On March 16th 2016, the Vice-President of the World Bank for Africa Mr. Makhtar Diop together with officials from the United Nations and European Union had a meeting with Governors of the 6 North-Eastern States that were affected by the Boko Haram uprising. At the meeting, which was held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja, the reconstruction programme of the North East that was ravaged by insurgency was discussed extensively.
The august meeting continued yesterday 26th April 2016 with Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi State in attendance alongside Governors of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe and was Chaired by the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World Bank, Ms. Sri Mulyani Indrawati (who is also a former Finance Minister of Indonesia).
At the meeting, important issues were discussed especially fishing out best ways to implement the project in the coming months.
In view of the current financial situation of the country, Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar solicited for review of the conditions for World Bank projects; Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) and Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT). Part of the condition is payment of 30% counterpart. The Governor urged the World Bank to look at the possibility of waiving the condition of payment of the counterpart because of the financial constraints Nigeria is facing.
The MD of the World Bank assured His Excellency Governor MA Abubakar that she will discuss his proposal with the Board of Directors and will see the possibility of approving it.
The Governors of Borno and Yobe states, on their parts, requested for the sum of 7Billion USD and 5 Billion USD respectively to enable them reconstruct their respective states considering the degree of devastation hit by the states.
On his part, Governor MA Abubakar of Bauchi stated that the social services of the state are overstretched because of the massive influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have integrated into the society. He therefore called on the World Bank to provide additional financial support for the reconstruction / development of the North East and also to cater more for the IDPs.
Responding, the MD of the World Bank, Ms.Mulyani Indrawati further reiterated that the World Bank is considering providing additional financial support of 750 million to 800 million US Dollars for the development of the North East. She also stressed that as soon as the validation of the Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) is completed by June, the additional funds will be ready.
It could be recalled that according to the World Bank, over 20,000 lives were lost and more than 1.8 million displaced during the Boko Haram crisis.
The next meeting is scheduled for the 7th of June 2016.
Shamsuddeen Lukman Abubakar
SA Communications to His Excellency the Governor of Bauchi
27th April, 2016