Bill Gates Confirms His children will not inherit his wealth.

The world’s top billionaire Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have three children – Jennifer, 20, Rory, 17, and Phoebe, 14.

He was on ITV‘s This Morning in the UK where he confirmed once again that majority of their wealth will go to charity, and only ‘a little bit’ to their kids after their demise.

“Our kids will receive a great education and some money so they will never be poorly off but they’ll go out and have their own career.
It’s not a favour to kids to have them have huge sums of wealth. Because it distorts anything they might do, in creating their own path and this money is dedicated to helping the poorest.
They know that, they’re proud of that.”

He said him and his wife will leave ‘a little bit’ for them and buttressed that his kids follow him and his wife on charitable missions and see the impact the money has on lives.

Bill Gates Foundation to boost rice production in Nigeria

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday said it was funding six agricultural commodities value chains with emphasis on rice and yam production to ensure food sufficient in Nigeria.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private foundation in the world, founded by Bill Gates.

Dr Audu Grema, the Senior Programme Officer, Agriculture in the West African Office of the Foundation, said in Abuja on Tuesday.

He listed some agricultural projects of the foundation to include CARI-Project (rice) which was aimed at improving rice production productivity, pest control, and variety enhancement.

Grema expressed optimism that Nigeria would soon be self sufficient in rice production.

He said the rice project by the foundation was currently being implemented in Cross River, Niger, Kebbi, Jigawa, Kano, Plateau and Edo, Ebonyi States.

The programme officer, however, said that the Cassava Value Addition Project was based in Abeokuta at the University of Agriculture.

According to him, we also have a big yam project where we are working with private farms around Abuja, Kaduna, Niger, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Akure to enhance yam propagation technology through seeds.

He said, “We have a huge portfolio of agricultural investments in Nigeria. We are work on maize, rice, yam, cassava and crop-livestock interface.

“We have four strategic cassava investments that we think are critical that we are funding across Nigeria.

“In agriculture, we do not approve projects except if it has a small holder connection.

“Anything we fund must have a connection with enhancing the status of small scale farmers.”

He explained that the foundation was also working in public health, integrated vaccine delivery, routine immunisation revival across many states.

On the reports that Gates was a major propagator of Genetically Modified Organisms, the programme officer refuted the assertion, saying that the Bill Gates had no connection with GMOs.

According to him, Bill Gates has no interest to promote agribusiness, so we are denying that we did not bring GMOs into Nigeria.

“Bill and Melinda Gates are not farmers; they are not into agricultural services; so, to think they will promote GMOs just to promote their businesses interest is very wrong.

“I will be in complete denial that we have nothing to do with these big commercial agricultural farms that have been cited in some of the articles in Nigeria.

“The foundation does not have anything to do with GMOs even in Nigeria and abroad.

“No connection with the big industrial agricultural concerns which people are alluding to.

“People making such assertions are morally wrong,’’ he said.

Grema commended the `Green Alternative’ currently launched by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

He said the agricultural initiative was a step toward fighting poverty and food security in Nigeria.

The programme officer assured that the foundation would align its programmes with that of the Federal Government to enable the country achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

The foundation with headquarter based in Seattle, Washington has its primary aim of enhancing healthcare and reduce extreme poverty.

(NAN)

Bill Gates donates $1m for Food, Farming Aids to Borno

Bill Gates

Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima on Sunday inaugurated the distribution of food items and farm outreach committee targeting 40,000 victims of the Boko Haram insurgency through the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which donated one million dollars to the Borno State Government as a post conflict intervention meant to support victims who are returning to their communities.

Shettima inaugurated the support commitee to begin with the distribution of 25 kilogram bag of rice and 10 kilogram bag of beans to each of 1,100 households at Mainok village in Kaga local government area, 45 kilometres away from Maiduguri.
The governor said officials of the state government working with the Gates Foundation used the $1m to procure the food items and commenced funding of 100 hectares of farm where beans is being cultivated.

He explained that 200 farm-families would be allocated tilled and fertile land measuring half hectare each along with improved seeds, fertilizer, chemicals and technical supervision so that they can start growing food crops. The Governor also announced the release of two trucks of maize grid to add to the food procured with the Gates’ donation.

“We are grateful to God for creating people like Mr Bill Gates and his dear wife, Melinda. These leading lights of philanthropy across the world have shown love to the good people of Borno State at a time we are on the ground and looking for any hand to hold in trying to lift ourselves up.

“Now, with the emerging peace in Borno State, it is only necessary that as Post Insurgency response, focus should be combined in supporting all categories of the victims from those at Internally Displaced Persons, those in communities within Maiduguri, those in our satellite camps outside Maiduguri, those in communities across different local government areas who are returning to their homes and those being resettled.

“It is in this regard, that we are gathered today to Flag off the distribution of a key intervention of one million dollars food and farming aide donated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Let me say it for the record, that unlike majority of interventions which happily came to us in kind, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated cash of one million dollars to the Borno State Government. “It is the State Government that is carrying out procurement in the implementation of this particular intervention. The intervention is targeting returning and re-settling communities by giving them food aid and also helping them to return to their familiar ways of producing food for themselves and for commercial purposes.

“The intervention from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is being used for food supplies and to fund farming activities for households. As a preliminary stage, beans is being cultivated in one hundred hectares of land. Half hectare is being allocated to a farm-family with a target of reaching 200 households. Each household may have from 2 to 10 family members.

“Already, farms have been established in Konduga and Damboa. Each household is to be allocated not only tilled and fertile land but also improved variety of seeds, fertilizer, chemicals and most importantly, technical field supervision by extension workers.

“On the food aspect, one thousand, one hundred households, not individuals, will be given a 25 kilogram bag of rice and a 10-kilogram bag for each household here in Mainok, Kaga local government area. The intervention aims at reaching 40,000 victims of the insurgency through households on both food aid and farming activity.

“We are particularly interested in ensuring that citizens begin to produce food crops in safe locations because direct food aid in post conflict situations is never sustainable over a long period of time” Shettima said.

Officials of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ‎(UNOCHA) witnessed the distribution with goodwill presented by them.

The Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement in Borno State, Dr Babagana Umara Zulum explained that two trucks of food items as well as two farms in Damboa and Konduga funded through the Gates donation were ‎ready for immediate access on Sunday while more communities were to benefit in a continuous exercise.