(CNN) Bill Gates traveled to Nigeria to publicly give its leaders some tough talk. It was a highly unusual move but the tech billionaire believes the country is facing a critical moment.

"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 CNN, Gates said he wanted to speak 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."

The tech billionaire and founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation feels that he has earned the right to speak.

Gates says he has traveled to Nigeria for more than a decade and the foundation is spending $1.6 billion on programs here -- most of it his own money.

Their primary focus is health and their work has been incredibly successful in mitigating the threat of polio, particularly in the crisis hit northeast of the country.

Gates feels, along with many others, that it is time for Nigeria's government to do better. The continent's largest economy is moving out of a recession caused by a tanking oil price and moving towards a closely watched presidential election in 2019.

In many ways, the country is transforming, with gleaming hotel towers on Lagos Island competing for real estate and the wealthy fighting in the notorious traffic in ubiquitous black SUVs.

But dig a little bit deeper and the statistics are alarming. As Gates points out, Nigeria is still one of the most dangerous places to give birth and the country's very young face chronic malnutrition.

University of Washington modeling, commissioned by Gates, estimates that if investment isn't increased in health and education, then the per-capita GDP, rising steadily for decades, will flatline.

Gates says he wanted to spark action and debate and he certainly has.

Predictably, some see the tough talk as a rebuke of Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's president, who has been struggling to get the economy on its feet and stamp out the persistent threat of Islamist group Boko Haram in the northeast.

On the street, many just want support from their government -- whoever is in charge -- because right now there often isn't much.

"These people are just trying to survive, they aren't being helped," said banker Moses Uchendu, while grabbing lunch at the popular Obalende market in Lagos.


It's a bustling market where vendors sell delicacies such as efo riro, a spicy Yoruba stew. Power outages are frequent and the only contact with officials is when they visit for bribes, say residents and traders.

Nigeria is routinely rated as one of the most corrupt nations on the globe. Although the country recently moved up 14 places on the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking, most of its businesses remain in the informal sector where there is little help and loans are hard to come by.

Few businesses pay their taxes and all these factors have hindered Nigeria from meeting its true potential, says Gates.

Uchendu hopes Nigerians are listening.

"I told my friends... that Bill Gates is saying the truth. It is better we are told the truth about Nigeria's economy. It is better we say the truth."

But Gate's message isn't a new one. Activists say they have been making frequent calls to invest in people, and end rampant corruption, all which have been ignored.

"These are not new topics. These are the issues that we have been discussing with the government. We have been engaging with them for so many years now," says Timothy Adewale, a human rights lawyer with one of Nigeria's largest NGOs.

"Nobody will listen. You know, actually, if they are sincere about the best interest of the people, they should listen. It has always been said that the greatest test of your commitment is your actions."

But Gates believes, together with Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man and a close partner of the Gates Foundation, that if the Nigerian government does a few things differently, then the country is poised for lift off.

"I really think that of all the countries I have seen, it really hangs in the balance. If they can get health and education right, they can be an engine of growth, not just for themselves but for all of Africa," said Gates

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/03/26/africa/bill-gates-nigeria-buhari-intl/index.html?__twitter_impression=true

nwabobo:
(CNN) Bill Gates traveled to Nigeria to publicly give its leaders some tough talk. It was a highly unusual move but the tech billionaire believes the country is facing a critical moment.

"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 CNN, Gates said he wanted to speak 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."

The tech billionaire and founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation feels that he has earned the right to speak.

Gates says he has traveled to Nigeria for more than a decade and the foundation is spending $1.6 billion on programs here -- most of it his own money.

Their primary focus is health and their work has been incredibly successful in mitigating the threat of polio, particularly in the crisis hit northeast of the country.

Gates feels, along with many others, that it is time for Nigeria's government to do better. The continent's largest economy is moving out of a recession caused by a tanking oil price and moving towards a closely watched presidential election in 2019.

