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| Buhari and Ezekwesili |
I have seen many ‘Bubuzelas’ sharing the tweets of former World Bank President, Oby Ezekwesili, as a defence for Buhari's warped 'instruction' to the Bretton Woods institution. Ezekwesili had tweeted:
"I want everyone to know that the statement made by the @worldbank president @jimyongkim is not as it sounds. I should know. I was VP there. No. No. No, dear people. The fact of that statement by the @worldbank president @jimyongkim is not as it sounds. I will explain.
"As a practice, post- conflict zones -e.g. Northern Uganda, northern car, Eastern DRC receive special focus from @Worldbank .it makes sense! As the destabilization in the north east worsened human development indicators in North East Nigeria, our country sadly joined that list.
"The evidence-based justification for prioritizing post-conflict reconstruction is that it helps build resilience & prevents a relapse"
I find this weak attempt at damage control by Ezekwesili funny because she is telling us what World Bank does--and not what Buhari told World Bank. The World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, has told us what Buhari SPECIFICALLY told him.
According to Kim: "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".
The word SPECIFICALLY is key here. It means: categorically, explicitly, clearly, and pointedly. In other words, Buhari told the World Bank in clear terms that they should redirect every attention to the North.
The World Bank President understands English language. He knew exactly what Buhari told him and that was what he revealed in the interview.
If he wanted to tell us the slant Ezekwesiri has brought in, he would have said that Buhari told him that 'in line with World Bank's policy of focusing on post-war countries and regions, I will like you to focus on the North East'.
Many of us know that a major function of the World Bank is reconstruction.
Hence one of the five international organisations under the World Bank family is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
In fact, the World Bank was set up as part of efforts to finance the reconstruction of Europe following the World War II which devastated a major part of the continent.
However, the point here is the clear instruction Buhari gave the World Bank--not what the bank does and how it does it.
Indeed, Buhari's instruction did not come as a shock. That our President is ultra-sectional is not news. In the legendary Fela' voice, 'na old news be that'.
As military President, his 2iC was a Northerner-same as his Chief of Army Staff who could be said to be the 3iC.
During the same period, he refused to vote for a Nigerian, Mr. Onu, as the secretary general of the Organisation of African Unity simply because the bloke was not from the same region and ethnic stock as him.
Rather, he voted a Fulani like him but from the neighboring Niger Republic.
As PTF chairman, he focused on his region, the North. Even when he held no position around 2000/1, he led a delegation of Northerners to Oyo State to ask the then Oyo State governor, Lam Adesina: 'Why are your people killing my people?'
When he became President, he said during an interview in the US that he would marginalize those who gave him 5 per cent votes and privilege those who gave him 97 per cent votes.
And guess which region gave him 97 per cent vote: The North. His political appointments have also generally favored the North.
So why are people trying to spin a statement that is consistent with the President's previous statements and actions?
Nnaemeka CI Meribe PhD, writes from Melbourne, Australia
"I want everyone to know that the statement made by the @worldbank president @jimyongkim is not as it sounds. I should know. I was VP there. No. No. No, dear people. The fact of that statement by the @worldbank president @jimyongkim is not as it sounds. I will explain.
"As a practice, post- conflict zones -e.g. Northern Uganda, northern car, Eastern DRC receive special focus from @Worldbank .it makes sense! As the destabilization in the north east worsened human development indicators in North East Nigeria, our country sadly joined that list.
"The evidence-based justification for prioritizing post-conflict reconstruction is that it helps build resilience & prevents a relapse"
I find this weak attempt at damage control by Ezekwesili funny because she is telling us what World Bank does--and not what Buhari told World Bank. The World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, has told us what Buhari SPECIFICALLY told him.
According to Kim: "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".
The word SPECIFICALLY is key here. It means: categorically, explicitly, clearly, and pointedly. In other words, Buhari told the World Bank in clear terms that they should redirect every attention to the North.
The World Bank President understands English language. He knew exactly what Buhari told him and that was what he revealed in the interview.
If he wanted to tell us the slant Ezekwesiri has brought in, he would have said that Buhari told him that 'in line with World Bank's policy of focusing on post-war countries and regions, I will like you to focus on the North East'.
Many of us know that a major function of the World Bank is reconstruction.
Hence one of the five international organisations under the World Bank family is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
In fact, the World Bank was set up as part of efforts to finance the reconstruction of Europe following the World War II which devastated a major part of the continent.
However, the point here is the clear instruction Buhari gave the World Bank--not what the bank does and how it does it.
Indeed, Buhari's instruction did not come as a shock. That our President is ultra-sectional is not news. In the legendary Fela' voice, 'na old news be that'.
As military President, his 2iC was a Northerner-same as his Chief of Army Staff who could be said to be the 3iC.
During the same period, he refused to vote for a Nigerian, Mr. Onu, as the secretary general of the Organisation of African Unity simply because the bloke was not from the same region and ethnic stock as him.
Rather, he voted a Fulani like him but from the neighboring Niger Republic.
As PTF chairman, he focused on his region, the North. Even when he held no position around 2000/1, he led a delegation of Northerners to Oyo State to ask the then Oyo State governor, Lam Adesina: 'Why are your people killing my people?'
When he became President, he said during an interview in the US that he would marginalize those who gave him 5 per cent votes and privilege those who gave him 97 per cent votes.
And guess which region gave him 97 per cent vote: The North. His political appointments have also generally favored the North.
So why are people trying to spin a statement that is consistent with the President's previous statements and actions?
Nnaemeka CI Meribe PhD, writes from Melbourne, Australia
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