DEVELOPED countries stringent conditionalities for offering assistance to countries in the southern hemisphere of the globe, came under criticism yesterday, even as President Olusegun Obasanjo said Nigeria had done enough to merit aid from the West. Speaking at a joint press conference with the visiting Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Jean Chretien, President Obasanjo said Nigeria would not condescend to the level of a beggar nation, adding that aid for developing countries must be based on individual countrys' needs as well as reward and sanctions. He said if the criteria for providing development assistance was based on democracy, transparency, anti-corruption and human rights posture, Nigeria was eminently qualified. But the President said the only area Nigeria may not qualify for assistance was in its relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). President Obasanjo explained that the concept for the New Leadership for Africaís Development (NEPAD) is not for African nations to go cap-in-hand for money, but to seek development through four major areas. These include trade, debt relief, foreign investment and Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). According to him: "There must be need and reward need, so that you can actually take care of the need of individual countries. And reward, to encourage contributions. And I donít see anything wrong with that. It depends on the criteria you set. If you decide that it will be will be democracy, Nigeria will be there. If you say it will be the fight against corruption, Nigeria will be there. If it is transparency and openness, we will be there. If you say the criteria is the IMF and its monitored programme, they should wait until we put our house in order. We will even be penalised on that. So, I should say that Nigeria should get on the basis of need and on the basis of reward. "We have said that one thing that marks NEPAD out from other programmes, is that it is not a programme where you go cap-in-hand and say put money here. We have imposed on ourselves, certain standard of practice-good governance and human rights. It is not a question of working alone. It is a question of the totality of the problems in Africa. We have said to ourselves that there must be peace and security. We now said to ourselves, where there is conflict, we will be in the vanguard of bringing that conflict to an endî. He listed four main ways funding can get to NEPAD: ìOne is trade. We can trade more. In the last two and half years, our trade with Canada has increased by 25 per cent. But it is not enough. We believe that if the 365 billion dollars which the OECD is using to subsidise their farmers is reduced by 50 per cent, there will be more agricultural product from developing countries going to the OECD states. "The second is relief from debt. We have paid the debt that is hanging on our neck two times over and yet we are still owing 28 billion dollars. ìBut more importantly is that I am being asked to pay from the less than 12 billion dollars that Nigereia is making every year. I have spent five billion dollars to service debt. And you can imagine what I could have done with five billion dollars on food, security, water supply. "Other countries should emulate Canada. We are grateful to Canada who have set aside 500 million dollars (eight per cent of their GDP) yearly. There are countries in Africa that need assistance. Nigeria may not need as much as them. And of course, we need foreign investment. We are doing everything possible to create the environment". Mr. Chretien, who is the chairman of the NEPAD group of G-8 commended the progress being made by Nigeria under democracy. Explaining the position of Canada on the issue of debt relief, Mr. Chretien said that his country was following the process. Said he: "The bilateral debt (including the one owed by Nigeria) has been eliminated. In terms of debts being owed international institutions, here is a process of elimination of those debt. At the moment the process is well on the way. "Of course, some countries are not in that category or to do something to, either totally or partially. It was discussed when we were together in Mexico two weeks ago. "A lot of the debt reliefs have been awarded so far. We have taken the first step to take care of those who are at the bar.