President Muhammadu Buhari has denied alleged move to give the Northern part of the country advantage over the other parts in his request for World Bank’s support.
In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the president is said to have a pan-Nigerian mandate, and has discharged his duties to that effect.
According to him, the president had always worked in the best interest of the Nigerian populace and the different parts of the country.
Adesina explained that contrary to the belief in some quarters, the request for concentration of the World Bank’s intervention efforts in the northern part of Nigeria, particularly in the North-east, was because of the devastating effect of Boko Haram insurgency in that part of the country.
He said it was very unfortunate that those hell bent on twisting the intention of the president had misrepresented him.
His words: “Those who specialise in a deliberate twisting of information have wailed and raged endlessly on the news item credited to the World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, who disclosed in Washington DC, United States of America, that President Muhammadu Buhari had requested a concentration of the Bank’s intervention efforts in the northern part of Nigeria, particularly in the North-east.
“The ignorant and mischievous people, who twist everything for their vile purposes, are making it seem that it was a calculated attempt to give the North an unfair advantage over other parts of Nigeria.
“The truth of the matter is that President Buhari, right from his first week in office in June, 2015, had reached out to the G-7 in Germany that Nigeria needed help to rebuild the North-east, which had been terribly devastated by insurgency.
“He said the country would prefer help in terms of rebuilding of infrastructure, rather than cash donation, which may end up being misappropriated.”
Adesina said in concert with governors of the region, a comprehensive list of needed repairs was sent to the G-7 leaders.
He added that during a trip to Washington in 2015, and many other engagements that followed, President Buhari sought the help of the World Bank in rebuilding the beleaguered North-east, which was then being wrested from the stranglehold of Boko Haram.
He said such discussions as the one with the World Bank chief were always done in the open.
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“Those ululating over the disclosure by the President of the World Bank should be a bit reflective, and consider the ravages that the North-east has suffered since 2009, when the Boko Haram insurgency started.
“Schools, hospitals, homes, entire villages, towns, cities, bridges, and other public utilities have been blown up, laid waste, and lives terminated in excess of 20,000, while widows and orphans littered the landscape.
“The humanitarian crisis was in monumental proportions.
“President Buhari simply did what a caring leader should do. He took the battle to the insurgents, broke their backs, and then sought for help to rebuild, so that the people could have their lives back,” he explained further.
Adesina said it was sad that negative reactions against Buhar followed the statement by the World Bank chief.
