b]Talk About Bad Leadership. Oh I weep I weep I weep[/b]

Nigeria, 13 others fragile – World Bank
By Biodun Sonowo and Oluyinka Akintunde, with agency report
Published: Friday, 15 Sep 2006
The Independent Evaluation Group, a unit of the World Bank, on Thursday, listed Nigeria and 13 others as countries at the risk of collapse.

The group’s prediction was contained in a report titled,“Engaging with Fragile States: An IEG Review of World Bank Support to Low-Income Countries Under Stress.’’

The report was released at the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund annual meeting in Singapore.

The IEG cited “an increase in corruption and deteriorating governance” as factors that endangered Nigeria’s existence.

The Bloomberg News said that with the 14 new entrants, the number of fragile nations globally had risen to 26.

The agency however named only Nigeria, East Timor, Cambodia and Kosovo as being part of the 14 new fragile nations. It was silent on the 10 others.

But it listed Central African Republic; Cote d’Ivoire; Togo; Burundi; Democratic Republic of Congo; Guinea-Bissau; Guinea; Liberia; Somalia; Sudan; Zimbabwe; Comoros; Eritrea; the Solomon Islands; Vanuatu; West Bank and Gaza; Haiti; Laos; Myanmar, Afghanistan and Leste as fragile countries.

The release of the report coincides with the feud between President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on the mismanagement of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund.

According to the report, the potential failure of Nigeria and Angola threatened to boost energy and commodities prices and slow economic growth.

Oil prices have fallen by 19 per cent since reaching a record $78.40 on July 14.
The IEG is also concerned that terrorism, drug production and weapon smuggling are spiralling.

[b]“Neglecting the fragile states, half of whom are living in extreme poverty, risks a worsening of their misery,’’ said Vinod Thomas, the group’s Director-[/b]General. That in turn will feed “regional and global instability.”

The group, which reports to the World Bank’s board of executive directors rather than President Paul Wolfowitz, defines fragile states as low-income nations that score three or less on a scale of one to six measuring economic policies, social equality and public-sector management.

Lead author of the report, Ms Soniya Carvalho, said, “There could be large global spillovers if they(fragile countries) don’t do well.

“They could become hot beds of terrorist activity because there are large ungoverned areas. The imperative to do something in fragile states is very great.

“Donors don’t want to spend money in such countries because their governments don’t have the capacity to use the funds effectively to reduce poverty.

“The World Bank, which has lent $4.1bn to the fragile states in the past two years, and other donors need to boost investment in developing local expertise .

“Each donor has their pet areas and they support those and want changes to be made, but it adds up to a very formidable programme. This kind of overload is quite killing.’’

[b]When contacted on the telephone in Japan, the Chief Economic Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Osita Ogbu, denounced the listing; saying that the assessment could not be true.

Ogbu said, “I am outside the country with President Obasanjo. But what is wrong with the World Bank? Don’t they have anything to do? How can they be releasing reports on Nigeria everyday?[/b]U C MEDIOCRITY @ PLAY? IS THAT ALL HE COULD UTTER

“I am yet to see the report. But whatever the World Bank says cannot be true. How can the World Bank’s report on Nigeria be right, when the country’s reform programme had been commended globally?”

The report by the bank is not the first time that foreign agencies would predict Nigeria’s break-up. One such intelligence analysis by the United States government in 2003, said the country could break up in 15 years.

THEY MIGHT BE RIGHT

And in March 2006, the the New York Times said Nigeria was falling apart as a result of the failed third term bid of President Obasanjo.

Also in March, the US , in an advisory to the business community, described Nigeria as an investor’s nightmare in reference to the operating conditions in Africa’s biggest oil producer.

@rotbog,
u dont need to kill urself about wat world bank or world dis and dat is saying about nigeria. all i kno is dat if the fate of nigeria was to be decided by other counrties or even fellow nigerians themselves, this country would have stop being in existence several decades ago.
Do u think its every person ,country or organisation dat is truely happy anytime its declared dat nigeria is making progress in any area? like the recent economic reforms embarked upon by the de present govt which scored the country high economic progress.
The can say anything lets be focused , work hard and look upto God.
dats my advise
thnks

The World Bank has listed Naija and Angola as being among 26 countries on the brink of imminent collapse. Idiots. Have you noticed that it is countries that are friendly with 'anti-US' countries such as China that are always on the brink? I saw a report that said Red China wouldn't survive the cultural revolution. This was back in 1967, and where are they now? These same 'westerners' said that Saddam has WMDs. Where are they now?

