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  • What Buhari told World Bank, by Oshiomhole

    What Buhari told World Bank, by Oshiomhole

    FORMER Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole said yesterday President Muhammadu Buhari only asked for assistance on humanitarian crisis during a session with World Bank President Dr. Kim Jong.

    He said it was regrettable that a patriotic request made by the President and borne out of altruistic motivation was now being politicised.

    He said the idea of trying to read sectional meaning to Buhari’s patriotic request was grossly unfortunate.

    Oshiomhole, who made the clarifications in a statement in Abuja, said Buhari remains a statesman.

    The statement said: “It is a matter of fact that I was present at the meeting of President Muhammadu Buhari with the World Bank President Dr. Kim Jong on July 21, 2015 at the Blair House, Washington DC.

    “It is rather unfortunate that a patriotic request made by Mr. President and borne out of altruistic motivation is now being twisted, manipulated and politicised to suit certain political end.

    “Mr. President made the request against the backdrop of the devastation of the Northeast zone and the need for international organisations to rise in support of the efforts of the Nigeria government in arresting the humanitarian crisis in that part of the country.

    “The inhuman conditions of the Internally Displaced Persons were also discussed and Mr. President urged the World Bank to look into the best possible ways to address the crisis before it got out of hand.

    “In Edo State at that period, the government I headed was also buffeted with the challenge of dealing with internally displaced persons who came to settle in the outskirt of Benin City without the knowledge of the state government.

    “It took my personal intervention and the cooperation of Mr. President before we could offer our logistic assistance to make their location habitable to avert any humanitarian crisis.

    “For those who are familiar with the devastation of the North-East, where over 20,000 persons have reportedly been killed with over two million internally displaced persons, it smacks of political notoriety for any rational mind to question the request of Mr. President.”

    The ex-governor urged Nigerians to stop playing politics with the session between the President and the World Bank chief.

    The statement added: “President Buhari remains a statesman, who is not only patriotic and altruistic in his intentions, but one whose actions speak volume for our unity of purpose.

    “We should see the country as one indivisible entity driven by common objectives and goals.”

     

     

  • We have $8.5b portfolio across Nigeria, says World Bank

    We have $8.5b portfolio across Nigeria, says World Bank

    •Lists intervention efforts in Northeast

    The World Bank said yesterday that its entire portfolio across Nigeria currently stands at about $8.5 billion.

    The global financial institution was  shedding  light on its rehabilitation efforts in the Northeast apparently in reaction to the controversy sparked by a statement by its President Jim Yong Kim that President Muhammadu Buhari requested its   special intervention in the zone.

    The projects are located in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, it said.

    It listed its intervention efforts in the Northeast as including a $775 million International Development Association (IDA)  credit for “restoring basic education and health services, agricultural production, and livelihood improvement opportunities through community support development and youth employment.”

    The IDA is an arm of the WB that helps the world’s poorest countries.

    Overseen by 173 shareholder nations, IDA aims to reduce poverty by providing loans (called “credits”) and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities, and improve people’s living conditions.

    The WB, in a statement on its website, said it had to first carry out a Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) to enable it “assess the needs of the nearly 15 million people in this region impacted by the crisis.”

    The assessment, it said was conducted in partnership with the United Nations, and the European Union.

    It said it was “working with federal, state and development partners on speeding delivery of critical interventions to the people of the North East who urgently need assistance.”

    But it explained that its assistance to Nigeria was not limited to the Northeast  as it “continues to be fully committed to helping the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) reduce poverty and foster prosperity for all Nigerians.”

    It put its entire portfolio in Nigeria at “about $8.5 billion spread across the country.”

    It said: “Under IDA 18, the World Bank Group is doubling its resources to address fragility, conflict and violence at the subnational and national levels and help stabilize places that are affected by high poverty and influx of people.”

    Jim had told reporters in Washington DC on Thursday that the bank was concentrating on the north in line with Buhari’s request.

    “You know, in my very first meeting with President Buhari he said specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern region of Nigeria and we’ve done that.  Now, it has been very difficult. The work there has been very difficult,” he was quoted as saying.

