Trump halts USAID funding, places officials on Administrative Leave

American president, Donald Trump

Di president of di United States of America, Donald Trump don sing order make them pause foreign aids alaias USAID wey them de give to struggling countries.

According to Trump, this move na to help check di efficiency and make sure sey e dey consistent with wetin him describe as di “America First Agenda”.

Di US secretary of State, Marco Rubio announce this directive on Sunday, January 26, 2025 inside one statement wey them publish for US department of State’s website.

Di statement note sey, “Every dollar we dey spend, every programme we dey fund and every policy we dey pursue must be justified with answer to three simple questions: E de make America safer? E dey make America stronger? E dey make America to prosper more?”.

Di statement also include sey, di review and realignment of foreign assistance “on behalf of hard working taxpayers no just be di right thing to do, e also dey morally imperative “.

What to know about USAID

Di USAID na initiative wey de help poor and struggling countries for sectors like agriculture and food security, education, global health, economic trade and growth, research and innovation, humanitarian assistance, environment and other aspects wey them dey struggle with.

As it is now, if them pause this aid, e go have very negative impact on these countries including Nigeria wey be one of their major beneficiaries.

Since Nigeria na di most populated country for West Africa, di pause go get serious impact for di over 200 million people.

In one data released by USAID, them conclude sey, “with a population of about 214 million people, about 96 million living on less than $1.90 per day, Nigeria na home to di world’s largest population living in extreme poverty “.

Implication of pause of USAID on Nigeria’s economy

Since Nigeria na one of di highest beneficiaries of USAID, this order wey Trump sign go get very significant impact on di Nigerian economy in so many ways.

Some of di ways wey e go affect Nigeria na for health.

According to data published by di same USAID, Nigeria get population growth of 3.2% and by 2050, di population go don reach 400 million.

Even with dj large population, Nigeria health sector no be anything to write home about as evidence show sey US don invest over $3 billion for Nigerian health sector.

This na to help in reducing maternal and child mortality, and immunization. This aid de also help Nigeria treat malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases by providing di medication wey no dey Nigeria.

As popular online doctor and X user don already explain give Nigerians, if them cut off this aid, a lot go sup and some of the things wey go happen na:

•Infections go increase because right now them don de treat close to 200, 000 infections every year.

•People go die from AIDS because drugs no dey.

•Di healthcare system go collapse.

Other sectors wey go dey affected na education, food security, environment, and electricity which Nigeria don de already struggle with.

Conclusion

This order na eye opener for Nigerians and di Nigerians to take their health seriously and also hold their leaders accountable to step up and find ways to revive di economy as depending on aids no go solve di many issues wey dey ground.

Emmanuella Koughna

Emmanuella Nguavese Koughna sees writing beyond a means of survival, to her, the ability to weave words into scenery and tell stories of herself and others is indeed a gratifying one. To her, writing is a privilege that she considers, greatly underappreciated, because it is beyond words: writing is taking a walk through an author's mind, seeing the world through multiple lenses. To Emmanuella, writing is living multiple lives in one soul.

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