Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello was among Nigeria’s delegation that participated in the High-level Roundtable conference on Primary Healthcare and Human Capital Development jointly organized by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) and the Nigerian Governor’s Forum (NGF), held in Seattle, Washington.
The two-day interactive session, which was attended by all the stakeholders, deliberated on the link between health and human capital development, current country performance benchmarking local and international development indicators while also engaging participants in solution-based learnings as well as discussions to co-create opportunities for improved health and human capital development in the country.
The gathering provided Governor Sani Bello the needed opportunity to strengthen the state-focused collaboration and partnerships with all key stakeholders in developing strategic networking towards the attainment of the set goals.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Aliko Dangote Foundation have, since 2012, committed significant resources along with the Government of Nigeria, especially in some states (including Niger), to advance a coordinated development agenda with special focus on Polio Eradication, improving routine immunization and strengthening of Primary Healthcare.
More recently, both foundations included Nutrition and Human Capital Development and a strong focus on Agriculture and Financial Inclusion and Gender Equality as part of their coordinated development agenda.
Governor Sani Bello was accompanied on the trip by the Commissioner of Commerce and Investment, Dr. Mustapha Jibril.
Also present at the meeting were the Governors of Kano, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto state among others.
On the sidelines, Abubakar Sani Bello also met with Bill gates and Aliko Dangote, where they discussed ways to further strengthen relationships,so as to attract more support in the areas of health, Agriculture, Women empowerment and Financial inclusion for the poor in the state.
