Mircosoft Founder and the
Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Bill Gates, again on Monday criticised
the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. In an interview
with the CNN, Bill Gates said that the Federal Government’s investment in
education and health was not good enough.
“While it may be easier to
be polite, it’s more important to face facts so that you can make progress,”
the philanthropist told a room of Nigeria’s government elite that included the
President.
In an exclusive television
interview with the CNN, Gates said he spoke out to implore Nigerian politicians
to focus on human capital and its large youth population.
“The current quality and
quantity of investment in this young generation in health and education just
isn’t good enough. So, I was very direct,” he told CNN.
Punch also reported that
the philanthropist had at a special session of the National Economic Council,
on Thursday, said Nigeria would do better with strong investments in health and
education, rather than concentrate on physical infrastructure to the detriment
of 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.
“In upper middle-income
countries, the average life expectancy is 75 years. In lower middle-income
countries, it’s 68; in low-income countries, it’s 62. In Nigeria, it is lower
still, just 53 years.
“The Nigerian government’s
Economic Recovery and Growth Plan identifies investing in the people as one of
three strategic objectives. But the execution priorities don’t fully reflect
people’s needs, prioritising physical capital over human capital. People
without roads, ports and factories can’t flourish. And roads, ports and
factories without skilled workers to build and manage them can’t sustain an
economy.”
But the Kaduna State
Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, in an interview with State House correspondents after
the NEC meeting, faulted the claim of Gates.
He said the plan had enough
provisions for education and health, adding that what was needed was for states
to complement efforts of the Federal Government.
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