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The Federal Government has obtained a $2.1 billion credit from the World Bank to rebuild the North-East zone devastated by the jihadist group, Boko Haram.
President Muhammadu Buhari announced this in Washington DC, United States, Wednesday.
Mr. Buhari is currently in the U.S. on a four-day official visit where he has discussed bilateral issues with President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials.
Speaking after meeting with representatives of the World Bank and other donor agencies, Mr. Buhari hailed the decision to invest $2.1 billion in rebuilding the troubled region.
The representatives of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization, WHO, also attended the meeting.
Apart from rebuilding the North-East in terms of infrastructure, Mr. Buhari said priority would be given to the resettlement of internally displaced persons, who now number over 1 million.
He appealed to the World Bank to send a team to work with the Federal Government in carrying out proper needs assessment of people of the zone.
“The World Bank will spend the 2.1 billion dollars through its (International Development Agency), which gives low interest rates loans to government,” Mr. Buhari said.
“The first 10 years will be interest free, while an additional 30 years will be at lower than capital market rate. The World Bank is eager to move in quickly, give out the loans, and give succor to the people of North-east, long at the mercy of an insurgency that has claimed over 20,000 souls.
“WHO is also to invest 300 million dollars on immunization against malaria in Nigeria, while the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will collaborate with Dangote Foundation to ensure that the country maintains its zero polio case record of the past one year,” the statement said.
The president said if the effort is sustained for another two years, Nigeria will be declared fully free of polio by the WHO.
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