From Chxta's World

Do not lose sleep over their assesment, they are agent of imperialist that never see anything good coming out of the country. This is not the first time they will be sounding false alarm, Nigeria will outlive all of them.

globalaid:

Do not lose sleep over their assesment, they are agent of imperialist that never see anything good coming out of the country. This is not the first time they will be sounding false alarm, Nigeria will outlive all of them.

I Feel Better Now.

nigeria has consistently rendered all economic laws and political theory useless so don't bother with this one.

Nigeria and 13 other nations have recently been labeled as countries at the risk of collapse. The Independent Evaluation Group, a unit of the World Bank, on Thursday,  cited “an increase in corruption and deteriorating governance” as factors that endangered Nigeria’s existence.

It is not the first time the World bank or IMF has come out with grave news for our dear country, we remember that it was this same groups who sent our economy back to the stone ages with their structural adjustment programme and their penchant for extending huge sums of financial aid to despots, most of which ended up in foreign bank accounts.

Lead author of the report, Ms Soniya Carvalho, claims this countries (Nigeria included!) could become hotbeds of terror activities because "there are large ungoverned areas." Pray! Where are the "large ungoverned areas in Nigeria? Do these people ever visit the countries they are so eager to write reports on? Ms. Carvalho further claims "the imperative to do something in fragile states is very great", what something is Ms Carvalho talking about hear? Turning these "fragile states" into colonies of the "stable states"? Ms. Carvalho claims "donors don’t want to spend money in such countries because their governments don’t have the capacity to use the funds effectively to reduce poverty". Where is this money "donors" so want us to know about? Is it the money that ends up being paid to foreign "experts" recommended by the donors themselves? Or that which ends up in the bank accounts of these same "donors" lodged there by despotic governments propped up by the same self righteous donors? Ms Carvalho claims the world bank has lent $4.1bn to the fragile states in the past two years, please someone should remind her that we the people have yet to see any trace of that money and for what it was spent!

The IEG cannot claim to love Africa more than we do!

And what was our government's response?
Chief Economic Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Osita Ogbu, denounced the listing saying; “I am outside the country with President Obasanjo. But what is wrong with the World Bank? Don’t they have anything to do? How can they be releasing reports on Nigeria everyday?"
Is that all the response we can muster? Another harebrained response to economic terrorism?

http://davidylan..com/

World bank: A tool used by imperial western nations to perpetually impoverish Black Africa!
IMF: Blood sucking tool used by western nations to keep African countries in constant poverty under the guise of globalisation!
World bank report: False alarm meant to frighten African nations into borrowing more funds, hiring jobless "experts" from the world bank and implementing economically castrating programs from the IMF.
Financial Aid: Bogus figures that only exist on paper, used mainly to bolster the moral standing of western nations erroneously refered to as Donors.
donors: A cabal of "industrialised" nations who dangle monetary carrots at "poor" nations in order to drain them of their natural resources.

@Davidylan,

Surprised at your comments here and I must say I agree completely with your definitions in the last post.

Unfortunately, some African leaders still take intsructions from the white house or 10 downing street instead of doing what is best for their countries.

Nigeria has all it takes to become a success story. Human resources, natural resources, intelligent people and hardworking. I guess it is more or less a case of leadership failure or purposeless leadership.

Donald duke will surely Rescue this country if voted in as a president. We need an inteligent Young and dynamic man like him. Let those clamouring for babangida and other exgeneral stop it immediately otherwise 8 years later they will start crying again.

The same world bank! http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=123017&src=dcn

Is anyone still taking the world bank serious?

@davidylan

Kudos to you for your insight.

The question I have is this - What good does the World Bank have in mind by publishing such list ? To promote
world stability ?

The last time I checked, I don't think this is what the Bretton Woods Institution was established for was it ? Nonsense.

. . .and Iraq wasn't on the list!

Is Afghanistan on that list?

Yes.

and sudan, eritrea, ethiopia, niger, chad, congo democratic, zimbabwe, burundi, rwanda, nepal, pakistan, lebanon, palestine?

From your list above, Ethiopia, Niger, Chad, Nepal, Pakistan, Lebanon make the cut as very stable countries. . .

If Niger, Chad and Ethiopia are classified as "stable" countries without "largely ungoverned areas" and who have judiciously spent aid money allocated to them from the world bank, then even my backyard should qualify as a stable country!

Erm, I forgot to mention, Sierra Leone is also stable. . .

Chxta:

Erm, I forgot to mention, Sierra Leone is also stable. . .

Yep and i remember them sending soldiers to help root out rebel forces from Abuja!

What a riot!

See the so-called change we voted for... buhari must go!