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  • Tinubu, Gates and the imperative of human capital development

    Tinubu, Gates and the imperative of human capital development

    Last Wednesday in Abuja, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presented an audacious N49.7 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill before a joint session of the 10th National Assembly for deliberation and approval. By all standards, this stands as the highest national budget estimate ever presented to the National Assembly since Nigeria’s independence. For keen observers of such annual presentations, it is evident that the exercise transcends a routine ritual of throwing around figures, exchanging banter, and hastily granting approvals. No, it is much more. Indeed, this period is one that any serious-minded lawmaker anticipates with keen interest. To lose focus during this critical screening and re-screening of the multi-trillion-naira budget proposal could result in significant regret. Do you get the drift?

    It is common knowledge that, in the end, figures are often adjusted, shifted, or justified by the same lawmakers who might have cheered the President’s speech. The occasion was lightened with humour, particularly when the President unknowingly referred to the 10th Assembly as the 11th. Well, we must give it to him that he handled that particular slip well by jocularly assuring members they were on the path to re-election. Yet, amid the humour, Senate President Godswill Akpabio issued a stern warning to Tinubu’s ministers and aides, emphasising that the National Assembly would no longer tolerate errant behaviour, especially from those who habitually ignore the summons by lawmakers who have the constitutional power to oversight the Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other sundry bodies. Akpabio’s message was clear: the era of hiding under presidential cover to flout legislative oversight has ended. Ministers and aides must be ready to honour invitations, as this budget, with its unprecedented figures, is not something lawmakers are willing to approach lightly. Of significant interest to them are the constituency projects which, as Akpabio noted, should be treated with all seriousness. Do you understand?

    At the heart of Akpabio’s address was the call to ensure constitutional projects are integral to annual budget presentations. This appeal underscores a pressing need to break away from a historical pattern of budgetary abuse, where padded figures often fail to translate into meaningful development. It is Nigerians’ fervent wish that this can be achieved as the lawmakers begin to work on the budget this time. All it takes is the will to approach the task with a determination to make the budget a working piece of document that puts the people first.

    Read Also: New trajectory of NNPCL under Kyari’s leadership

    Back to the crux of the matter, a N49.7 trillion budget holds immense potential for national transformation if it is implemented judiciously. Unfortunately, the nation’s financial trajectory has been marred by a tragic tradition of mismanagement. Presidents have consistently promised, in flowery language, to lift citizens out of poverty and uncertainty. Yet, these promises often dissolve into hollow rhetoric, leaving budgets skewed in favour of the privileged few.

    This raises the question: what makes Tinubu’s latest budget proposal different? Analysts are already dissecting the N49.7 trillion proposal, scrutinizing its feasibility and development prospects. However, my primary concern lies in the President’s emphasis on human capital development—a critical area where Nigeria has historically lagged. The nation’s investment in human capital is abysmally low, a situation reflected in its Human Capital Index (HCI), which hovers between 34% and 36%, far below the global benchmark of 56%.

    According to a recent report, “Nigeria’s HCI is 36%, meaning a child born in Nigeria today will be 36% less productive than they could be with full access to quality education and healthcare.” This dire statistic underscores the need for urgent reform. With adequate investment, Nigeria could exceed the benchmark and rival leading nations such as Singapore and Japan. While skeptics may dismiss this as overly ambitious, Tinubu’s proposed allocations to health and education—N826 billion for educational infrastructure (out of N3.3tr) and N680 billion for revitalizing the health sector(out of N2.4tr)—offer a glimmer of hope.

    These figures, if properly utilized, could signal a departure from the lip service that previous administrations have paid to these critical sectors. As Tinubu aptly noted, prioritising education and healthcare will lay the foundation for a prosperous future, enabling Nigerian children to compete globally. Surely, this would be a significant paradigm shift should Tinubu walk the talk.

    This perspective aligns with the long-standing advocacy of Mr. Bill Gates, who consistently emphasised the transformative power of investing in health and education. Gates, an American billionaire who continues to donate billions of dollars in different continents to mitigate issues concerning better living conditions for humanity, once remarked, “In the long run, your human capital is your main base of competition.” This truth is evident in countries with robust human capital investment catalysing economic prosperity. Mr. Bill Gates emphasised the need for Nigeria and other African countries to pay serious attention to investments in the health and education sectors. His reasoning is simply this: a wise leader is the one who empowers others. And how best can one enrich the potential of another to be greater if not by providing such a person the opportunity to access quality education and a top-notch healthcare system? When this happens or when it becomes the norm in our governance system, it will give a competitive advantage to millions of youths who are presently battling for survival. It will also reduce drastically the number of out-of-school children and enhance a culture of learning that would ultimately empower the individual. As Gates puts it, an investment in people’s health and education and providing growth opportunities is crucial for sustained prosperity.

    Sadly, Nigeria’s potential remains stifled by elite greed and systemic inefficiencies. Gates’ observation that Nigeria’s economic stagnation stems from its failure to invest in its greatest asset—its people—is both accurate and disheartening. True economic recovery and growth cannot occur without a deliberate commitment to empowering the populace.

    And so, beyond the significant allocations for security and agriculture in the 2025 budget, the focus on social infrastructure—education and healthcare—is pivotal. Properly funded hospitals and clinics would enhance workforce productivity, reduce healthcare burdens, and improve population health. Similarly, investments in educational infrastructure would foster a skilled labour force, essential for economic diversification and global competitiveness.