In many ways, the country is transforming, with gleaming hotel towers on Lagos Island competing for real estate and the wealthy fighting in the notorious traffic in ubiquitous black SUVs.

But dig a little bit deeper and the statistics are alarming. As Gates points out, Nigeria is still one of the most dangerous places to give birth and the country's very young face chronic malnutrition.

University of Washington modeling, commissioned by Gates, estimates that if investment isn't increased in health and education, then the per-capita GDP, rising steadily for decades, will flatline.

Gates says he wanted to spark action and debate and he certainly has.

Predictably, some see the tough talk as a rebuke of Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's president, who has been struggling to get the economy on its feet and stamp out the persistent threat of Islamist group Boko Haram in the northeast.

On the street, many just want support from their government -- whoever is in charge -- because right now there often isn't much.

"These people are just trying to survive, they aren't being helped," said banker Moses Uchendu, while grabbing lunch at the popular Obalende market in Lagos.


It's a bustling market where vendors sell delicacies such as efo riro, a spicy Yoruba stew. Power outages are frequent and the only contact with officials is when they visit for bribes, say residents and traders.

Nigeria is routinely rated as one of the most corrupt nations on the globe. Although the country recently moved up 14 places on the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking, most of its businesses remain in the informal sector where there is little help and loans are hard to come by.

Few businesses pay their taxes and all these factors have hindered Nigeria from meeting its true potential, says Gates.

Uchendu hopes Nigerians are listening.

"I told my friends... that Bill Gates is saying the truth. It is better we are told the truth about Nigeria's economy. It is better we say the truth."

But Gate's message isn't a new one. Activists say they have been making frequent calls to invest in people, and end rampant corruption, all which have been ignored.

"These are not new topics. These are the issues that we have been discussing with the government. We have been engaging with them for so many years now," says Timothy Adewale, a human rights lawyer with one of Nigeria's largest NGOs.

"Nobody will listen. You know, actually, if they are sincere about the best interest of the people, they should listen. It has always been said that the greatest test of your commitment is your actions."

But Gates believes, together with Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man and a close partner of the Gates Foundation, that if the Nigerian government does a few things differently, then the country is poised for lift off.

"I really think that of all the countries I have seen, it really hangs in the balance. If they can get health and education right, they can be an engine of growth, not just for themselves but for all of Africa," said Gates

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/03/26/africa/bill-gates-nigeria-buhari-intl/index.html?__twitter_impression=true

Bill is just hitting this clueless government left, right and centre.

APC and Buhari are deaf and dumb, they will not hear.

They listen only to their own lies anyway.

Bill Gates has looted all the money in America, he wants to come and loot Nigeria------ Liar Mumuhammed.

Chaaaiii

Ride on,you're on point.

This man Buhari has turned us into a pariah Nation again. Nobody wants to touch us and we are the butt of all jokes.

We are more of illusionist as a nation, let's start with our "EDUCATION", Nigeria is just focused on how to refine crude oil.
Can't we have a "University of Energy", solely focused on solving our power problem, because that's a big problem that needs urgent attention.
Why do we still need the Chinese and other foreigners to build our road, bridges, and all.
Nigeria is sick and we are using expired drugs (Buhari) on it.

I have a feeling that this is the kind of content that will either drive away the Nairaland hordes (since what Bill Gates is saying is beyond their limited powers of understanding), or it will quickly be hijacked by idiots who will turn it into another "Yoruba vs Igbo" contest of insults.

This is a real shame, as Gates is doing something few Nigerian public intellectuals or journalists seem either capable of or willing to do: he's trying to push Nigeria's political elite into putting together development proposals that take a lesson or two from the vast amount of knowledge on economic development that has accumulated over the last 40 years. Nigerian "leaders" seem stuck in a 1970s mindset of building big infrastructure projects without a thought for how they will pay for themselves, whether the domestic skill-set exists to maintain them, and whether their government ownership will provide the right incentives for such maintenance. Buhari's borrowing spree to fund infrastructure will lead nowhere without such hard thinking: my prediction is that all of the shiny new Chinese-built railroads will begin accumulating rust within a few years under their current management framework, with the oddly-prioritized Kaduna-Abuja train never coming close to covering its operating costs.

