Recession: Oyo seeks World Bank assistance

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has appealed to the World Bank to assist the state as it struggles to meet its financial obligations.

While hosting the World Bank Country Director, Mr. Benmessaoud Rachid, and his team at the Governor Office in Ibadan, the governor thanked the bank for its financial commitment to the state, stressing the importance of the partnership between the state and the bank for the development of Oyo State.

The World Bank was said to have committed about N13bn to six projects in the state, including urban flood management programme, Ibadan master plan, health and agriculture.

Ajimobi called for further cooperation and support of the institution in the renewed drive of the state to make agriculture the fulcrum of its economic revival agenda.

Ajimobi said the state had a comparative and competitive advantage in agriculture, including a high concentration of research institutions, vast arable land, manpower and clement weather capable of making it to excel in the sector.

Ajimobi said, “Your earlier collaborative efforts in agriculture, like Fadama and State AIDS Control Agency are laudable. But, in the face of the current economic recession, it is our belief that only agriculture can take Nigeria out of the economic doldrums.

“I am impressed by the position of the Country Director on the need to work together with our state for service delivery. There is the need to add value to crop production as different from harvesting and exporting raw agricultural produce. We were initially unhappy with the low level of deliverables and slow response of the World Bank to our call for support during some moments of emergency, but we want to believe that this trend will change for better with this visit. We will appreciate an early response to our call for assistance during emergencies.”

The governor also called the bank’s attention to the health, environment and education sectors, stressing that the state government had embarked on the training of teachers and provision of educational infrastructural facilities, flood management, and waste-to-wealth project for power generation.

The country director of the bank informed the governor that the team was in Oyo to demonstrate the bank’s commitment and preparedness to partner the state government in its efforts to reduce poverty among the citizens.

Rachid said, “The World Bank has six different projects worth over $41m, among others in Oyo State. It is important for projects currently embarked upon in the state to be fast-tracked for mitigating efforts in the HIV/AIDS, youth empowerment, and the health sector.”