The World Bank has unfolded a $2.1billion package to be spent on rebuilding the North-eastern part of Nigeria, devastated by the Boko Haram insurgency.
The World Bank will spend the 2.1 billion dollars through
its IDA (International Development Agency), which gives low interest
rate loans to governments. The first ten years will be interest free,
while an additional 30 years will be at lower than capital market rate.
Meeting with representatives of the World Bank, Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Health Organisation (WHO), in
Washington, onTuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari said besides
rebuilding the region in terms of infrastructure, priority must also be
given to the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
A report by the Internal Displaced Monitoring Centre
(IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), tagged Global Overview
2014, puts IDPs in Nigeria at 3.3 million.
Boko Haram has carried out deadly attacks in northern
Nigeria since the inception of the insurgency in 2009 leaving thousands
dead and over 200 school girl still missing .
According to a statement released by President Buhari’s
spokesman, Femi Adesina, the president who lauded the World Bank’s
decision, urged them to send a team which would work in concert with a
select group from the Federal Government, so that a proper needs assessment could be done.
“The World Bank is eager to move in quickly, give out the
loans, and give succor to the people of North-east, long at the mercy of
an insurgency that has claimed over 20,000 souls” Adesina said in the
statement.
The US, according to reports by the BBC, has committed $5
million (£3.2m; €4.6m) to the fight against Boko Haram since President
Buhari came to power on May 29th.
The World Health Organisation is also set to invest an
extra $300 million on immunisation against malaria in Nigeria, while 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.
“If the effort is sustained for another two years, Nigeria will be declared fully free of polio” the statement added.
Source: +BusinessDay Newspaper
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