American
billionaire and businessman, Bill Gates, has said that his criticism of the
Nigerian government’s Economic Recovery & Growth Plan was to stir leaders
to wake up to their responsibility and focus on human capital development.
Mr. Gates said Nigeria needs to
act to save the country’s large youth population.
During his visit to Nigeria, the
co-chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, addressed an expanded National
Economic Council meeting in Abuja where he criticised the government for
“prioritising physical capital over human capital” in its economic development
plans.
Present at the meeting was Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo, state governors, and ministers.
Mr. Gates’ comments attracted a
huge debate among Nigerians across all political divides, with many backing his
call.
The federal government claimed Mr.
Gates’ remarks was misunderstood by the media, and tried to counter the message
by highlighting its effort to develop human capital.
But, in an interview with the CNN
on Tuesday, Mr. Gates said his intention in criticising the country was not to
be impolite, but to point out to Nigerian politicians the need to focus more on
human capital development to save the horde of Nigerian youth population facing
poverty and other social malaise.
“While it may be easier to be
polite, it’s more important to face facts so that you can make progress,” Mr.
Gates said.
Mr. Gates said he was “very
direct” in his criticism of the federal government to stress the need for more
to be done to raise the level of its investment in education and health.
“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.
In his
Abuja speech, Mr. Gates faulted the decision to anchor the country’s long term
economic growth on investments in infrastructure, pointing out that investments
in people must go hand in hand.
“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,” he argued.
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