NEWS DIGEST – Bill Gates, the world’s second richest man and the founder of Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, expressed his excitement and gratitude to Nigerians after a ‘polio eradication’ visit to the country last week.
The American business man expressed this in recent tweets via his official Twitter account.
“I was excited to visit Nigeria and meet with @MBuhari and @ProfOsinbajo to discuss the country’s development goals. We agreed that Nigeria’s bright future will benefit from further investment in the country’s greatest resource: its people.” he tweeted.
He also extended the gesture to Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian multi-billionaire, in whose company Mr. Gates toured some health centres in the Northern states in Nigeria and Chad.
“Great visit to Nigeria and Chad with my friend @AlikoDangote this week to talk about the importance of eradicating polio, getting life-saving vaccines to children, and improving primary healthcare.”
It can be recalled that Bill Gates, in his welcome speech in Abuja, attributed the technological and health challenges being faced in Nigerians to the leadership of the country.
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“Nigeria has unmatched economic potential, but what becomes of that potential depends on the choices you make as Nigeria’s leaders.
The most important choice you can make is to maximize your greatest resource, the Nigerian people. Nigeria will thrive when every Nigerian is able to thrive.”
Meanwhile, he encouraged the leaders to prioritize the education and health sectors by funding them adequately if they desire growth and development.
“If you invest in their health, education, and opportunities—the “human capital” we are talking about today—then they will lay the foundation for sustained prosperity. If you don’t, however, then it is very important to recognize that there will be a sharp limit on how much the country can grow.” He added.
While analyzing some data to the audience, he commented that;
“Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth, with the fourth worst maternal mortality rate in the world, ahead of only Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, and Chad.”
One in three Nigerian children is chronically malnourished.”
In a bid to improve the health care system as he advised Nigerian leaders to work towards, Bill and Melinda Gates foundation donated polio vaccines to Northern states of the country, where the disease is prevalent.
He finalized the $25 million agreement with the World Bank to support the purchase of more than 100 million doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) in Nigeria. However, Globally, the Gates Foundation has committed more than $700 million to polio eradication efforts.
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