Southern Governors Were Present When Buhari Urged World Bank To Support North – Shettima

Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, has reacted to the disclosure by World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, that President Muhammadu Buhari sought the institution’s support for Northern states.

Shettima said five Governors, including three representing South-South, Southeast and Southwest and late Nigerian Ambassador to the
​US, Professor Adefuye were present when Buhari​ ​in July 2015,​ ​asked Kim​ ​to support rebuilding of the northeast geo-political zone which has suffered massive destruction​ ​as a result of Boko Haram insurgency,

In a chat with newsmen Friday night, Shettima said Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Adams Oshiomhole​ ​of Edo and Abiola Ajimobi​ ​of Oyo​ ​were all in attendance when President Buhari met with the World Bank​ ​chief.

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 northeast​.

He recalled that it was verifiably discovered that the Boko Haram had destroyed public and private infrastructure worth nine billion dollars in the northeast from which destructions 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 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 Northeast.

“The President and the Federal Government have very competent​ spokespersons, I don’t speak for the President or the FG​.

​”H​owever, 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 t​h​e northeast is the subject, Borno naturally comes into perspective​.

“This is ​because of the 9 billion dollars worth of destructions inflicted by Boko Haram on the northeast, Borno alone suffered destructions 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 ​c​entral, myself from the northeast, 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 has 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 ​we ​go forward”​, ​Shettima said.
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  1. So what Shettima? What could the said governors have done? Could they changed Buhari's instructions? You talk like kids are your audience.

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  2. I believe strongly the PMB might have said it exactly the way the world bank president quoted him. I also believe strongly that he (PMB) might have said it exactly how Governor Shettima has quoted him. But the truth remains that PMB is sectional and "nepotistic". I was an undergraduate and I realised that the universities in the north had more PTF buses than in the south. There were also complaints from people in the south that PTF carried out more road projects in the north than in the south. These were the reasons I did not support him in the election to be the president because such character can destroy Nigeria more than corruption. When efforts are not made to keep the federating nations together peacefully, the country can easily break apart. PMB has not proven his critics wrong by his comments 97% vs 5%. Who says or does that in a democratic system? How can you have national security architecture without 1 person from the east?. How can the country win the confidence of the easterners in the Nigerian project without having one of them in the national security council? And other lopsided appointments have also shown his discriminatory tendencies. I believe in equal right and justice as means of sustaining peace and keeping Nigeria together, and not by operations animals' actions such as dancing and smiling to suppress people. Such operations may come and go but the wounded hearts will still be agitating for justice which if denied can lead to national disintegration in future. David from Okene, Kogi state

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  3. well, if that is the case, its a shame on former president Jonathan who didnt use the opportunity God gave the Niger Delta to develop the region, even his home town Otuoke. Instead he kept enriching likes of Asari Dokubo, Deziani and others. So so sad.

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