President Buhari applauds World Bank decision on spending $2.1 billion to rebuild North – Eastern Nigeria

WASHINGTON (State House Press Report) –

The World Bank has unveiled a $2.1 Billion package earmarked for the rebuilding of the badly devastated North-Eastern part of Nigeria which for the past six years has been ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency.

The Representatives of the World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) in a meeting in Washington lately with President Muhammadu Buhari said that apart from rebuilding the region in terms of infrastructure, priority would be given to the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs), who now number over one million.

President Muhammadu Buhari during the meeting urged the World Bank to dispatch a  team to work in concert with the delegation from the Nigerian Government so that a proper assessment of needs could be done.

The World Bank promised to spend the 2.1 billion dollars through its IDA (International Development Agency) which gives low interest rate loans to governments. “The first 10 years will be interest – free, while an additional 30 years will be at lower than capital market rate. The World Bank is eager to move in quickly, give out the loans and give succor to the people of North-Eastern Nigeria, who have been long at the mercy of an insurgency that has claimed over 20,000 souls,” the World Bank indicated.

The WHO in its support stated that it will invest 300 million dollars on immunization against malaria in Nigeria; whilst the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation promised to collaborate with Dangote Foundation to ensure that the country maintains its zero polio case record of the past one year. It added that should the effort subsist for another two years, Nigeria will be declared fully free of polio.