The Nigerian Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan, has called on the World Bank to come to the aid of Nigeria and rescue it from the clutch of poverty that has ravaged the country.
Coupled with the outbreak of the coronavirus that has been declared a global pandemic, the Senate leader said Nigeria is in a difficult situation over its inability to generate more revenue as expected.
The deadly virus has cost over 6,000 persons lives worldwide within a time frame of fewer than three months.
The Yobe state Senator made this statement when he received the new country director of the World Bank, Shubham Chaudhuri, who paid him a courtesy call in Abuja.
Lawan, while addressing the country director said, “The World Bank should stand out to come to the aid of Nigeria.
Normally you will discuss what the issues are and what the request of the country is.
“We have the issue of power in this country.
It is a major issue.
Before the security situation deteriorated, our main problem towards achieving our desired development in Nigeria was power.
“I am sure that if we are able to resolve the security challenges we are going through in Nigeria and then fix our power, Nigeria will be a great country,”
The Senate leader further explained, the promise made by President Buhari to take 100 million Nigerian out of poverty in ten years is still possible.
He reiterated, it is possible because we have the variables on the ground that will drive such and also we have friends who will have our back, saying this is where the World Bank becomes critical.
The Senate leader declared that Nigeria does not need only money but also technical support.
He added Africa's most populous black nation are on desperate time on how to explore frontier through deploying resources to achieve goals and also require loans to achieve such.
Senator Lawan expressed confidence that with the World Bank assistance, Nigeria will grow bigger.