North East Nigeria is part of World Bank’s Fragility, Conflict and Violence FCV regions strategic intervention in West Africa. So I think when President Buhari said ‘North’ he might be referring to ‘North East’ Not the entire North.
World Bank’s intervention in FCV regions are basically for reconstruction of Infrastructure; rehabilitation of young people, and reformation of government structures and institutions and North-eastern states are seriously in need of this strategic reform.
Last year, Presidency disclosed that a huge sum of about $9 billion would be needed for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of broken infrastructure in the six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.
The figure was a product of the recent pre-financing assessment jointly carried out by the federal and states governments alongside the global partners – the United Nations, the World Bank and the European Union.
Incidentally, the figure was more or less the same with that of the Chairman, Presidential Committee on North East Initiatives (PCNI), Lt. General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd.) who recently gave N2 trillion as an estimate for rebuilding the devastated areas of the country.
To rebuild North East states – Nigeria as Nation-state definitely needs support from the donor’s community. So WB through their FCV pillar might be willing to support Nigeria – and this is a welcome development. So why the hullabaloos? – The same donor partners are supporting Partnership Initiative in Niger Delta PIND to build peace and equitable economic development in the Niger Delta.
World Bank’s FCV projects addresses the challenges of fragility, conflict, and violence. This is a strategic priority in Bank programs and projects – to achieve twin goals— end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.
The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It uses financial resources and extensive experience to help countries to reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and improve quality of life
They are also supporting post conflict communities such as North East affected communities towards the Sustainable Development Goals—in particular Goal 16 for peace, justice and strong institutions….
According to World Bank’s FCVSP…. Fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) are a critical development challenge that threatens efforts to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. Two billion people now live in countries where development outcomes are affected by FCV.
The share of extreme poor living in conflict-affected situations is expected to rise from 17% of the global total today to almost 50% by 2030. Conflicts also drive 80% of all humanitarian needs, while they reduce gross domestic product (GDP) growth by two percentage points per year, on average….
North-East Nigeria are part of the Two billion people live in countries where development outcomes are affected by fragility, conflict, and violence….That is why Bank is intervening…. In North East
Poverty and unemployment are among the top key drivers of conflict in North East Nigeria, to ensure sustainable peace and development in the region – we must engage the youth and the (ulamas) the religious leaders and traditional leaders to clearly understand what are their needs.
Despite Bank and other donor’s interventions in the northeast region, the central and state government need to also show sincere commitment towards lifting people of out poverty.
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