President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, met the the president of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Dr. Ahmad Ali. During the meeting, IDB proposed a financing roundtable in Abuja, and President Buhari welcomed the offer. In his remarks, Dr. Ahmad Ali assured President Buhar that the IDB will work with its traditional partners such as the Saudi Fund, and the Kuwait Fund, Arab Bank for Development in Africa and the Abu Dhabi Fund, to increase the quantum of funding available to Nigeria.
Responding to Dr. Ali’s remarks, President Buhari restated his government’s determination to revamp and diversify the Nigerian economy rapidly. In Buhari’s words, “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 Islamic Development Bank (IDB) also agreed 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 provided US$ 98m for the Bilingual Education Program in Adamawa, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Osun and Yobe.The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) plans to support similar projects in other states of Nigeria.