    Tragically, the urgency of these investments was underscored by the recent Ibadan incident, where 32 children lost their lives in a stampede during an end-of-year charity event. This calamity, rooted in poverty, highlights the consequences of systemic neglect. Such a calamity, I dare say, can only happen in a society like ours where poverty has been weaponised such that the rich always take maximum advantage to publicise their generous tokenism at every given opportunity. The irony is that those mourning the latest loss of innocent lives would hardly learn the key lessons from the avoidable disaster. A report by the BBC detailed related tragic moments that should have served as warning signals for the organisers of the Ibadan event to take adequate precautions. The report stated that: “In March, two female students were crushed to death at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, near the capital Abuja, when a rice distribution programme by the state governor caused a crowd surge. At least 23 people were injured. Three days later in the northern state of Bauchi, at least seven people died in another crush when a philanthropist and businessman was giving handouts of 5,000 naira. Earlier in February, five people were reported killed in Lagos when the Nigerian Customs Service auctioned seized bags of rice. A crowd surge for bags of rice being auctioned for about $7:00 led to the trampling to death of five people with dozens more injured.”

    All these happened in Nigeria before the latest tragedy in Ibadan. The question is: what have we learned? Tomorrow, when some other rich dude in town invites 10,000 people to pick some loaves of bread at a stadium in Kaduna or Lagos, I won’t be surprised if another stampede kills scores or more. It once happened at the Abuja stadium where job applicants were stampeded to death just because some persons wanted to make fast millions from desperate unemployed graduates. This is what the inimitable Afrobeat icon, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, aptly described as ‘suffering and smiling.’ Would those 35 children have perished if their families had access to the necessities of life? Likely not. Pity.

    But then, there is hope—a glimmer of hope in the 2025 budget that was submitted by the President. As Tinubu pursues his “Budget of restoration, securing peace and rebuilding prosperity,” he has an opportunity to redefine Nigeria’s human capital development trajectory. But success, we must point out, will require lawmakers, bureaucrats, and stakeholders to align with this vision. Only time will reveal whether Nigeria seizes this moment to chart a new course toward sustainable prosperity.

  • Gates urges Nigeria to prioritise primary health sector

    Gates urges Nigeria to prioritise primary health sector

    Global philanthropist and co-Chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, has called on the Federal Government to prioritise the strengthening of the primary healthcare sector at all levels to achieve more in public healthcare.

    Speaking during an interaction with members of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the State House, Abuja, Gates emphasised that primary healthcare is the foundation of a functional health system, yet Nigeria spends only N3,000 per person per year on primary healthcare with 70% of healthcare spending going to secondary and tertiary care.

    He charged government to rather give the larger funding,which currently goes to the secondary healthcare sector to the primary healthcare sector, noting that it is the foundation and most critical facility, which achieves more of the healthcare targets of governments.

    Gates highlighted the importance of data-driven decision making, realistic budgeting, and timely release of funds to support primary healthcare.

    He commended the Ministry of Health’s quarterly performance dialogues with states to review health data and encouraged continued engagement in this process.

    The philanthropist also praised President Tinubu’s administration for implementing an ambitious Sector-Wide Approach to strengthen primary healthcare and urged states to fulfill their obligations under Nigeria’s Health Sector Renewal Compact.

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    Gates cited examples of successful health initiatives in Nigeria, including the HPV vaccination campaign and polio eradication efforts, and encouraged the government to build on these successes to save more lives.

    “In just two decades, the world reduced the number of children who die before their 5th birthday by half. That’s largely thanks to investments in primary health care, like routine immunization. But in Nigeria today, 2.2 million kids have never gotten a single vaccine. I think you’ll agree that if children aren’t immunized against deadly diseases, little else matters.

    “Primary care is the first—and sometimes, the only—point of contact most patients have with the health system. Yet Nigeria spends just 3,000 naira on primary health care per person, per year. 70% of your spending goes to secondary and tertiary care, compared to just 30% for primary care.

    “That ratio should be reversed.

    “Yesterday, I had a chance to visit Abuja’s National Hospital. In theory, their role is to provide specialized care. But in practice, most of their patients come from primary health centers that can’t provide basic services.

    “The staff I met yesterday are doing heroic work with very few resources. But they shouldn’t have to be heroic.

    “It’s up to each state to not only prioritize primary health in your budgets, but also follow through on releasing the funds on time.

    “Realistic budgeting also requires good data. Data can reveal uncomfortable truths. But no country can plan for the future without understanding the present.

    “Without a realistic plan, health systems break down. Salaries don’t get paid. Equipment doesn’t get maintained. Supplies don’t show up. And over time, patients give up on seeking care altogether.

    “A good plan should recognize the financial constraints, and prioritize the services that do the greatest good. And that requires data.

    “I understand the Ministry of Health has begun quarterly performance dialogues with states to review health data. And I strongly encourage you to continue engaging in that process. Because health facilities can’t make smart decisions about what services to offer or what medicines to buy without data.

    “Patients should be able to go online, click on a map, and see exactly where the facilities are and what services they offer. And when they show up, those facilities should be properly staffed and resourced.

    “At the federal level, that means investing in a national independent monitoring system, to gather and verify data.

    “At the state level, it means using that data in your planning, so you know how many workers to hire, where to send them, and whether the shelves are stocked.

    “Data can also help states save money by optimizing your workforce. One promising idea is investing in biometric attendance systems to track absenteeism,” he said.

  • ‘Removal of inner street gates in everyone’s interest’

    ‘Removal of inner street gates in everyone’s interest’

    Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, has told members of Lekki Residents Association that removal of gates in their inner streets was done in the interest of residents.

