Bill Gates speaks again, reiterates criticism of Buhari’s govt

World’s second richest man and co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday reiterated his criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Gates, who spoke in an exclusive interview with Cable News Network (CNN), maintained that the Nigerian government’s investments in young people, especially in areas of health and education were not good enough.

This came after the Federal Government had claimed that Nigerians misunderstood Gates earlier criticism of the current administration’s Economic Recovery Growth plan (ERGP) not addressing the needs of the citizens.

The Microsoft founder had on Thursday last week, when he spoke at the expanded National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, said that Nigeria would do better with strong investments in health and education, instead of concentrating on physical infrastructure that do not benefit human capital development.

He had said, “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.”

READ ALSO: How Gates, Obasanjo, Danjuma, North delivered a bad week to Buhari

Speaking again on Monday, he told CNN, “As a partner in Nigeria, I am saying the current plan is inadequate. Nigeria has all these young people and the current quality and quantity of investment in these young generations; in health and education just isn’t good enough. So, I was very direct.

“If they can get health and education right, they will be an engine of growth not just for themselves but for all of Africa.”

 

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