ActionAid Disagree With World Bank, Demands Economic Justice For Nigerians

As Nigerians continue to react to the call by World Bank’s Senior Vice President and Chief Econ­omist, Mr. Indermit Gill, on the continuation of government’s reforms, the ActionAid Nigeria has also added its voice.

It could be recalled that the World Bank’s Senior Vice Pres­ident and Chief Economist, Mr. Indermit Gill, had urged the Ni­gerian government to sustain its current economic reforms for the next 10-15 years

ActionAid Nigeria strongly disagreed with the recent state­ment describing it as “Misguided and insulting to the millions of Nigerians living through unprec­edented economic hardship.

In a press statement signed by Andrew Mamedu, Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, he frowned at such a statement where the Nigerian government would be advised to sustain the current reforms for 10-15, with no clear plans on how it will cater for the people.

The ActionAid Country Di­rector stated, “This call assumes that continuity and persistence in these policies will yield transfor­mative results, but the evidence tells otherwise.

He said, “While long-term re­form is important, the strategies proposed by the World Bank seem disconnected from the immediate socio-economic realities of Nige­ria, especially regarding poverty, weak institutional capacity, and structural economic deficiencies.

“The 2003-2007 reforms which he claims is what Nigeria needs is agreeable in the area of debt can­cellation, savings and account­ability, but its negative effect in the devaluation of naira, subsidy removal and corruption was the bane of that reform.

“The World Bank and Interna­tional Monetary Fund (IMF) have been deeply involved in Nigeria’s economy for decades, pushing policies that have done far more harm than good.

“The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) introduced in the late 1980s remains one of the most devastating legacies of this relationship. It crippled our local industries, especially the textile sector, and opened the floodgates for Nigeria to become heavily de­pendent on imported goods.

“Before the SAP, Nigeria’s textile industry was a vibrant hub employing hundreds of thousands of workers. Howev­er, with the IMF-driven policies forcing cuts in subsidies, import liberalization, and currency de­valuation, Nigeria was pushed to shut down its own production capacity.