    Wahab spoke at a stakeholders meeting convened by his transport counterpart, Oluwaseun Oshiyemi, at Alausa, Ikeja. He described it as ‘a very painful decision taken because government has the responsibility to regulate operations at Lekki I’.

    He said people, areas and institutions got away with infractions because they worked in silos, and so the decision to remove gates of inner streets was taken so the government would not be accused of bias.

    The commissioner corrected the notion that only the Ministry of Transport could deal with such cases, saying all ministries represent sub-units of one system which could be directed by the governor because they are linked and inter-related.

    Wahab, who said the action was ‘regrettable’, said the gates are intact and would be returned after an agreement on modalities for re-installing them.

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    He reiterated that the agreement must include a proviso that the gates cannot be shut before midnight, and must have personnel to ensure seamless entry and exit for residents.

    Oshiyemi said the meeting was not to apportion blames, but to ensure rules are obeyed if streets are to be gated.

    He added that while the government is not keen on jeopardising the security of the Lekki I residents, it will also not jeopardise the free movement of people as enshrined in the constitution.

    Chairman of the Lekki Residents Association, Yomi Idowu appealed to the government to reconsider the decision to remove all the inner gates.

    He explained that following the directives of the Ministry of Transportation to keep all the inner gates open, the association complied but had to contend with some recalcitrant ones that refused to open theirs. Idowu attributed the erection of street gates to their experience during the EndSARS riot.              

  • Gates Foundation: how we can save moms, kids

    Gates Foundation: how we can save moms, kids

    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMFG) has identified seven innovations that could save two million mums and babies by 2030.

    These are contained in the seventh BMFG annual Goalkeepers Report.

    The report, among others, described where the world has fallen short in achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and where innovation and investment can fuel progress, particularly in the fight against maternal and child mortality.

    Co-authored by Melinda and Bill Gates, the report highlights new data that shows the potential of scaling up global access to seven innovations and practices that address maternal and newborn deaths.

    “By making new innovations accessible, two million persons could be saved by 2030, and 6.4 million by 2040. 

    “That’s two million families spared heartbreak—and two million more to shape and enrich our world,” they said.

    The report noted many life-saving innovations and practices can be delivered by midwives and birth attendants.

    They include interventions that can reduce postpartum hemorrhage, the No. 1 cause of maternal death, by 60 per cent for less than N1,000 (or $1 per) package.

    Bifidobacteria (B. Infantis), a probiotic supplement that with breastmilk, combats malnutrition—a leading cause of newborn deaths.

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    Multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) that boost survival rates for babies by helping replete nutrient stores in pregnant women and ensuring those vital nutrients are transferred to the baby

    A new one-time infusion of IV iron for women that replenishes iron reserves during pregnancy, protecting against and treating anemia, a condition that is both a cause and effect of postpartum hemorrhage and affects almost 37% of pregnant women

    Antenatal corticosteroids (ACS), which are given to women who will give birth prematurely to accelerate fetal lung growth, providing several weeks of maturation in just a few days

    Azithromycin, which reduces maternal infections during pregnancy and prevents infections from spiraling into sepsis—the cause of 23% of maternal deaths in the United States—and reduces mortality when given to infants in high-mortality settings.

    An AI-enabled portable ultrasound that empowers nurses and midwives to monitor high-risk pregnancies in low-resource settings to ensure that risks are diagnosed and addressed early.

    Since 2016, progress in reducing global maternal mortality has stalled in some parts of Nigeria, and in some countries—including the United States—death rates have risen steadily. Across the world, nearly 800 women die in childbirth every day. 

    Though deaths of children under five have continued to decline since the mid-2010s, the first month of a newborn’s life continues to be the most dangerous, accounting for almost half of all under-five deaths today. An estimated 74 per cent of child deaths happen during a baby’s first year. 

    In respective essays, French Gates and Gates acknowledge the global efforts between 2000 and 2015 that significantly improved the health of mothers and babies but point out that progress has stalled since COVID-19 hit. 

    They explain how the discovery of revolutionary information about maternal and child health in the last 10 years led to low-cost and easy-to-implement innovations and practices that prevent and treat deadly childbirth complications such as post-partum hemorrhaging, infections, and maternal anemia. 

    They called for immediate action to help put the world back on track to achieve the global goal of cutting the maternal mortality rate to less than 70 out of 100,000 births and newborn mortality to 12 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2030.

  • Gates Foundation urges action against maternal, child mortality

    Gates Foundation urges action against maternal, child mortality

    • By Raphael Obiduba

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has called for urgent action to accelerate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) and reduce maternal and child mortality. This was contained in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation seventh annual Goalkeepers Report released on Tuesday.

     The Goalkeepers Report showed where the world has collectively fallen short at halfway point in achieving the SDGs. It also showed where innovation and investment could advance progress, particularly in the fight against the global epidemic of maternal and child mortality. The report, co-authored by the foundation Co-chairs, Melinda French-Gates and Bill Gates, highlighted new data that showed the potential of scaling up global access to seven innovations and practices.

     This, the report would address the leading causes of maternal and new-born deaths. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the global maternal mortality rate (MMR) in 2020 was 223 per 100, 000 live births, while achieving a global MMR below 70 by 2030 will require an annual rate of reduction of 11.6 per cent. “By making new innovations accessible to those who need them most, two million additional lives could be saved by 2030, and 6.4 million lives by 2040. That’s two million families spared an unimaginable heartbreak and two million more people who can shape and enrich our world,” the authors said.

