June 14, 2005—President Paul Wolfowitz is in Burkina Faso Tuesday and Wednesday, the second leg of his four-nation tour of African countries. He arrived there after two days of meetings in Nigeria. John Donaldson of the Africa Region’s External Affairs team was traveling with Wolfowitz throughout Nigeria, and has prepared this report on the President’s activities and impressions. Within just a few hours of stepping off a British Air flight from London to Abuja, Paul Wolfowitz found himself surrounded by members of the Fulani, nomadic herders and traders and the largest nomadic group in the world. Fresh from meetings with Finance Ministers representing the world’s wealthiest nations, and on his first day in Sub-Saharan Africa, Wolfowitz and a small group arriving with him took an early morning "walk about" to visit one settlement of these people located just outside the city gate of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city. This was the start of a very full two-day visit to Nigeria, one full of enthusiastic crowds and emotional one-on-one conversations with AIDS activists and women’s advocates. Wolfowitz’s goal was to learn firsthand about development challenges that Africans face, and to hear what they think of the institution he now heads. Observers saw it as fitting that Wolfowitz came to Nigeria as his first African stop on his first foreign trip since becoming head of the Bank Group. As President Obasanjo said following their meeting on Monday, "If Nigeria fails, Africa fails. However, if Nigeria succeeds, then there is hope for prosperity other places in Africa." A range of meetings During his time in Abuja, Wolfowitz visited a power sector project and met with the Nigerian government’s economic team, headed by Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as well as legislators and representatives of civil society groups. He had breakfast with representatives of women’s groups and dinners with a group of state Governors, as well as representatives of the Nigerian private sector. On Monday, after meeting with President Obasanjo, Wolfowitz and his party boarded a plane and flew north to Bauchi State, where an enthusiastic crowd of thousands waited at the airport to greet him, headed by the State’s Governor, Admadu Adamu Mu’azu. As the motorcade left the airport, dozens of colorful Darba horses and riders lined the road. This was only the beginning of the first visit by a World Bank President to this Nigerian State. As the delegation moved from place to place, hundreds of cheering and waving people – many of them schoolchildren – lined the roadway. The site visits in Bauchi were as diverse as in Abuja, with visits to the Ran Road Urban Maternity Clinic, Zannuwa Primary School, and a large, vital marketplace in Dass showcasing small-scale agriculture producers and service providers supported by the Fadama II project. The first stop was a courtesy call on the Emirs of Bauchi State, who conferred the title of Dokajin of Bauchi – or "the one who maintains order" – on Mr. Wolfowitz. He was then dressed in an elaborately colored alkyabba (cape) and headdress by the emirs. Speaking directly with the people Perhaps the most meaningful moments of the visit to Nigeria were when Wolfowitz spoke directly with schoolchildren, shopkeepers, health workers, and other ordinary citizens. Many of them, like the teenage daughter of a shopkeeper in Abuja, had very specific things they wanted him to know about themselves – in this case, the challenges to go to college. At the Zannuwa Primary School in Bauchi, Wolfowitz diverted on his way back to his car to approach a group of children who had gathered in anticipation of the visit. The reaction was electric, and within moments a pulsing sea of children gathered around the new President. There were surprising moments that were totally spontaneous, and direct and honest exchanges of views with leaders and ordinary citizens alike. Nigerians are noted for not being shy with opinions, but they seemed to appreciate the willingness of a World Bank President to listen to what they have to say, and ask questions that indicate a desire to understand their lives better. This trip to Africa is meaningful for a number of reasons – to emphasize the new President’s commitment to Africa, to carry forward the momentum of the G-8 Finance Ministers’ agreement on debt, and in anticipation of the Gleneagles Summit to follow. As the visit to Nigeria progressed, though, it became clear that this first trip to Sub-Saharan Africa by Paul Wolfowitz is also a means to introduce himself to the real clients that the Bank Group serves. As Governor Mu’azu noted at a closing tea at Government House in Bauchi on Monday, "until now, I have had no use for the World Bank. But here is a man who is not telling me what he thinks or what the World Bank is going to do. He is saying that he wants to listen. From now on, I will be an advocate for the World Bank." |
RSS