The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has urged the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Nigeria to intensify its intervention programmes in areas of health care delivery services and agriculture.
Gbajabiamila, who made the call on Thursday when he received the Foundation's delegation, led by its President, Global Development, Mr. Chris Elias, during a courtesy call, said Nigeria desires collaboration with development partners which would impact positively on the socio-political and economic development of the country.
The Speaker told the delegation that Nigeria’s collaboration with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was important as the country moves towards the diversification of its economy and improved healthcare service delivery to its people.
He said: “We believe very much in collaboration with development partners, and we welcome the collaboration in healthcare service delivery since Nigeria is perhaps your biggest operations in Africa.
“We want the collaboration to remain that way and probably become your biggest operations in the world one day. We’ll continue to reach out to you in polio eradication and agriculture since Nigerian is on the march to diversify its economy," the Speaker said.
Gbajabiamila also tasked the foundation to work closely with relevant committees of the House, whose leadership and membership were carefully selected to reflect the seriousness attached to each sector of the Nigerian society.
The delegation leader, Elias said the visit was to familiarise with the Speaker and the House as well as seek areas where the Speaker would want the foundation to improve its collaboration with Nigeria.
He noted that Nigeria is the largest office of the Foundation office of the three offices in Africa, Mr. Elias noted that it has been very active in the areas of agriculture and health, especially polio eradication as well as nutrition.
Elias was accompanied by their Nigerian partner, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)
He informed the Speaker and members of the House at the meeting that the foundation was also active in the improvement of primary healthcare in the northern part of the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment