Kashim Shettima Borno Governor says Buhari’s World Bank appeal aimed at rebuilding North-East
Shettima said while reacting to reports alleging that the president
called on the World Bank to focus its interventions to the northern
region.
Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s appeal to the World Bank was to address economic rebuilding and humanitarian crisis in the North-East.
Shettima
said while reacting to reports alleging that the president called on
the World Bank to focus its interventions to the northern region.
A
statement signed by Isa Gusau, the governor’s Special Adviser,
Communication and Media Strategy on Friday in Maiduguri, said the
presidential appeal was aimed at addressing the destruction by the
insurgency in the region.
“The request was
made by the President in the open and everyone thought it was the right
thing. States in the northeast like Borno have been working with the
World Bank, putting all the collaborative machinery in place.
“We
have series of follow ups and the media has been covering all the steps
including my visit to the World Bank in Abuja few months ago.
“The whole thing is in the open and we believe the objectives of the President will be actualised so as to go forward,” the statement quoted Shettima as saying.
Shettima
said that he and four other governors attended a meeting at Washington
DC in July 2015, when the president called on the bank to support the
rebuilding of the northeast region.
The governor
noted that the president categorically requested the bank to accord
priority to North-East and not the entire northern region.
“Sequel
to the request, the World Bank in collaboration with the European Union
(EU) and office of the Vice President, had in 2016 organized a Recovery
and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) report on the six states affected
by the Boko Haram attack in North-East.
“It was verifiably discovered that the Boko Haram
insurgency destroyed public and private infrastructure worth 9 billion
U.S. dollars in the region. In Borno State the destruction alone
accounted for 6 billion U.S. dollars.
“I
do not speak for the President or the Federal Government, however, the
controversy affects my state because the discussions with the World Bank
focused on rebuilding the northeast and everyone knows that when the
issue of rebuilding the northeast is the subject, Borno naturally comes
into perspective.
“The destruction
inflicted by Boko Haram in the northeast, Borno alone suffered
destruction worth 6 billion dollars and this figure was the product of
President Muhammadu Buhari’s request from the World Bank.
“The
World Bank championed the RPBA report on the six states of the
northeast with the participation of the European Union and the office of
the Vice President.
“The bank became involved after President Buhari made the request to support the rebuilding of the northeast.
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