    The statement immediately sparked a controversy in the country, prompting a denial from the Presidency.

    Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina said the issue was twisted by those who specialize in such act.

    He said what Buhari asked of the World Bank was assistance for  the Northeast which has been ravaged by years of insurgency by Boko Haram.

  • World Bank lists intervention efforts in Northeast

    World Bank lists intervention efforts in Northeast

    •Confirms $8.5b portfolio across Nigeria

    The World Bank yesterday threw light on its rehabilitation efforts in the Northeast apparently in reaction to the controversy sparked by its President Jim Yong Kim that President Muhammadu Buhari requested its   special intervention in the zone.

    These include a $775 million International Development Association (IDA) credit for “restoring basic education and health services, agricultural production, and livelihood improvement opportunities through community support development and youth employment.”

    The IDA is an arm of the WB that helps the world’s poorest countries.

    Overseen by 173 shareholder nations, IDA aims to reduce poverty by providing loans (called “credits”) and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities, and improve people’s living conditions.

    The WB, in a statement on its website, said it had to first carry out a Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) to enable it  “assess the needs of the nearly 15 million people in this region impacted by the crisis.”

    The assessment, it said was conducted in partnership with the United Nations, and the European Union.

    It said it was “working with federal, state and development partners on speeding delivery of critical interventions to the people of the North East who urgently need assistance.”

    But it explained that its assistance to Nigeria was not limited to the Northeast  as it “continues to be fully committed to helping the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) reduce poverty and foster prosperity for all Nigerians.”

    It put its entire portfolio in Nigeria at “about $8.5 billion spread across the country.”

    It said: “Under IDA 18, the World Bank Group is doubling its resources to address fragility, conflict and violence at the subnational and national levels and help stabilize places that are affected by high poverty and influx of people.”

    Jim had  told reporters in Washington DC on Thursday that the bank was concentrating  on the north  in line with Buhari’s request.

    “You know, in my very first meeting with President Buhari he said specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern region of Nigeria and we’ve done that.  Now, it has been very difficult. The work there has been very difficult,” he was quoted as saying.

    The statement immediately sparked a controversy in the country, prompting a denial from the Presidency.

    Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina said the issue was twisted by those who specialize in such act.

    He said what Buhari asked of the World Bank was assistance for  the Northeast which has been ravaged by years of insurgency by Boko Haram.

  • Why Buhari wanted World Bank to focus on North-East- Shettima

    Why Buhari wanted World Bank to focus on North-East- Shettima

    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.

    READ ALSO: Buhari’s discussion with World Bank boss twisted — Presidency

     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.

    “The meeting between President Buhari and the bank in Washington DC which took place in July, 2015, few weeks after the President’s swearing-in, was attended by their Excellencies, Governors Adams Oshiomhole (former governor of Edo) from the South-South and Rochas Okorocha from the South-East.

    “Others are Abiola Ajimobi from the South-West, 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”. (NAN)

    READ ALSO: 45 Boko Haram members jailed

  • World Bank urges govt to invest in Nigerians

    World Bank urges govt to invest in Nigerians

    The World Bank Group yesterday advised Nigeria to reduce its dependence on crude oil revenues and develop capacity of its citizens.

    World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, who spoke at the opening of the 2017 World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings in Washington D.C, said Nigeria needed to invest in its people and develop their capabilities to create wealth.

    He said to help Nigeria address its challenges, the World Bank was working to maximize finance for development. The global lender is pursuing private sector solutions to help achieve development goals and reserve scarce public finance for where it is most needed, particularly investments in human capital.

    The global lenderr will continue to partner with the Federal Government to support people displaced by Boko Haram in the Northeast.

    Kim said the bank was undertaking a Human Capital Project to help Nigeria invest more – and more effectively – in its people. The project will show how long-term investments in people can help grow economies – and create the political space for leaders to make critical investments.

    The World Bank boss said the lender had earlier discussed with the government the need to diversify the economy away from oil, and ensure that the survival of the economy does not depend on the rise and fall of crude oil prices.