What this people cannot understand is that Buhari is a dunce..... He knows nothing aside cows

What he wants is to trek from country to country barefoot with his loving cows

All these talks about human capital development... Healthcare and youth empowerment is just a waste of time....

Bill gates is an IPOB member, we buhari supporters want him produce Kanu. We also know that Bill gates is corrupt~ Lie mohammed.

This barbaric government and its supporters do not care about human lives.

Is there any other country in the world that has recorded the amount of deaths of its citizens in peace time like Nigeria under Buhari?

One of the most satanic arguments of their foolish supporters was/is that people must die before things get better.

How many countries conduct mass burial for her every month and still shamelessly talk of phantom infrastructure?

Where is the so-called infrastructure now?

Where is the Lagos-Calabar railway they said would be ready in two years?

The picture loving government has not been able to produce a single shot of work activities at Mambilla Hydro Power Plant till now.

Where are the refineries they said would 70% installed capacity?

Hundreds of Almajiri schools were built in the north but the satanic primitive people abandoned them only to concentrate on 12th century method of herding cattle.

Cattle rearing is more celebrated over schooling.

And mass killings are seen as a consequence of not "tolerating fellow human beings".

Polio was all but gone before they came in only to stage a deadly comeback.

Lassa fever now kills even health professionals at an alarming rate and spread across the states that didn't witness such in the past.

How many countries allow millions of middle class jobs to be lost and still be boasting of "lifting" people out of poverty with N30,000?

If the useless ipob party called PDP had laid a good foundation in health and education during it's wasteful 16 years of misrule, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Wailing zombies are foaming from there mouths as if Mr Gates specifically fingered Buhari as the one responsible for our lack of human capital development. It's foolish to say we should abandon infrastructure and face people only . Power, transportation, tourism, trade and investment and even education and health all need physical infrastructure to thrive. There are millions of our professionals who have gone elsewhere because of decayed infrastructure, anything a white says is always the gospel as far as some people are concern, they lack the capacity to use their brains and that's pathetic.

Nigerians Hate facts..They love sweet lies

When you tell them the bitter truth, they immediately want you dead.

nwabobo:


Bill is just hitting this clueless government left, right and centre.

Na so oo. Not only the current useless leaders and their useless party, but all the leaders from other parties.

horsepower101:
Nigerians Hate facts..They love sweet lies

When you tell them the bitter truth, they immediately want you dead.

Some of you are so daft and thoughtless. Slaves to Oyibo. Look at how Bill Gates' comments have suddenly made you all forget that the main things YOU YOURSELVES have been complaining about on this forum for donkey years is INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT. Roads, Power, Rail, Airports, Ports, 2nd Niger Bridge etc etc.

Now along comes Oyibo Gates to say ''No, Don't focus on that. Focus on education and health instead'', and all of a sudden it is ''Can you see?? We said it! Why can't they listen to Bill Gates? Buhari is a dullard'' etc etc.

Fact is even YOU people don't know what you want. Or rather, you DO, but all you need is some white guy to come along and say something different, and you immediately jump on his bandwagon like his little black slaves. He is white and rich, so whatever he says must be right.

Pathetic.

Fact is there is a VERY convincing argument for the Nigerian government focusing on physical infrastructure as a priority. Why spend extra billions on education when there are no roads to reach the schools, and no power to light them up and power the labs etc?

Why spend billions on hospitals when your streets are muddy, open gutter eyesores? To visit hospital, get treated, and return there two weeks later with the same sickness?

