Five Governors including three of them representing the South-South, South East and South West and the late Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Professor Adefuye were present when President Muhammadu Buhari held a meeting with President of the World Bank in Washington back in July, 2015, during which the President made a special appeal for the World Bank to support in the rebuilding of the North East geo-political zone which has suffered massive destruction as a result of Boko Haram insurgency, Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima who was also at the meeting said on Friday night with a call on Nigerians to emphasize issues that unite the country rather than what divides it.
Shettima spoke with reference to responses following media reports claiming the World Bank President said President Muhammadu Buhari had asked the Bank to focus developmental attention on ‘northern Nigeria’, a situation that many interpreted as favoritism.
Clearing the air while speaking with some journalists in Maiduguri on Friday night, Governor Shettima said himself, Governors Owelle Rochas Okorocha of Imo State from the South East, Adams Oshiomhole from the South-South, Abiola Isiaka Ajimobi from the South West and Tanko Almakura from the North-Central were all in attendance when President Buhari met with the World Bank chief during which he made an open request for the world to focus in helping the Federal Government to rebuild the North East. He noted that it was in furtherance of the request that in 2016, the World Bank in collaboration with the European Union and office of the Vice President, organized a Recovery and Peace Building Assessment Report on the six states affected by the Boko Haram attacks in the North East following which it was verifiably discovered that the Boko Haram had destroyed public and private infrastructure worth nine billion dollars in the northeast of which destruction in Borno alone accounted for six billion US dollars.
Governor Shettima said while it was not his duty to speak for the President, he found it necessary to clear the air ‘because it will be unfair for him to keep silent’ while President Buhari is wrongly misunderstood in his attempt to help in rebuilding Borno and other parts of the North East.
“The President and the Federal Government have very competent spokespersons, I don’t speak for the President or the FG, 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 because of the 9 billion dollars worth of destruction inflicted by Boko Haram on 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. It was the World Bank that championed the RPBA (Recovery and Peace Building Assessment Report on the six States of the northeast with the participation of the European Union, and office of the Vice President. The World Bank became involved after President Buhari made a request for the Bank to support the rebuilding of the northeast. The meeting between President Buhari and the World Bank in Washington DC which took place in July, 2015, few weeks after the President’s swearing-in, was attended by their Excellencies, then Governor Adams Oshiomhole from the south-South, Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo from the southeast, Abiola Isiaka Ajimobi from the Southwest, Tanko Al-Makura from the north Central, myself from the northeast, the Late Prof.Adefuye and the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bulus Lolo. 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 been having series of follow ups and the media has been covering all the steps including my visit to the World Bank in Abuja some months ago. The whole thing is in the open and we believe the objectives of the President will be actualised as go forward” Shettima said.
