Washington, DC—President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Washington, D.C hailed the decision of the World Bank to spend $2.1 billion in rebuilding the devastated north east of Nigeria.
This came just as the World Health Organization, WHO has also indicated interest in investing $300 million on immunization against malaria scourge in Nigeria.
The $2.1 billion Dollars would be spent through International Development Agency, IDA, an agency of the World Bank known for its low interest loan to government.
A statement by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina said that the first 10 years of the loan will be interest free, while additional 30 years will be at lower than capital market rate.
The statement added that the World Bank was eager to move in quickly to give out the loans and also give succour to the people of north east, who have been at the mercy of an insurgency that has claimed over 20,000 souls”.
President Buhari at a meeting with representatives of the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Health Organization (WHO), while expressing gratitude on the gesture, however stated that apart from rebuilding the zone “in terms of infrastructure, priority must also be given to the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs), who now number over one million”.
He urged the World Bank to send a team to collaborate with a team from the Federal Government in order to prioritize the needs.
Meanwhile, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will collaborate with Dangote Foundation to ensure that the country maintains its zero polio case record of the past one year which if maintained for the next two years would make Nigeria fully polio free.
Source: Vanguard
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