Mrs Buhari said this on Thursday, when the Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mrs Melinda Gates paid her a visit at the State House in Abuja.
She expressed her sincere appreciation to the foundation for their effort in various sectors, which has produced clear results in the areas of reproductive, maternal, new-born, child and adolescent health.
She also thanked the delegation for the interest showed to her pet project the ‘Future Assured’ to strengthen their collaboration for the benefit of women and children in Nigeria.
In her response, the Co-Chair of the Foundation Mrs Gates, promised to work with Mrs Buhari’s NGO, to ensure that emphasis is placed more on girl-child education.
Gates assured the wife of the President of collaboration to address the challenges.
The visiting philanthropist noted that most of the challenges facing women and children were in the rural areas.
She, therefore, promised to work with the wives of the state governors to address the challenges at the local level.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewale, said the `Future Assured’ initiative was proactive and complementary in the area of universal health coverage.
“We want to thank her Excellency for being in the forefront of tackling malnutrition.
We are thinking of how to tackle malnutrition and her Excellency is providing that through her NGO, Future Assured,’’ he said.
The minister, therefore, promised to work with the Future Assured initiative to provide necessary health-care services to women and children in Nigeria.
On her part, Mrs Nkechi Okorocha expressed the hope that the Melinda Gates Foundation would achieve its aim of providing for the less privilege women and children in Nigeria.
Okorocha added that, she was championing the eradication female genital mutilation in Imo State in line with the Future Assured initiatives.
In her vote of thanks, the wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs Olufunsho Amosun, assured Mrs Gates of their cooperation and commitment to addressing the challenges of women and children.
The wives of the States Governors who spoke at the event included the Kebbi State, Dr Zainab Bagudu, Mrs Amina Sani Bello of Niger State.
