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Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has called on the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government to be wary of the recent advice of the World Bank (WB) in which prescribed the reduction in government’s support for social services in Nigeria.

Recall that the Senior Vice President of the World Bank Group, Mr. Indermit Gill, had while speaking at a programme in Abuja, said the results of the current economic policies of the government, including the removal of subsidy and devaluation of the naira would be seen in 10 to 15 years.

However, the factional National Publicity of Afenifere, Jare Ajayi, urged the federal government to be wary of the advice. 

It said: “Firstly, the current administration under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would have run its terms before the 10 to 15 years the presumed dividends of the World Bank prescriptions will manifest. 

“Meaning that this administration may then only be remembered for the sacrifices made by the people and the attendant sufferings while another administration would take the credit for the dividends – if at all.

“So, rather than continuing with the Bank’s policies, resort should be made to policies that boost local businesses and encourage local initiatives thus reducing dependence on imported goods,” he said.

He recalled that most of the countries that heeded prescriptions or conditions that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) always gave ended up in worse situations.

Ajayi noted that the conditions given by the bank included budget cuts, removal of subsidies from some services being provided for the people, and the devaluation of the country’s currency. 

He stressed that instead of heeding the advice, the Malaysian PM did the exact opposite.

According to him, though it was tough initially, however, Malaysia is growing economically and is one of the few countries that are shedding off the toga of third-worldism.

Afenifere added: “What we are saying is that while it is important to lay a good foundation for economic recovery, the models being prescribed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should be no-go areas going by the havoc such models have wrecked in some of the countries that applied them.”