Rotary, Bill Gates Foundation raise $99m to fight virus in Nigeria

dimeji akinloye

October 17, 2016 11:40 AM

This was disclosed by the District Governor of Rotary International to newsmen on Sunday in Ilorin

Volunteer Health officials wait to immunise children at a school in Nigeria's capital Abuja.

Rotary International and the Bill Gates Foundation have raised $99 million to completely eradicate the polio virus in Nigeria.

The District Governor 9125 of Rotary International, Clement Bisi-Adegoke, disclosed this on Sunday in Ilorin while speaking with newsmen.

Rotary International, he said, raised $33 million while Bill Gates donated $66 million.

According to Bisi-Adegoke, the Bill Gates Foundation is the global partner of Rotary International and remains committed to the idea of raising the fund to tackle the last outbreak of polio in the country.

He further urged Nigerians to reflect on the future of the country as it clocked 56 years of independence.

Bisi-Adegoke warned Nigerians against undermining the capacity of leaders to lead while canvassing that agriculture and emphasis on entrepreneurship would help tackle the current recession.

He noted that America also experienced a recession before President Barack Obama took the country out of it.

Bisi-Adegoke also said Rotary was committed to peace and conflict resolution, adding that the group had provided foodstuff and other relief materials to distressed persons, particularly those in IDP camps in the North East Zone.

He urged the Federal Government to urgently address the challenge of infrastructural decay in the education sector by providing equipment, water, toilets and teaching facilities in institutions of learning.

dimeji akinloye