In an apparent move to douse the controversy surrounding its activities in Nigeria, the World Bank has clarified an earlier statement made by its President Jim Yong Kim concerning a request from Muhammadu Buhari to focus on the North. The bank disclosed that it had projects spread across the 36 states of the country totalling $8.5 billion and was not focused on only the North.
How much assistance has gone to the North East ?
The Bank had first carried out a needs assessment of the North East in partnership with the European Union and United Nations, before providing a $775 million International Development Association (IDA) credit to the region.
Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina released a statement explaining the motives behind Buhari’s action.
During a trip to Washington in 2015, and many other engagements that followed, President Buhari sought the help of the World Bank in rebuilding the beleaguered North-east, which was then being wrested from the stranglehold of a pernicious insurgency. It was something always done in the open, and which reflected the President’s concern for the region.
Ex World Bank Vice-president Oby Ezekwesili has shed more light on why the North East was given extra attention by the World Bank. The bank, according to her, had instituted a policy to devote more attention to regions recovering from conflict.
As a practice, POST- conflict zones -e.g. Northern Uganda, Northern CAR, Eastern DRC receive Special Focus from .@WorldBank .It MAKES SENSE!
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) October 13, 2017
What caused the uproar?
President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim had revealed that the bank’s focus on the North was due to a request made by President Muhammadu Buhari
In my very first meeting with president buhari he said specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern region of nigeria and we’ve done that. now, it has been very difficult. the work there has been very difficult.
Kim made the remarks on the sidelines of a conference held in Washington.
The World Bank is an international finance institution that provides loans to countries for capital programs. The bank was created in 1944 at the Bretton Woods conference alongside the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
