COVID-19: Ogun Govt Ready As World Bank Eyes RAAMP, Other Platforms To Expend N550BN Wallet To Stimulate Economy

Accelerated plans are afoot by the World Bank Group to diminish the pervasive poverty that may be occasioned, aftermath of the corona virus pandemic.

Already, a war chest of $1.5bn is being built by the Bank to be spent amongst the thirteen Rural Access And Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) States and the Twenty-four other States, including the federal capital territory, FCT, Abuja for various poverty reduction interventions.
Tagged CARES, the Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus, according to a release by the Transport Sector Programme Coordinator at the World Bank, Office, Abuja, Farhad Ahmed, would “support livelihoods, aid food security and help the local economy”.

According to Ahmed, the project, which is anticipatory, is expected to be fleshed up by the various states’ inputs, depending on their needs “within specified criteria relating to transport/road activities”.

He stated that such inputs from the states are expected to be listed for inclusion by the Bank for the project and programmes take off by September/October 2020.

Expectedly, the project will run for between a year and a half and two, barring any review, even as States would be paid by W’Bank financial instrument called program for result (PforR) by “achieving results to be independently verified”.

The Ogun State government, represented by the Commissioner for Rural Development, Special Adviser to HE on Rural Development and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Hon. Taiwo Oludotun, Princess Olapeju Shote and Rotarian Lekan Lukan respectively, assured the Bank of the readiness of the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration to ensure a buy-in, at a virtual meeting held during the week.

Oludotun, who spoke for the trio at the meeting said the organised private sector background of the Governor made the government buy-in easily accomplished.

Speaking on the project, the RAMP National Coordinator, Ubandoma Ularamu, an Engineer, said labour-based strategy would be employed in the letting and execution of the project.

Ularamu, who had called a meeting of minds by the Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries of expected states for ferterlization of ideas, listed “spot improvement, rehabilitation of limited number of roads and routine maintenance of rural roads”, as beneficiaries, a statement by the Development Communication Specialist of Ogun RAAMP, Segun Adeleye, said on Monday.