on the economy, foreign reserves, monetary policies and programmes designed to support families and economic development.
In Edition 3, we examined agriculture, food production and efforts to support smallholder farmers.
In this Edition 4, we examine the Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP) — a programme established in 1997 with objectives that included supporting local producers, potential entrepreneurs, small-scale farming, cottage industries and productive activities in rural communities.
1. WHY WAS FEAP ESTABLISHED?
On 12 August 1997, the Family Economic Advancement Programme was established under No. 11 of 1997.
The law described FEAP as an empowerment programme specifically designed for local producers of goods and services and potential entrepreneurs involved in establishing cottage industries.
Its objectives included providing working capital for small-scale farming and traditional processes, facilitating access to machinery and equipment for cottage and small-scale industries, creating employment opportunities at ward level, encouraging cooperative societies and promoting the use of local resources.
This means that FEAP was designed as more than a simple financial assistance programme. Its legal framework connected credit, production, employment, local manufacturing and rural economic development.
2. ₦4.3 BILLION ALLOCATED IN 1997
The 1997 budget included an initial allocation of ₦4.3 billion for FEAP.
A CBN Economic and Financial Review described the programme as a poverty-alleviation initiative designed to facilitate productive cottage enterprises by communities and cooperatives, using locally fabricated equipment in rural areas.
An earlier 1997 budget breakdown also reported that the programme was intended to move resources into rural areas for productive ventures and establish viable cottage industries and other projects aimed at empowering rural residents.
3. COTTAGE INDUSTRIES AND RURAL PRODUCTION
One of FEAP’s central objectives was the development of cottage and small-scale industries.
The programme was intended to encourage productive activities at community and ward levels, making use of available local resources.
The economic chain behind the idea can be represented as:
LOCAL RESOURCES → SMALL-SCALE PRODUCTION → PRODUCTS → JOBS → INCOME
The law also listed improved food production, processing, preservation, storage, packaging and marketing among the expected benefits of the programme.
4. LOCALLY PRODUCED MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT
FEAP also sought to encourage the design and manufacture of appropriate plants, machinery and equipment.
The 1997 budget explanation stated that government had identified Nigerian establishments capable of designing and fabricating equipment required for cottage industries.
The intention was therefore not only to finance production, but also to encourage local technological capacity and the use of locally fabricated equipment.
5. LOANS AND ACCESS TO CAPITAL
The FEAP law provided for loan facilities for eligible beneficiaries.
The legal framework included provisions covering loan disbursement, security, repayment and monitoring. Loans could cover machinery and equipment as well as working capital, labour costs and raw materials, including seeds.
The programme therefore sought to link access to capital with actual productive activities rather than simply providing unrestricted cash payments.
6. WHAT WAS ACTUALLY DISBURSED?
This is one of the most important parts of the historical record.
According to a Central Bank of Nigeria review, FEAP disbursed ₦1.72 billion to 11,767 cooperative societies nationwide in 1997.
The same CBN source stated that between 1997 and 1999, FEAP had a total budgetary allocation of ₦8.7 billion for micro-credit aimed at poverty reduction.
However, CBN also noted that many of the resources were allocated in ways that sidelined some of the intended beneficiaries in favour of what it described as “shadow personalities.”
This distinction is important:
WHAT WAS PLANNED ≠ WHAT WAS DISBURSED ≠ WHO ULTIMATELY BENEFITED
7. LINKING AGRICULTURE WITH SMALL-SCALE INDUSTRY
FEAP was not limited to manufacturing.
Its legal objectives specifically included providing working capital for small-scale farming and traditional processes, while also supporting cottage and small-scale industries.
The programme therefore created a potential link between:
AGRICULTURE → PROCESSING → SMALL-SCALE INDUSTRY → PRODUCTS → EMPLOYMENT
The law also listed improved food production and reduced wastage through processing, preservation, storage, packaging and marketing among the expected benefits.
8. FEAP AND THE RURAL ECONOMY
A CBN review of Nigeria’s poverty-reduction programmes listed FEAP as a 1997 programme targeted at rural areas, with credit facilities to support the establishment of cottage industries.
This places FEAP within a wider series of government programmes aimed at rural development and poverty reduction.
The programme’s distinctive feature was its attempt to combine credit, cooperative organisation, small-scale production, local equipment and rural employment.
9. DID FEAP SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF POVERTY?
The historical evidence does not justify such a broad conclusion.
The records clearly establish that FEAP was created, given a legal framework, allocated public funds and had financial disbursements recorded by the CBN.
At the same time, CBN documented problems concerning the extent to which the intended beneficiaries actually received the benefits of the programme.
Therefore, the history of FEAP should be examined through three separate questions:
What was planned?
What was implemented?
Who actually benefited?
Those questions are more useful for understanding the programme than simply describing it as either a success or a failure.
WHAT SHOULD WE REMEMBER?
FEAP was established on 12 August 1997 as an empowerment programme aimed at local producers, potential entrepreneurs, small-scale farmers and cottage industries.
Its legal objectives included access to working capital, machinery and equipment, employment creation at ward level, cooperative development and greater use of local resources.
The programme received an initial ₦4.3 billion allocation in the 1997 budget, while CBN records indicate that ₦1.72 billion was disbursed to 11,767 cooperative societies in 1997.
But the same CBN record also identified problems concerning the sidelining of some intended beneficiaries.
The historical lesson, therefore, is not simply about the amount of money allocated.
It is also about how a government programme is designed, how it is implemented, who receives the resources, and what those resources ultimately produce.
KOWA YA TUNA BARA!
A Special Investigation by Alfijir Labarai
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