    “We think this has the potential to be a game changer to meet rising aspirations all of the people. Nigeria has to think ahead. The conversation we need to have with Nigeria in many ways has to do with investments in human capital. The percentage to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that Nigeria spends on education is less than one per cent and this has to change for the country to do better,” he said.

    Continuing, he said all countries need to invest more in their human capital. “We are introducing an accelerated effort at the World Bank Group that would help countries invest more in their people. Long-term investments in people would help economies grow. Over the next years, we would be working with a wide range of experts and economists in education, to help develop human capital,” Kim said, adding:

    “If you look at the numbers in terms of how successful African countries have invested in their human beings, versus other regions, you will know that it is a real issue. From next year, not just in Nigeria, but in the rest of Africa, we are going to focus on accelerating investments in human capital as well as investments in education, for the next phase in economic growth.”

    Kim also said the World Bank would be focusing on supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) initiatives.

    “As commodity prices come up, we believe the economy would grow more, but Nigeria must focus on what the drivers of growth for the future would be. In Africa, we have to be much more creative.  Again, investing in people is important. That is a major direction we have to go. It is not just about oil prices going up or down,” he added.

    He said finance ministers and central bankers from over 189 member-countries were gathering in Washington to discuss “the challenges and opportunities we face as a global community”. “These discussions will help countries chart the path forward for how to improve the lives of their people – and in doing so, they should help set the agenda for the world’s economy in the coming year.”

    The World Bank chief said trade was picking up, but investment remained weak. “We’re concerned that risks, such as a rise in protectionism, policy uncertainty, or possible financial market turbulence, could derail this fragile recovery in global economies. Overall, we’re seeing growth rise in most developing and advanced economies – which is why countries need to make critical investments now. This is the time to implement the reforms that are going to insulate against potential downturns in the future,” Kim said.

    He said countries needed to build resilience against the overlapping challenges we face today, including the effects of climate change, natural disasters, conflict, forced displacement, famine, and disease.

    IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said financial technology remained an opportunity needed to move global economies to the next level. She also said that tightening of the financial markets could hurt emerging markets, if it sparks a capital outflow. She said uptick in inequality remained a concern, and could endanger global growth.

    Lagarde also disclosed that the global economy was experiencing harmony, which must be turned into a season of performance and productive output.

    The IMF boss disclosed that world economic recovery remained stronger and more broadly based than before, which is why the Fund raised its growth forecasts to 3.6 per cent in 2017 and 3.7 per cent next year.

    She said policy makers should use this moment to turn the fortunes of their economies around for good, including the use of structural reforms to achieve desired results.

    “The global recovery continues. Although it is not yet complete, the more favorable conjuncture offers an opportunity to tackle key policy challenges to stave off medium-term downside risks, rebuild buffers, and raise potential output. Countries should undertake well-sequenced reforms to increase productivity, improve governance, and reduce policy uncertainty and future risks,” she said.

    According to her, reforms should also aim to harness the benefits of technology and economic integration and ensure that they are widely shared.

    Tackling challenges to the global economy continues to require cooperation and joint action across the membership, Lagarde said.

    “The Fund will assist members through tailored policy advice and capacity development, and stands ready to provide financial assistance to support adjustment programmes,” she stated.

    Besides, the Fund will conduct further analysis of the productivity slowdown, including measurement challenges in a digital economy, and identify structural reform priorities to boost productivity, investment, and growth.

  • Nigeria wins World Bank’s youth development initiative

    Nigeria wins World Bank’s youth development initiative

    For the second successive year, Nigeria has won the Ideas for Action initiative, a youth competition on financing for development, which is yearly organised by the World Bank Group in collaboration with the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research.

    Nigeria’s winning proposal, “Kitovu”, came out tops from among 743 proposals from 118 countries, while Uganda’s proposal of “Gifted Hands” and India’s proposal of “Agratam” were adjudged first and second runner ups in this year’s competition.

    Kitovu, is an innovative platform and system that matches fertilizer type and quantity, improved quality seeds, and other inputs to the right soil.

    The proposal envisions a web- and mobile-based decentralised fertilizer and seedling warehousing system that matches the right inputs to different farm locations owned by small-holder farmers in distant locations so as to lower the cost of cultivation while ensuring increased yields.