     The report noted that since 2016, progress in reducing global maternal mortality had stalled, and in some countries, including the United States, death rates had risen steadily. It said, globally, nearly 800 women die in childbirth every day, acknowledging that deaths of children under five continued to decline since the mid-2010s. The report explained that the first month of a new-born’s life continued to be the most dangerous, accounting for almost half of all under-five deaths today

     It also said that 74 per cent of child deaths happen during a baby’s first year. The report acknowledged the global efforts between 2000 and 2015 that significantly improved the health of mothers and babies and the progress stalled since COVID-19 hit. It explained how the discovery of revolutionary information about maternal and child health in the last 10 years led to low-cost and easy-to-implement innovations and practices. According to the report, these innovations and practices prevent and treat deadly childbirth complications such as post-partum hemorrhaging, infections, and maternal anemia.

     It called for immediate action to help put the world back on track to achieve the global goal of cutting the maternal mortality rate to less than 70 out of 100,000 births and newborn mortality to 12 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2030.

    Read Also: UN Chief, others call for global peace, solidarity

    “As is so often the case in global health, innovations aren’t making their way to the people who need them most; women in low-income countries, blacks and indigenous women in high-income countries like the United States, who are dying at three times the rate of white women. That needs to change. We have seen over and over again that when countries actually prioritise and invest in women’s health, they unleash a powerful engine for progress that can reduce poverty, advance gender equality, and build resilient economies.

     “Over the past decade, the field of child health has advanced faster and farther than I thought I’d see in my lifetime. If our delivery can keep pace with our learning; if researchers can continue developing new innovations and skilled health workers can get them to every mother and child who needs them. Then, more babies will survive those crucial first days,” the report said.

     It also said that the life-saving innovations and practices highlighted in the report could be delivered by midwives and birth attendants in communities. The report listed the innovations as a bundle of interventions that can reduce postpartum haemorrhage, the major cause of maternal death, by 60 per cent for less than one dollar per package. Bifidobacteria (B. Infantis), a new probiotic supplement that, when given to an infant alongside breastmilk, combats malnutrition—a leading cause of newborn deaths. Also, Multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) that boost survival rates for babies by helping replete nutrients stored in pregnant women and ensuring those vital nutrients are transferred to the baby.

    Others are one-time infusion of IV iron for women that replenishes iron reserves during pregnancy, protecting against and treating anaemia, a condition that is both a cause and effect of postpartum hemorrhage and affects almost 37 per cent of pregnant women. It also includes antenatal corticosteroids (ACS), which are given to women who will give birth prematurely to accelerate fetal lung growth, providing several weeks of maturation in just a few days. Also, Azithromycin, which reduces maternal infections during pregnancy and prevents infections from spiraling into sepsis—the cause of 23 per cent of maternal deaths in the United States—and reduces mortality when given to infants in high-mortality settings.

  • Gates, Dapchi and human capital development (2)

    It is important that we place things in proper context before running our mouths against Mr. Gates for, some would say, daring to count our ‘nine fingers’ in our presence. Question is: why is the Nigerian elite and its fawning poor scared of being told the glaring truth about the way we ruin our future? We may not like it but the Dapchi girls, like many of us, are the collective victims of a dying health system which Adewole, our own Health Minister, said has not delivered qualitatively from all indicators and with meagre resources allocated, and mostly mismanaged, since May 1999 when democracy was reborn in Nigeria. They are potential startup entrepreneurs or part of the talent pool that the likes of Dangote would readily employ to drive the economy, provided they are allowed to get the basic skills, are in good health with good education to boot. When insurgents are allowed to implant such grave fear in the minds of the parents of these little ones about education, is there any hope that the narrative would change in the year 2050 when, as projected, Nigeria would be the third or fourth largest population in the world?

     

    For those who were not at the venue, Gates’ tone was not that of an arrogant billionaire rubbing the noses of the beneficiaries of his wealth on a rocky plain. Instead, his was an appeal to commonsense. Take, for example, what he said about the plight of the average farmer who, in spite of the availability of internet banking, has no access to any feasible loan initiative to grow his business. Now contrast that to the unlimited access that federal ministers, lawmakers and their cronies have to the banks where they are offered facilities running into billions of naira, just to satisfy their hedonistic taste! Just the other day, a Federal Minister boldly told Nigerians that the multimillion naira mansions linked to him within three years of being in office were procured through bank loans without anyone asking what collateral he deposited for the deal. To a businessman like Gates, this just doesn’t make sense. Unfortunately, that is the story the rest of the world read about us here—-investing in self, like senator who rake home N13.3m monthly as ‘running cost’, rather than on things that would benefit the generality. Gates and other development-minded persons just can’t understand the whole essence of these primitive proclivities in a modern world!

     

    What exactly is Knucklehead driving at in all this? Dapchi should not be another passing phase in our scandalous book of political chicanery and vainglory.  In any case, it shouldn’t have happened if those saddled with the responsibility of keeping the region safe didn’t shirk or abdicate that onerous responsibility. With the Chibok experience still fresh in our memories and the much-touted news of a ‘degraded ’Boko Haram insurgents, how did they regroup and succeeded in inflicting pain and anguish in Dapchi? What could have given them the courage to drive triumphantly into the same territory, playing with the residents and having ‘selfie’ moments with them before barking orders at them to stop sending their children to schools teaching Western education? Where does that leave us in a bid to tap the potentials imbued in our greatest asset as a nation—-the human capital?

