Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has advised other governors to take up the investment of education and health of the residents in their respective states seriously.
He stated this during an Economic and Investment Summit organised by the state government on Thursday.
“It is up to the state governments to invest more in education and healthcare. I gave an example of what we are doing in Kaduna State and urge all my colleagues to do the same,” he said. “Unless the state governments invest aggressively in education and healthcare, the country will be clapping with one hand.”
Mr El-Rufai further rejected reports in a section of the media of his attacking the Founder of Microsoft, Mr Bill Gates upon his visit to the country.
Gates had on March 22, challenged the Federal Government to invest in human capital development, saying it would lay a good foundation for the nation’s prosperity.
“Nigeria will thrive when every Nigerian is able to thrive, If you invest in their health, education and opportunities, the human capital that we are talking about today, then that will lay the foundation for sustained prosperity,” he said.
But the governor explained that his reaction to Gates’ comments was from the angle of the tiers of government with the states playing a sensitive role in the investment.
He, however, commended the businessman and philanthropist for investing $1.6 billion in Africa’s most populous country, stressing that his state got a large share of the money.
“Mr Gates is a big partner who invested $1.6 billion in Nigeria. A large percentage of that money was invested in Kaduna State.”
