Nigeria: USD 20 million approved by World Bank, says Ekiti governor Fayemi

The Ekiti State Governor of Nigeria, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has revealed that a grant of USD 20 million, has been approved by the World Bank to prosecute projects that would cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic disease on Ekiti citizens, according to a news report by This Day.

Fayemi said that the fund, which would be released under a novel programme tagged Nigeria CARES, would be deployed to undertake projects in rural communities to reduce poverty and propel the local economy.

He spoke during a programme that was organised by the Ekiti State Social and Community Development Agency (EKSCDA), to review community projects that were executed in the state since 2009.

The state governor, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Development Partnership, Margaret Fagboyo, lauded the partnering communities for believing in his rural development policy by contributing over N200 million as counterpart funding to boost the Community and Social Development Programme (CSDP).

He said: "I am happy to inform our people that the World Bank has approved a new project called the Nigeria CARES as a post-COVID-19 intervention grant for Ekiti State. The grant is in excess of USD 20 million as a stimulus fund to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in our various communities."

Fayemi described the CSDP as a poverty reduction initiative of the World Bank established in 2009 to accelerate development at the community level, saying that Ekiti has been ranked as one of the best in implementing and sustaining the policy.

"The project allows the benefiting communities to choose, implement and sustain their projects, while also contributing 10 percent as counterpart funds to encourage ownership of the project so as to make maintenance and sustainability of the project possible.

"In the educational sector, there was 34.0 percent and 78 per cent increase in schools' enrollment at the primary school level both for male and female students respectively. At the secondary school level, male enrollment also increased by 135.8 percent while females increased by 157.4 percent.