President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan has urged the World Bank to come to the aid of Nigeria in her effort toward poverty alleviation in the country.
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Lawan made the appeal on Tuesday when the new World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri led a delegation of the bank officials on a courtesy visit to his office.
Lawan said this was the time the country needed the World Bank the most when the Coronavirus, the global pandemic, was making it difficult to raise revenue for the implementation of the 2020 budget.
“This is the time the World Bank should stand out to come to the aid of Nigeria. Normally you will discuss what the issues are and what the request of the country is”, Lawan said.
The president of the Senate also said: “I am sure you have known our challenges because you have been involved in so many things including our power sector”.
“ We have the issue of power in this country. It is a major issue. Before the security situation deteriorated, our main problem towards achieving our desired development in Nigeria was power.
“The security situation took centre stage because its about life and death. I am sure that if we are able to resolve the security challenges we are going through in Nigeria and then fix our power, Nigeria will be a great country,” Lawan said.
Lawan, therefore, recalled the promise made last year by President Muhammadu Buhari to take out 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years, adding however, that the promise was still realisable.
“It is possible because we have the ingredients and we have the friends who will help us. This is where the World Bank is also needed.
“How do you help us achieve that? It is achievable. Other countries have achieved that, India, Brazil and China have done quite well.
“Not only money but the technical support we require because it is not only giving us loans and grants but even how to apply and deploy resources to achieve these goals will be so important and critical”, he said.
He also said: “so, how do you help us in this year 2020 to take 10 million Nigerians out of poverty and take out additional 10 million in 2021, and then 2022”.
“In fact, if you help us in one or two years, I am sure, from crawling we will start running on our own because we would have seen and received the attention, resources and support we required and the rest we can do on our own.
“This is the time for Nigeria to know its friends because it is when you are in serious crisis that you require attention and support from friends.”
The president of the Senate also urged the World Bank to assist Nigeria in the ongoing drive to repatriate the money looted by Nigerians and stashed in foreign banks.
“It has been a very difficult and monumental situation to ask and get those monies back to Nigeria even if you identify where they are.
“For a developing country, such resources are important and critical to our efforts in developing the country.
“So, how is World Bank helping us in ensuring that we get back some of these resources knowing fully well that some of these powerful countries will protect such funds and it becomes difficult for us to get them back,” Lawan said.
Earlier, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Chaudhuri said: “we are here to support the government’s programmes, particularly as it relates to poverty alleviation, that is our ultimate goal”.
“It is an opportunity for us to have your thoughts on where you will like to see us direct our support having in mind our ultimate mission is to help eliminate poverty”.