     

    By all means possible, the primitive echo of the Boko Haram rant against the education of these young ones should be nipped in the bud. The schools in those areas must be open and made to function because any shut down of education in the region would have direct deleterious impact on the general health of the nation as a whole. In his observation, Gates warned that though the government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) speaks about the need to invest in the people, the “execution priorities don’t fully reflect people’s needs by prioritising physical capital over human capital.” He also noted that to anchor our long-term economic prospects on investments in infrastructure and competitiveness without sundry investments in the people through quality education and health is a recipe for a painfully unsustainable economy. And this, I must say, starts with the kind of scary scenario that played out in Dapchi. It resonates in the fact that these criminal elements are still holding on to Leah Sharibu for insisting on her fundamental rights to freedom of education, association and, above all, religion. That is the dream they want to kill at incubation. That is the fear they plan to inflict on the rest of us. And that is how they hatch the plan to kill our future!

     

    In fact, Vice President Osinbajo’s tokenism of a ‘school feeding programme’ and the “N Power project’ fell far short of the kind of response Gates was expecting. Reiterating his point in an interview with the Cable News Network, Gates said: “As a partner in Nigeria, I am saying that 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 enough. So I was very direct. If they get health and education right, they will be an engine of growth not just for themselves but for all of Africa.” For me, that is the crux of the matter. We are being told to look into the mirror and confront the uncomfortable realities of the silly choices we are making for a likely blighted future. Sadly, that’s what the elite don’t want to hear.

     

    The Gates some of us abuse today has invested $1.6bn of his personal fortunes in our country all in a bid to improve our human resource. You may wish to contrast that with the billions of dollars that different categories of the nation’s fleecing leaders have creamed off the system building mansions their children would never live in; schools their children would never attend; hospitals they would never be treated in and luxury items that have never quenched an insatiable quest for more hollow acquisitions. In any case, what is $1.6bn compared to what these privileged kleptocrats steal from the national treasury yearly? We completely mix the point when the apologists among us fret nerves against Gates instead of demanding for a paradigm shift in investment in Nigeria’s human resource. How much longer would we continue to shift the blame and hide the truth under this bushel of deceit?

     

    In the course of writing this piece, a friend, Folaranmi Adegbite, reminded me of a blueprint which one of the founding fathers of this great nation, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, scripted and worked with in the then Western Region before greed became the language of politics in both civilian and military circles. “Remember free education, free health care, and rural development? A sage drew the blueprint for these 63 years ago and implemented it at every opportunity he had. He left a legacy of an educated region with potentials……And then the carpetbaggers came with their petro dollars quick money schemes and opulent lifestyles!”

     

    I’m sure we all know when the shoes started pinching us, right? And so, when the dust settles on the fanfare and jamboree with the hosting of the 104 Dapchi girls by President Muhammadu Buhari, I hope the authorities would remember that Bill Gates actually threw the challenge of a prosperous Nigeria back at the leadership, saying that “triggering that cycle (of bloom) will require bolder action—action you have the power to take as leaders, governors, and ministers focused on Nigeria’s future. And that means that the future of Nigeria depends on all of you—and your leadership in the years to come.” I hope they will ponder over these wise words when they summon the courage to visualize a Nigeria that is not subsumed under their bitter, petty and vindictive selfish politicking. I just hope so!

     

     

  • From Gates with candor

    Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates came to town with a determination to offer a candid analysis of the Nigerian condition and a perspective, informed by unimpeachable research, on the way out.

    Simply put, Gates advised Nigerians that investment in human capital must be prioritized over investment in physical structures. Armed with graphs and charts to drive home the point, the technology icon stung us with the bitter truth: You’ve got your priorities wrong. There are at least five takeaways from Bill Gates’s address to the stakeholders at the expanded meeting of NEC.

    First, authentic development requires a laser beam focus on the basic needs of people. As he put it, a people, lacking the basics of a good life, including food, shelter, health, and education, cannot live a productive life and thus cannot contribute to the growth and development of their nation.

    Second, education and health are the foundations of a productive life. Therefore, negatively, to avoid such an outcome of parasitic living with its attendant social dysfunction, and, positively, to impact national development, government and well-placed citizens must invest in the education and health of the people, especially the youth. With a commitment of over $1.6 billion in Nigeria so far, this white American with no ancestral roots in Nigeria has certainly walked the talk.

    Third, Gates’s prescription was as impeccable as his practical commitment. To Nigerian leaders, his message was loud and clear: maximize the Nigerian people and Nigeria will thrive when every Nigerian is able to thrive.

    Did I just say that Gates has no ancestry root in Nigeria? But how come he can capture so succinctly our cultural worldview? Does our ancestral wisdom not also affirm the importance of even development and equitable sharing? Ajoje ko dun bi enikan ko ni? (Literally: a potluck is enjoyable provided everyone could afford to contribute a portion.) I should take back then my unsupported assertion. Bill Gates, like every homo sapiens, has an African root. In any case, we share a common human nature.

    Fourth, yet while it is true that we all started off with a mindset of human interconnectedness that requires empathy towards others, we are now at a dangerous stage where ego and greed have taken over, placing a new song in our mouth: bamu ni mo yo, emi o mo pebi npa omo enikokan. (Literally: I am full to the brim and can care less if anyone is hungry).

    From a communal orientation that emphasized solidarity, we descended to the pathetic level of vulgar individualism. Gates’s frank advice was that even if we have neither love nor empathy, but we value sustained prosperity, we can only attain it if we invest in the health and education of everyone. Isn’t it a shame that it takes someone from a clime that we have always berated as the ground zero of soulless capitalism to teach us about the good of community, in which we used to take pride as our heritage?

    Fifth, we could make a strong case for investing in the health and education of people as an end-in-itself. It does not have to be justified by appeal to something else. In other words, health is intrinsically good. Education is intrinsically good. Therefore, investing in them doesn’t have to be justified by appeal to something beyond themselves.

