THERE appears to be no let up in the avalanche of negative consequences barreling down on the Goodluck Jonathan government in Nigeria, as revelations are emerging that America’s richest man, Bill Gates, has scrapped his intended visit to Nigeria in the near future.
This is according to a Nigerian news publication, Premium Times, who broke the news on Monday morning, citing exclusive government sources in the United States as the origin of the new tip.
According to the report, the American government may have communicated to Mr. Gates that his intended visit to Nigeria on March 27 may not be in conducive, given the recent uproar generated over the ill-advised pardon granted to former Bayelsa Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, alongside Shettima Bulama, whose corruption cases were one of the few watershed moments in the prosecution of corrupt public officials in Nigerian history.
The pardon issued Alamieyeseigha has offended the sensibilities of Nigerians who see corruption as the biggest albatross on Nigeria’s fortunes, and many were greatly inspired by the fact that Alamieyeseigha was not only indicted, but jailed for his offenses – a rarity in Nigeria, even though the time he served in jail all but amounted to a slap on the wrist.
Mr. Gates was due in Nigeria March 27 and 28 to meet President Goodluck Jonathan, state governors and officials of the Federal Ministry of Health concerning the aggressive polio eradication campaign his Bill and Melinda Foundation is undertaking in the country.
That trip, authoritative diplomatic sources said, has now been cancelled.
“I can confirm to you that Mr. Gates won’t be coming as scheduled,” one of our sources told said Monday morning, according to Premium Times. “The body language of Washington D.C. does not support his travelling to Nigeria. The thinking here is that the Nigerian government has high tolerance level for corruption and should be ostracized in all ways possible.”
Mr. Gates has reportedly instructed his staff to inform the Nigerian presidency, the secretariat of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the Federal Ministry of Health that he was no longer coming.
Presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, has not answered or returned calls seeking comment. Contacted, the Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Asishana Okauru, said he would have to check with his staff whether any such communication had come from Mr. Gates’ office. He did not answer or return subsequent calls. Mr. Gates’ office is not opened as at the time of this report as calls were unanswered.
The newspaper also say that its checks indicate that the U.S. government has dissuaded Mr. Gates from coming to Nigeria.
“The State Department has advised him that Nigeria is not conducive for such visit at this time,” another source said. “We hope that the Nigerian government will get the message and return to the path of sanity.”
The controversial pardon granted Messrs Alamieyeseigha and Bulama had on Friday sparked a growing diplomatic row between Nigeria and the United States, with the Americans threatening to punish Nigeria over Mr. Jonathan’s action and Nigeria accusing the Americans of meddlesomeness.
“We see this as a setback for the fight against corruption, and also for our ability to play the strong role we’ve played in supporting rule of law and legal institution-building in Nigeria, which is very important for the future of the country obviously,” State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, had told reporters in Washington.
“We have made clear to the Nigerians that this puts a question mark on the kinds of work that we’ve been trying to do with them.”
Mr. Gates last visited Nigeria in November 2012. During that visit, his foundation entered into a four-year alliance with the Dangote Foundation which promised to provide funding, equipment and technical support to the Kano state government to strengthen polio immunisation.
He had scheduled this March’s visit to consolidate that alliance, meet with President Jonathan, state governors and other stakeholders with a view to generally revving up the war against the pandemic.