    Mr. Nwachinemere Emeka Obewe, who initiated the winning proposal, explained that the platform sought to create market access for smallholder farmers in distant locations by using a mix of web, mobile and SMS platforms to link farmers to processors, produce buyers, transporters, and other ecosystem stakeholders to tackle post-harvest losses and enable produce traceability while increasing farmer income.

    The World Bank’s Senior Vice President (The 2030 Development Agenda), Mahmoud Mohieldin, announced the results of the 2017 Ideas for Action initiative on Tuesday in Washington, during the annual meetings of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

    Mohieldin disclosed that the winners were selected through a vigorous three-stage selection process evaluating the creativity, significance, feasibility, and clarity of the proposals.

    The reviewers, according to him, included young World Bank Group staff, technical experts and senior executives from the World Bank Group, Wharton School and the G-24 Secretariat, among others.

    “The 2017 Ideas for Action competition encourages young people from around the world to develop and share their ideas for innovative approaches, through the smart use of technology, as well as financing solutions, to solve development challenges.

    “It attracts engagement from young people across the globe, with about 38 per cent of submissions from Sub-Saharan African, 15 per cent from Latin American and the Caribbean, 13 per cent from South Asia, 12 per cent from East Asia and the Pacific, 12 per cent from North America, 8 per cent from Europe, and 2 per cent from the Middle East and North Africa,” said the World Bank’s senior officer.

    In her remarks, the World Bank’s Director of Strategy and Operations, Africa Region, Ms. Mamta Murthi, reassured that the Bretton-wood institution would continue to promote and encourage the youth globally.

    She noted that the youth remained the major stakeholders in the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and its associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    She said, “We focus on youth for this competition because three billion people – 43 per cent of the world’s population – are under the age of 25. The world’s youth will implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, contributing their unique solutions and shaping their future and ours.

    “The SDGs are a set of 17 global goals that seek to end poverty, promote peace, and preserve the planet for future generations, all by 2030.

    “More ambitious than their predecessor, the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs cover a broad range of interconnected issues, from ending hunger, promoting health, addressing inequality, creating jobs and sustainable economic growth to improving governance and addressing global challenges such as climate change.”

     

     

  • World Bank, WFP and Borno restoration

    As a creative and novel response to persistent passionate pleas to the international community by President Muhammadu Buhari, the World Bank, through its FADAMA project, and the World Food Programme (WFP), are collaborating to restore livelihoods of over 7, 500 conflict-affected households in the North-east state of Borno.

    Since the Boko Haram terrorist group began its genocidal assault to take over the North-east in 2009, over eight million people have been displaced, tens of thousands of children kidnapped, thousands of children forced into war either as child soldiers, sex objects or cannons for suicide bombs detonations. It was therefore not surprising that the Global Institute for Economics and Peace, in its 2016 Global Terrorism Index, rated the dreaded Boko Haram group as the deadliest terrorist organisation in the world.

    The enormity of the reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement, as aptly captured by the “Three Rs” of the Borno Governor, Shettima Kashim, was not lost on the President as he pleaded to world leaders during a high-level event on “The Humanitarian Crisis in the Lake Chad Basin: A Turning Point,” in New York, jointly-sponsored by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the African Union, the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the margins of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly that: “It is time for collective global action to invest in the people of Nigeria’s North-east and the Lake Chad Basin region. We are renewing the call for re-dedicated international action to end the humanitarian needs of victims and address the root causes of terrorism itself.”

    Same call was made by President Buhari in his address to the 72nd General Assembly of the UN in September, as he reported remarkable improvement in the war against insurgency and continuing efforts at wiping away the vestiges of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east and Lake Chad Basin, even as he reiterated that: “these can only be achieved through the international community cooperating and providing critical assistance and material support.”

    It was therefore a cheering and positive historical development in international and multilateral networking for humanity, when on October 4, just few dates after Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary, the World Bank and the World Food Programme, (WFP), met at the Government House, Maiduguri, to sign a MoU on partnership between WFP and FADAMA III Additional Financing II. Through this partnership,   FADAMA and WFP will collaborate in restoring livelihoods, stabilizing communities, through income generating activities, agriculture interventions, and social protection – cash-for work interventions.