Bill Gates' own country, the USA, built up its infrastructure BEFORE focusing on 'human development'. The famous railroads and freeways crisscrossing that country, which opened it up to trade and great wealth, were built by malnourished slaves and impoverished immigrants. They didn't say, ''Oh wait! Let us invest in this human capital before building the country''. Yet this is what Bill Gates is prescribing for us. Sure he is a rich CEO of Microsoft. But he is no expert in development. I'm unaware of any qualifications he has in Development Economics. Didn't he drop out of high school or something? All he can have is an... opinion. And Nigerians should decide independently what is good for them without taking 'instructions' from him.

Sure, there is an argument for prioritising health care and education. But it is not as stark and clear an option as some here have concluded it is, merely because they heard Bill Gates say it. What I would recommend is that the FG maintain its primary focus on physical infrastructural development, while raising substantially its expenditure on healthcare and education.

People forget that Bill Gates made his billions through anti-trust SCAM.

First, Prioritizing human development is the best thing that can happen to an economy because how do you intend to produce, grow and sustain your economy if you are lacking in human capital? Nigeria as a country is lacking a great deal of quality human capital. We have so many engineer but only engineer that read textbook on how to build bridges but have not build one in real life or witness where a bridge in built.

Only quality education can liberate Nigeria and Nigerians from shackles of poverty and wholesome investment in quality education by both the public and private sector is the answer. No nation can outgrow it quality of education and Nigeria problem begins the moments of large scale decline in education. I had received free education from University of Lagos and i had receive paid education from college elsewhere and i can tell the different.
The bottom line is, Nigeria as a nation should reduce the remuneration of political office holder by %60 and increase investment in human capital, education, infrastructure by a great deal if we plan to attain economic prosperity as a nation.

Rosskii:


Some of you are so daft and thoughtless. Slaves to Oyibo. Look at how Bill Gates' comments have suddenly made you all forget that the main things YOU YOURSELVES have been complaining about on this forum for donkey years is INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT. Roads, Power, Rail, Airports, Ports, 2nd Niger Bridge etc etc.

Now along comes Oyibo Gates to say ''No, Don't focus on that. Focus on education and health instead'', and all of a sudden it is ''Can you see?? We said it! Why can't they listen to Bill Gates? Buhari is a dullard'' etc etc.

Fact is even YOU people don't know what you want. Or rather, you DO, but all you need is some white guy to come along and say something different, and you immediately jump on his bandwagon like his little black slaves. He is white and rich, so whatever he says must be right.

Pathetic.

Fact is there is a VERY convincing argument for the Nigerian government focusing on physical infrastructure as a priority. Why spend extra billions on education when there are no roads to reach the schools, and no power to light them up and power the labs etc?

Why spend billions on hospitals when your streets are muddy, open gutter eyesores? To visit hospital, get treated, and return there two weeks later with the same sickness?

Bill Gates' own country, the USA, built up its infrastructure BEFORE focusing on 'human development'. The famous railroads and freeways crisscrossing that country, which opened it up to trade and great wealth, were built by malnourished slaves and impoverished immigrants. They didn't say, ''Oh wait! Let us invest in this human capital before building the country''. Yet this is what Bill Gates is prescribing for us. Sure he is a rich CEO of Microsoft. But he is no expert in development. I'm unaware of any qualifications he has in Development Economics. Didn't he drop out of high school or something? All he can have is an... opinion. And Nigerians should decide independently what is good for them without taking 'instructions' from him.

Sure, there is an argument for prioritising health care and education. But it is not as stark and clear an option as some here have concluded it is, merely because they heard Bill Gates say it. What I would recommend is that the FG maintain its primary focus on physical infrastructural development, while raising substantially its expenditure on healthcare and education.

The genealogical results of bill gates ethnicity shows that he his 60% Biafra. No wonder he sees something wrong with this administration. Bill Chukwunedu Obi Gates, Bihari no go hear you, you are speaking on behalf of the 1%

jayson87:
The genealogical results of bill gates ethnicity shows that he his 60% Biafra. No wonder he sees something wrong with this administration. Bill Chukwunedu Obi Gates, Bihari no go hear you, you are speaking on behalf of the 1%