    However, there is also an instrumental reasoning for the rightness of investing in health and education and Gates provided it brilliantly: 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. To conclude the thought, we should add that people with good education and sound health will build and maintain good roads, good ports and good factories.

    Why am I thinking that this thought and this prescription are not new?  From where have we heard a similar if not identical analysis before?

    First, the understanding behind the analysis and prescription is ingrained in our cultural ethos as confirmed by the words of the elders: Omo ti a ko to ni yoo gbe ile ti a ko ta (Literally: the child whose future we refuse to build up for success will sell off the house that we selfishly build for fame). This is no rocket science. The untrained child cannot fathom the importance of an edifice selfishly built for fame. And even if he or she appreciates, without a source of livelihood that could have come from the education that he or she was denied, why would he or she starve to death if the edifice could be auctioned away?

    Second, taking cognizance of this wisdom of the ancestors, our founding fathers chose education as the pillar of the new nation at independence. While three of the founding fathers who led the three original regions were true to the injunction in practical terms, its theoretical reaffirmation was a life mission of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. However, while his generation of leaders needed little or no prodding, subsequent leaders, especially the unelected interlopers in the corridors of power, had other ideas.

    The military leaders that imposed their will on the nation in 1966 reversed the wisdom of the ancestors and focused on building structures instead of humans. For 13 years in the first instance, a different philosophy of development took center stage in dear country. Between 1979 and 1983, an effort was made in the southwest to go back to prioritizing human capital. It was short lived as the impostors struck again. And for the next 15 years, the nation was held, not merely at a standstill but way backwards in the matter of human capital development.

    Where gains had been made, they made sure that those were reversed with a deliberate policy of stunting the intellectual growth of the nation. This policy would most likely not have succeeded without the centralization of the major social and economic institutions. It is now apparent that centralization was a deliberate policy for overturning the progress of the early years in education and health. The consequence of that shocking demonstration of hatred for investment in human development, starkly against the tradition of enlightened governance in the post-independence era, is what we are experiencing today.

    Between 1999 and 2014, Nigeria made multiples of billions from the export of crude oil. But consistent with the policy outlook and practical bent of the immediate past, we chose to prioritize the physical over the mental as we built roads and skyscrapers across the landscape of our nation. In the process of these development initiatives, very few well-connected individuals made it big. But we neglected the necessary investment in quality education for the youth.

    Our common excuse, which Gates is aware of, is lack of adequate revenue. We cannot afford free education for our children because we do not have the financial means and for the same reason, we cannot stock libraries or equip laboratories. Part of the evidence of our fiscal handicap is that various state governments are unable to pay workers’ salary, with school teachers and retirees hardest hit.

    It is, however, quite revealing of the priorities that we set ourselves that, even in the middle of these trying times, both the legislative and executive branches of government at state and national levels suffer no financial hardship. Neither the humongous emoluments of members of state and national assemblies nor executive branch compensations are affected. Security votes are never endangered. The truth is that since 1966, the national leadership has effectively led the states in the retrogressive abandonment of equal access to quality education.

    In the early 1970s, when the nation was awash in stupendous wealth, Chief Awolowo, convinced that human beings are “the sole creative and purposive dynamic in nature…. the determinant of all economic and social change and the generator of all the impulse of progress”, and armed with figures and statistics, made a strong case for free education at all levels. Almost 50 years later, his arguments remain valid.

    We must reconsider the purpose of government in favor of the common good and reprimand the greedy mentality of a few.

     

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    @SegunGbadeg2002

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  • Gates and the Nigerian Ostriches

    In the last decade, billionaire Bill Gates is reputed to have funneled estimated $1.6b (Over N500b) of his own hard-earned fortune into humanitarian causes in Nigeria, especially immunization for kids against polio with a view to helping to end the nation’s shame as the world’s capital of the horrific yet preventable disease.

    Without being prompted, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation would, for instance, pay off recently a $76m loan the Jonathan administration took from Japan in 2014 in the name of fighting polio with little or nothing to show for it.

    But having just returned to his Seattle home in the United States after a week-long visit to the most populous black nation, it is doubtful if today the Microsoft founder might also not have given a serious thought to the urgency of helping to avail Nigeria a different sort of inoculation – for commonsense; and for the most unlikely demographic – the political leadership.

    As usual, Gates spent the better part of his latest visit to the country attending meetings and giving talks on how to improve the living condition of the Nigerian child in the company of a fellow billionaire philanthropist, Aliko Dangote.

    Then, there was also an opportunity to briefly immerse in Nigeria’s accustomed feasting and jollification. As Dangote gave out his daughter Fatima in wedlock, Gates savored a front-row seat in the cultural extravaganza that echoed from Kano to Lagos last weekend.

    But the most unforgettable must be his rather brusque encounter with Nigeria’s officials at the highest level in Abuja. Customarily, guests are permitted a few indulgences. But such hardly include the liberty to sample the hazardous dessert of telling uncomfortable truth, especially when the host happens to be generous in not just hospitality but most flattering in the citation heralding the visitor.

    Speaking last Thursday as special guest at an extra-ordinary session of the expanded National Economic Council, however, Gates chose to break that golden rule.

    With the fervor of a fiery First Testament prophet, the American visitor spoke bitter truth to Aso Rock. A fetish had been made of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan as the new silver bullet to lift the nation from poverty. But Gates did not see any power in the talisman being flaunted.

    Rather, he only saw the lame shuffle of an ant officially mistaken for tentative step of coming prosperity. Without spending on human capital, without spending more on education, without spending much more on quality healthcare, without seeking to keep birth rate on par with the development of social infrastructure, Gates declared that a nation is doomed to poverty.

