President Bola Tinubu pledged yesterday that his administration would prioritise the health and safety of Nigerians.
Tinubu made the promise when he received in the audience, the Co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr Bill Gates and the President of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in Abuja.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Mr Dele Alake, the President noted that for any country to develop, the health of its people, particularly the workforce, is critical.
While saluting the courage and commitment of Gates in working for humanity, Tinubu commended his partnership with Aliko Dangote Foundation.
The President said his administration would do all that was required to make their work in Nigeria and Africa successful, particularly in the area of eradicating polio, measles, malaria and other diseases.
But he warned about the budgetary constraints and other issues around funding.
Tinubu, who also praised Gates’ efforts in the area of Climate Change, however, told the philanthropist that the West needed to hear more from him with respect to the plight of the developing countries.
“You have all it takes to help developing nations more,” he told Gates, who is also the founder of Microsoft.
Dangote, in his remarks to reporters after the visit, congratulated Tinubu on his election and successful assumption of office.
He explained that the visit was to brief the President on the activities of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Aliko Dangote Foundation.
Dangote expressed the foundations’ willingness to cooperate further with the government in achieving its goals.
He used the opportunity to commend Tinubu for removing fuel subsidy, expressing confidence that more state funds would be allocated to education, health, infrastructure, and other critical areas of the economy.
Dangote said,
“Nigerians have been getting quite a lot over the years. They have to start expecting more. We expect more from the government in terms of cooperation and we will also do more from our side. All is great. Things are going well. We even congratulate him on the removal of subsidy and I think he is doing a great job.
“I expect that it will be better for everybody. There will be more money now to put into education, health, infrastructure and other areas. And our own side is to help and support him to make sure that he achieves his own vision.”