Sokoto is the worst place to be born as a girl child who would like education, says Bill Gates

Bill Gates (Left), and President Muhammadu Buhari (right) 

Bill Gates, the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), says Tangazar LGA in Sokoto is the worst place to be born as a girl child, who would like to go to school.

Gates stated this while unveiling BMGF’s Goalkeepers Report, which measures the state of performance of the SDGs across the world.



Speaking via a teleconference with select journalists, Gates Lamented over the state of inequality in almost every location in the world. TheCable reports

He said in Nigeria, a girl born in Ado Ekiti will most likely finish her secondary education, but if the same girl were born in Garki local government in Ekiti, she will not complete primary education.




Underlying data for the report shows the stark inequalities between the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.

The report revealed that Owerri Municipal LGA is the best place for an average girl child in Nigeria to get educated — with an average of 12 - 14 years in school, while Tangazar LGA in Sokoto is the worst place to be born as a girl child, who would like to go to school.

The infographics above show the worst and best local governments in Nigeria on girl child education, with Imo being the best and Sokoto being the worst.


“Nigeria is a super-important country and one that the foundation has an office there. We did a lot of work in Nigeria on polio and we learned a lot doing that. Nigeria has gone almost three years now without having a polio case,” Gates added.

“The biggest priority we have, although making absolutely sure we’re done with polio remains a big priority, now we’re able to focus even more on the primary health care system.



“Nigeria is important, I’m hopeful about Nigeria. As you see in the report, the disparities within Nigeria are quite stark.

“So, we’re working hard. I mentioned we do videoconferences with state governors. If we can make the six states into exemplars, then these practices can be extended to all 18 of the northern states.



“There are best practices down in the south as well that we can learn from that as well. And so, you know, building on what we were able to achieve with polio and the relationships we’ve built there and our commitment, starting with primary health care, we think that Nigeria can tackle its inequality.”