    His verdict: “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 the people’s needs, prioritizing 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 expressing the optimism that Nigeria can still join the league of nations with upper middle income like China, Brazil and Mexico given her abundant resources including huge population, the American billionaire stressed that such quantum leap depends on the choices the political leadership makes – namely reordering national priorities.

    Overall, Gates’ prognosis is hardly new, though. It does not require extra intelligence to know that a nation that spends more than seventy percent of its earning on recurrent subhead and consumption generally is merely seeking to perpetuate the dynasty of penury.

    What must have confounded Gates and any right-thinking particularly is the nearly rude official reaction to what should ordinarily be taken as home-truth from a man who, by personal deeds and humongous financial commitment, has demonstrated more than unconditional love for Nigeria in the past decade.

    Whereas VP Yemi Osinbajo was, as usual, unfailingly nuanced and took pains to explain  in his response that they were already aware of some of the fears expressed by Gates, not so with the voluble Kaduna governor, Nasir “The Bulldozer” El-Rufai, who seems never willing to allow any “slight” pass unavenged, however negligible. It was as if someone had waved a red flag before a raging bull again.

    Even in the face of implicating statistics, El-Rufai’s response was short of branding Gates a liar: “(I)t is not correct to say that the economic recovery and growth plan does not give primacy to human capital, it is not correct.”

    But note: the issue is not promise, but delivery.

    Sentiments expressed by his Ebonyi counterpart, David Umahi, was not markedly different. But perhaps, the real shame is that Umahi still chose to deny Gates’ truth on the same day the national media was awash with the chilling story of an Ebonyi mother, Mrs. Veronica Igwe, who allegedly gave her four-year-old daughter, Uloma, to a trader, Mrs. Josephine Nwali, in lieu of a N100 debt.

    Following a tip-off, officials of the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, had tracked the latter to the campus of the Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki. Lo and behold, they found little Uloma and another seven-year-old boy already deployed in street hawking.

    Of course, the likes of Uloma are conveniently never captured in the miracle fables Nigerian officials like to retail in propagation of false prosperity, counterfeit progress.

    As if on cue, some of our ministers would also suddenly switch to the defensive mode as if Gates’ critique was personal. The minister of Budget and National Planning has since flooded the airwaves with fabulous budget figures that give the impression of a commitment to raise expenditure in education and healthcare in the past three years.

    But, as they say, the devil is often in the details. Budget is mere declaration of intent to spend. It would have made more sense if we were shown proofs that funds eventually  released matched the promise. There is another undeclared truth: recurrent subhead is prioritized in the face of shortfall in expected revenue. Even when capital projects are executed at all, the costs are often mindlessly inflated, leaving the people doubly short-changed.

    Well, with abundant proof of contagious delusion in high places, maybe Gates’s vaccine for common sense may not be a bad idea after all.

     

  • Gates, Dapchi and human capital development

    ON Thursday, during a special National Economic Council (NEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, governors from the 36 states or their deputies, the billionaire philanthropist and Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr, Bill Gates and Africa’s richest entrepreneur, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the grim realities of the Nigerian nation sinking deeper into economic gloom if nothing tangible is done in terms of heavy investments in its vast human capital was echoed by everyone and anyone who mounted the podium. Whilst representatives of the development partners rolled out discouraging and, sometimes, heart-wrenching figures to buttress their arguments that we have, indeed, failed to invest in Nigeria’s greatest asset for a technologically and knowledge-driven future—its people, the pictures painted by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Ajewole and his counterpart in the Education Ministry, Alhaji Adamu Adamu, confirmed the ‘blunt’ depressing facts which Gates was to later reel out to the audience.

    One after the other, the various speakers rub the facts on our faces. Nigeria, they say, has the highest figure of out-of-school children in the world and presently without a functional investment in human capital. The country is also rated as “one of the most dangerous places to give birth, with the fourth worst maternal mortality rate in the world, ahead of Sierra Leone, Central African Republic and Chad”, in addition to the crying fact that, statistically, one in three Nigerian children is chronically malnourished. Those were the words of Gates even if they are the notoriously true. And, in spite of all the efforts presumably being made by the government to change the narrative, Nigeria remains a low income country no thanks to policies that are incapable of guaranteeing a ‘foundation for sustained prosperity” with the vast majority of its people barely living from hand to mouth. No picture could be grimmer than this I guess.

    Some would ask: what has all these got to do with Dapchi, a town in Yobe State where 110 girls were criminally abducted and, eventually, heroically returned earlier this week? Well, a lot. In my mind, Dapchi, like Chibok, is a metaphor for all that is good and bad about Nigeria. Since the abduction and return of the girls, Nigerians have been at their mischievous best in interrogating the matter. When I speak of the scary figures, statistics and data being rolled out to justify why Nigeria needs to do more in the area of investment in human capital, what those in authorities do about it would depend on their beliefs. For example, all the pontifications by Gates and the other partners may come to naught if the government views the figures as concocted or an attempt to smear its image and bring it into disrepute with its teeming supporters. On the other hand, the government could decide to sift through the messages no matter how distasteful they seem to be and kick start the process of investing on its future assets, the people. It’s all about the belief that would an action or inaction!

