World Bank Gives $8.5bn To Nigeria To Deal With Critical Issues

The World Bank has assisted Nigeria with the sum of $8.5 billion to address some critical issues bedevilling the country.

The international financial institution said it now depends on Nigeria to channel the fund to either provide financial resources to enable young Nigerians to go to school or rather use the resources to subsidise petrol with over N6.5 trillion.

The donation was confirmed in Abuja on Thursday during a summit organised by the Emergency Coordination Center.

Speaking at the event, the World Bank Country Director to Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri said the amount given to Nigeria was the largest of any country. He added that it was still infinitesimal compared with the needs of Nigeria, stressing, however, that around $2.5 billion to $3 billion of the fund had been channelled towards education.

“Half of the population of Nigeria itself is less than 17 years old. This means there is a need to invest in human capital development,” Chaudhuri was quoted as saying.

He noted that the future of Nigeria depended on the ability of the young people to go to school, stressing that it was important to make schools safe to ensure that fewer children were out of school.

Naija News understands that stakeholders have expressed worries over the state of the nation. Seeing Africa’s most populous nation mobilising N6.7 trillion for petrol subsidies at the expense of education and health.

The education ministry had said that about 10.1 million children are out of school, but a report suggests it is up to 18.5 million.

Analysts have described Nigeria’s insistence on subsidies as financial indiscipline, noting that it would have adverse consequences on the Nigerian economy.

This article was originally published on Naija News