Northern Governors at IDB

Recently, five Northern state governors obtained the commitment of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) towards rebuilding Northern Nigeria’s dilapidated infrastructure through a comprehensive intervention plan. The governors, led by the chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF] Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, had travelled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and held talks with IDB […]

Recently, five Northern state governors obtained the commitment of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) towards rebuilding Northern Nigeria’s dilapidated infrastructure through a comprehensive intervention plan. The governors, led by the chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF] Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, had travelled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and held talks with IDB President Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Ali. They agreed to work together to revamp the region’s ailing sectors such as power, health and agriculture. Other governors on the delegation were Kaduna’s Nasir el-Rufa’i, Mohamed Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa, Umaru Tanko al-Makura of Nasarawa and Kano’s Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The bank also committed itself towards supporting the region in solar power technology. The IDP President said, “We will work together to come up with a comprehensive and constructive plan to support northern Nigeria. We will start with education, particularly bilingual education, and other areas such as job creation.” On his part, delegation leader Governor Kashim Shettima said in Nigeria, “poverty wears a northern face” and that the purpose of their visit to IDB was to explore credible avenues to enhance developmental activities. He said the region is suffering from joblessness, low access to education and healthcare facilities despite its abundant natural resources. He also described the region as “a giant with feet of clay.”
The agreement could not have come at a better time for the region and its state governments who are grappling with budget deficits, widespread poverty and insecurity.  The Boko Haram insurgency in the North East has destroyed key educational, health and other infrastructure. The whole region requires urgent intervention in education, electricity supply and poverty reduction.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, twenty four out of 36 states of the federation and the FCT could not attract fresh investments in the 2015. Majority of these states are in the North. Only Kaduna (N1.49bn), FCT (N2.21bn) and Kogi (N348.6M) states were able to attract fresh investments last year. Against this backdrop, NSGF decided to seek IDB’s support at one of its meetings in Kaduna last September.
But at a time when the country is contending with rising debt profile, owing to a proposal to borrow $9bn which will propel Nigeria’s debt burden closer to $100bn, Nigerians are wary of the governor’s IDB deal. Previous records of poor implementation and rampant corruption do not inspire public confidence that another loan will be judiciously applied. Nonetheless, in this case it is hardly contentious that with interest rates usually at zero percent and the extended moratorium and generous payment terms, the IDB intervention fund should be welcomed, provided the proceeds are strictly dedicated to specific, visible and critical social infrastructure projects.
We believe that the coming of IDB to invest in key infrastructure and its importance for the region cannot be overemphasized. The bank has a track                                                                                                                                              record of enhancing economic prosperity and development of its member countries. Therefore, its alignment with northern Nigeria is appreciated. This is because while other potential creditors charge some interest on loans, the IDB charges no interest as loans from the bank are project specific and on benefit sharing arrangement. Nigeria, albeit the North, stands to benefit if it can leverage on the benefit accruing to taking loans from the Bank or exploring its grants through one of its subsidiaries, Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) for humanitarian interventions.
The IDB is currently engaged in aggressive poverty alleviation programs in some member countries such as Afghanistan and Bangladesh whose citizens are not poorer than those in northern Nigeria.  The North has the poorest persons in Nigeria based on series of human development index reports by the World Bank. All resources must be mobilized for its accelerated recovery and development. We congratulate the Northern governors on this initiative and urge them to ensure its successful and judicious conclusion.