    And that is where Dapchi comes in because the abduction affects a key factor in human capital development for an economically sustainable future—education especially that of the girl-child which is already at an abysmally low figure in some communities. It is sickening that, in returning the girls in commando style back to their anguished parents, the insurgents were said to have strictly warned the Dapchi parents to stop, forthwith, the idea of sending their children to learn what they perceived as “Western education”, adding with irritating glee that the entire saga was not “terrorism but just to teach us a lesson!” Now, that should scare anyone that can make some sort of sense out of all that was said in the Banquet Hall of Aso Rock that day. When bandits enjoy the liberty to scare the hell out of hardworking parents whose only ‘crime’ was sending their wards to acquire the kind of knowledge that would place them at a competitive advantage in the foreseeable future, then we all need to get worried, don’t we?

    Listen to Gates: “The most important choice you can make is to maximise your greatest resources, the Nigerian people. Nigeria will thrive when every Nigerian is able to thrive. 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, than it is very important to recognise that there will be sharp limit on how much the country can grow.”

    And so, in looking at the long term effects of the madness going on in the North-East and some other parts of the country, we must admit that we may just be digging craters that would doom our future prospects especially with the silly rants and the shockingly inhumane attitudes some of us have displayed in expressing our opinions on the Dapchi abduction. In saying this, I must admit that this government didn’t help matters in its shoddy handling of information flow surrounding the abduction, search and subsequent return of the girls. When the government, through its officially-recognised spokespersons, started bandying different figures on the number of girls that were returned by the bandits, the negotiation that took place before they were taken back to their parents, why it didn’t insist on the return of the Christian lady that refused to succumb to the blackmail of converting to Islam, how five or four of the girls died in captivity and if ransom was paid or not, it goes without saying that the government created a veritable ground for mischief makers to make bankable permutations of what they tagged a stage-managed abduction drama. Pity.

    While conceding that certain things just didn’t add up in the many stories flying around concerning the Dapchi girls, I also believe that many of the commentators on both sides of the divide are far gone in their political coloration of events of such nature thereby making objective reasoning a near impossibility. Those Dapchi girls, we must remember, are just part of the lucky few that survived in a country described as ‘one of the most dangerous to give birth” with “one in three children chronically malnourished.”

  • Why Nigeria must invest in human capital, by Gates

    •Microsoft boss invested $1.6b in health, others •Osinbajo blames corruption for poor investments

    CO-CHAIR of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates has harped on the need for Nigeria to invest in its human capital.

    Gates, who stressed that Nigeria has unmatched economic potential, said growth would come naturally when Nigeria maximises its greatest resource – the people.

    He spoke yesterday at the expanded National Economic Council (NEC) meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.

    The multi-billionaire and Dangote also visited the Emergency Operations Centre for polio in Abuja.

    Gates, whose foundation has invested more than $1.6 billion in Nigeria to date, is in the country to see first-hand the progress in primary healthcare provision, polio eradication, nutrition and financial inclusion.

    He said: “The Nigerian government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan identifies ‘investing in our people’ as one of three ‘strategic objectives. But the ‘execution priorities’ don’t fully reflect people’s needs, prioritising physical capital over human capital.

    “To anchor the economy over the long term, investments in infrastructure and competitiveness must go hand in hand with investments in people.

    “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.”

    Gates urged political leaders to maximise the country’s resources which are its people as a way to help it to thrive.

    He said: “But growth is not inevitable. 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 maximise your greatest resources, the Nigerian people. Nigeria will thrive when every Nigerian is able to thrive.

    “If you invest in 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 recognise that there will be a sharp limit on how much the country can grow.”

    Gates added: “You see this risk in the data. From the point of view of the quality of life, much of Nigeria still looks like a low-income country. Let me give a few examples.

    “In the 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.

    “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. I do not enjoy speaking to you this bluntly when you have been gracious enough to invite me here. But I am applying an important lesson I earned from Alhaji Aliko Dangote.”

    Noting that his foundation with the largest headquarters in Africa is sited in Nigeria, he said that he has also committed the sum of $1.6 billion in Nigeria with a plan to increase the amount.

    Making a PowerPoint presentation of a model of the trajectory of Nigeria’s economic growth, relating to health and education, Gates observed that if the present trend continues, the country cannot keep up with its population growth.

    On his recommendation for Nigeria’s ERGP review, he said: “The recommended percentage is assuming a higher level tax of collection than is taking place in Nigeria. So, it’s up to Nigeria to decide how much percentage tax they can allocate to that.”

    Osinbajo again blamed the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration for allegedly failing to transform the lives of Nigerians despite making huge money from crude oil.

    According to him, grand corruption prevented investments in healthcare, education and infrastructure.

    He said the last government shamelessly robbed government policies of most, if not all, of their intended impact.

    Osinbajo, however, assured that the present administration is determined to change things.

    He said: “To put Nigeria’s money to work for Nigerians, doing the most with the least, we have stayed true to that vision. Even as oil prices went into free fall, we ramped up investments in infrastructure, as well as our social spending.”

    On the challenges the Dangote Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have outlined at the event, Osinbajo said: “And we have no choice, because the problem literally grows daily.”

    According to him, Nigeria has strong economic growth and development ambitions, encapsulated in her Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, launched in 2017.

    He noted, however, that all those lofty ambitions can only be achieved through the determined application of human skill and effort.

    Chairman of Dangote Foundation Aliko Dangot, said for Nigeria to truly compete globally, it must prioritise investments in the health, education and opportunity for the people alongside other critical areas like infrastructure.

    “Together, these are the inputs that will make Nigeria richer,” he stressed.

    During a press briefing at the end of the meeting, Dangote said he would try to prevail on the private sector to contribute one per cent of their profit to health.

    According to him, two per cent is already going to educate.

    Ministers of Health Isaac Adewole  and Education Adamu Adamu also made presentations at the expanded meeting.