Pres. Buhari excited by Islamic bank’s offer to Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday
welcomed an offer by the Islamic Development
Bank to organise a financing round-table in Abuja
to mobilise more funds for investment and
development of infrastructure in Nigeria.
According to a statement by his Senior Special
Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu,
the President expressed his delight at the offer at a
meeting he had with the IDB President, Dr. Ahmed
Mohammed Ali, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The President is currently on an official visit to
Saudi Arabia.
Ali was said to have assured Buhari that the IDB
will work with its traditional partners such as the
Saudi Fund, the Kuwait Fund, Arab Bank for
Development in Africa and the Abu Dhabi Fund, to
increase the quantum of funding available to
Nigeria.
Welcoming the offer, Buhari restated his
government’s determination to revamp and
diversify the Nigerian economy rapidly.
He said, “The days of Nigeria as a big oil
producer with plenty of money are gone. We need
all the support we can get to diversify our economy
as quickly as possible.
“We also need to rehabilitate our infrastructure,
develop the domestic capacity to feed ourselves and
export the surplus.”
The President welcomed the plan by the IDB to fast
track the take-off of the Bilingual Education
Program, aimed at integrating the Almajiri system
of education with Western education in Nigeria.
The IDB has already provided $98m for the
Bilingual Education Program in Adamawa, Gombe,
Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Osun and
Yobe.
The bank plans to support similar projects in other
states of Nigeria.