Nigeria: Widening the Gates of Charity

Abuja — Bill Gates, unarguably, one of the richest men in the world, was in Nigeria for the second time in two years. Though he did not come with proposals to invest in businesses that would employ Nigerians in their thousands, his visit was in many ways a greater investment. It was for instance, one aimed at saving children under the age of five from lifelong deformity and an early grave in some cases.

What else could observers expect? The founder of Microsoft, after all, had since resigned as the Executive chairman of the company that made him stay on the Forbes top five of the world's wealthiest individuals for what now seems an eternity by all standards. Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June 2006, he announced that he would be transiting from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect and Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer. Gates' last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008.

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