Gates promises to help fight disease, poverty in Nigeria

Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates has promised to help fight disease and poverty in Nigeria, local media reported on Monday.

Gates arrived in Nigeria with his wife, Melinda, on Saturday and met with Nigerian President Obasanjo at his farm on the outskirts of the country's commercial capital Lagos, Nigerian Information Minister Frank Nweke said.

According to Oluremi Oyo, Obasanjo's special assistant on Media, Gates assured Obasanjo that the Bill and Belinda Foundation, founded by him and his wife, would help Nigeria more in the fight against poverty and disease while the Foundation would help Nigeria battle tuberculosis, polio and HIV/AIDS.

Official statistics showed that more than 3.5 million Nigerians carry the HIV virus or have full-blown AIDS.

Early this year, Gates and Obasanjo both attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa were among topics discussed.

Source: Xinhua