    Specifically, the project aims to increase asset ownership of beneficiaries involved in livestock and agricultural production with special focus on youth and women heads of households; and develop and maintain community assets through cash for work benefiting the most vulnerable community members including youth in peri-urban setting in Borno State.  Initially targeting 7,500 households, implementation is planned to start in November for a period of 12 months.

    The Country Director of the World Bank, Rachid Benmessaoud, represented by Senior Agriculture Economist and Fadama Task Team Leader at the World Bank, Dr.  Adetunji Oredipe, informed that Fadama III Additional Financing II project has been effectively mobilized for rapid response to an emergency—specifically to contribute to the restoration of livelihoods for victims of violence and insecurity in the North-east. In this regard, “US$50 million was approved by the board of the World Bank in June 2016 in  response to the urgent food and livelihood needs of farming households who have been affected by conflicts in the six North-east states, namely  Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, and Gombe.” The entire project resources, according to Oredipe, will be used to finance food security activities including food assistance, advisory and extension services, agricultural inputs and rehabilitation of infrastructure to help restore agriculture production and livelihoods of 24,000 farming households (approx. 192,000 individuals).

    While assuring that the Fadama team “will continue to look for avenues and innovative ways of partnering with other willing agencies to push the frontier of enduring sustainable strategy to provide better life for the millions of affected people in Borno State and beyond”, Oredipe expressed appreciation for the political will of the government to successfully execute the project:  “On behalf of my Country Director, Rachid Benmessaoud, our appreciation goes to His Excellency, Governor Shettima Kashim, and his counterparts in the six states of the North East, for providing the political support and conducive environment for the project team. I am happy to note that this project is succeeding because of your commitment and financial support”.

    WFP’s Director of Field Operations, Dr. Tito Nikodimos, counting on his organisation’s experience worldwide and in Nigeria, enthused that: “we are happy to partner with FADAMA and to contribute to food security and restoring livelihoods in vulnerable households”.  WFP targets 1.1 million in the three states Adamawa, Borno and Yobe covering 27 Local Government Areas in total. In its humanitarian response in the North-east, WFP provides food or cash assistance where markets are fully functioning. In addition, specialized nutritious food is provided to children and pregnant and nursing mothers to prevent malnutrition. Between July and December 2016, the number of people reached by WFP increased from 85,000 to more than one million monthly. The partnership will, no doubt expand and deepen the reach in the next 12 months.

    For Borno’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mohammed Aliyu Dili, the project could not have come at a better time. An earlier assessment by WFP showed an improvement in food production in the state. “Our people are now preparing and some are even harvesting their crops. In his words, “any assistance in whatever form will no doubt bridge the gap in restoring their livelihood and improving the food security, especially of the communities devastated by the insurgents”, he said.

    The Borno governor described the event as “special moment that marks a new page of cooperation between Fadama III Additional Financing II, a flagship project of the World Bank in the North East of Nigeria and the World Food Programme (WFP) here in Maiduguri”, saying the situation in Borno State, as you are all aware, calls for an initiative of this nature where strong partners will agree to come together latching on their individual strength to form a coalition to pursue a common cause. The partnership, he believed, will make a positive impact in the lives of our people who are devastated by the insurgency.

     

    • Oladunjoye is National Media Consultant to the Fadama Project in Nigeria

     

  • FMBN tasks World Bank against parallel housing schemes

    FMBN tasks World Bank against parallel housing schemes

    In order to avoid duplication of responsibilities, the Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Architect Ahmed Dangiwa, has called on the World Bank to put an end to the creation of parallel housing finance schemes in the country.

    Dangiwa said FMBN is the statutory body mandated to manage housing mortgages, thus, need for the World Bank to partner with the mortgage institution rather than duplicating efforts of the FMBN.

    He disclosed this while receiving World Bank team led by Mr. Simon Walley in the Bank’s Corporate Headquarters, Abuja.

    The MD urged the World Bank to build confidence in the FMBN and improve its capacity in the provision of affordable housing.

    In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by FMBN Unit Head, Public Affairs and Event Management, Mr. Kaoje Ahmed, Dangiwa expressed concerns stressing that except there is a change of strategy, the current approach would deprive the sector of needed synergy and slow down the expected growth in the housing industry.

    He expressed resolve of the FMBN new management team to engage stakeholders and development partners for mutual cooperation.

    Dangiwa, who described World Bank as a critical stakeholder stressed the need for partnership to sustain and deepen their relationship. He stated that it became imperative to providing affordable housing for low and medium income earners, who constitute a bulk of the nation’s population.

    In his address, Walley said the visit was to seek possible ways to developing the housing sector.

    He said the World Bank identified FMBN as key player in the nation’s mortgage industry following previous meetings in the past to grow the sector.

    The team lead commended FMBN for new initiatives and products designed to improve housing finance. He listed the cooperative housing loan window and advised the FMBN to exploit it to the fullest.

  • World Bank releases N30m to Kaduna schools

    World Bank releases N30m to Kaduna schools

    The World Bank has ordered the immediate release of N30 million to improve teaching and learning facilities at a UBE Primary School with 22, 2400 pupils in Rigasa, a suburb of Kaduna.

    A representative of the bank, Dr Olatunde Adekola, said that the intervention was for immediate upgrade of facilities at the school.

    He said the high number of pupils had increased pressure on both teaching and learning facilities in the school, which has 70 teachers.

    Adekola had led a task team for midterm review of the N6 billion granted the state under the bank’s Global Partnership for Education ( GPE ).

    The bank is spending N20 billion under GPE to support girl-child education in five states, of the Northwest, where all indexes on education appeared to be very low compared to other regions.

    The target was to increase reading and writing skills for pupils in nursery and those in primary one to three, and strengthen community activism and local governance.

    It also aimed at expanding access to education through community initiatives and to increase the number of qualified female teachers in areas with high gender disparities.

    Other states benefiting from the partnership, supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development ( USAID ) and UK Department for International Development (DFID), include Jigawa, Kano, Katsina and Sokoto.

    Meanwhile, the project Coordinator for Kaduna State, Aburu Musa said over 3,400 primary schools have benefited from the programme.

    According to him, a total of 8,050 primary school girls from poor homes had received N45, 000 scholarship grants to continue with their education, with 1, 170 female teachers also getting similar amount to further their studies.

    Meanwhile, the state government said its school feeding program and the GPE scholarship had resulted to the soaring of school enrolment from 1.1 million to 2.1 million pupils in the state.

    According to Gov. Nasiru El-Rufai, current enrolment ratio stands at 51 boys and 49 girls in schools in the state.

    The State Government had recently signed into law the Bill on School Based Management Committee, to allow community participation in the running of schools.

    NAN

  • Osun, World Bank empower 1,131 youths

    Osun, World Bank empower 1,131 youths

    The Osun State government, in collaboration with the World Bank, has empowered 1,131 less-privileged youths.

    Special Adviser to the Governor on International Relations, Dr. Michael Odugbile, who spoke at an orientation and training programme for beneficiaries at Ede, noted that the World Bank supported the initiative under the state’s Youth Employment and Social Support Operation.

    According to him, the programme is one of the bank’s projects for supporting Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s agenda to banish unemployment and poverty.

    He said: “YESSO programme is supporting the poorest of the poor unemployed youths between ages 18 and 35 years, especially those who do not have more than the Junior Secondary School Certificate (JSSC).”

    Also, Commissioner for Empowerment and Youth Engagement Mrs. Foluke Adegboyega said the YESSO is the  offshoot of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme  (O’YES).

    She said the programme was designed to rescue the underprivileged.

    The commissioner said beneficiaries, with lower certificates or none, were those who demonstrated outstanding character.

    Mrs Adegboyega said the 1,131 were selected by their communities.

    She said: “The beneficiaries will be entitled to a stipend of N7,500 per month and this will be based on their participation in activities of the programme.”

    The commissioner added that the deployment of YESSO beneficiaries will be based on needs of communities.