Microsoft cofounder, Bill Gates, is stepping down from the board of the company. The former CEO announced on Friday that he will be concentrating on philanthropic works of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“I have made the decision to step down from both of the public boards on which I serve – Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities including global health and development, education, and my increasing engagement in tackling climate change,” Gates wrote on his LinkedIn page. “The leadership at the Berkshire companies and Microsoft has never been stronger, so the time is right to take this step.”

“Serving on the Berkshire board has been one of the greatest honors of my career. Warren and I were the best of friends long before I joined and will be long after. I look forward to our continued partnership as co-trustees of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and co-founders of The Giving Pledge.”

It has been a long fulfilling adventure for Gates, and Microsoft and Berkshire have borne testimony of an incredible 45 years journey that has treated the world to a taste of technology that was only imagined.

In 1975, Paul Allen and Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft. Gates had dropped out of college and moved to Albuquerque, in New Mexico in search of answers to innovative questions his inquisitive mind was full of. There he teamed up with his childhood friend Allen to set up Microsoft.

Five years later, Microsoft was signing an agreement with IBM to develop the MS DOS operating system. It was a breakthrough that spurred spontaneous growth for the company. In 1986, Microsoft went public. A year later at age 31, Bill Gates was making history as the youngest self-made billionaire.

Gates served as Microsoft CEO until 2000 when he made way for Steve Ballmer. Eight years later, he relieved himself of the day to day work in the company. In 2014, Gates resigned his position as chairman of the board dedicating much of his time to charity works.

Nevertheless, Gate was still a member of the Board of Directors until Friday when announced his decision to put that position behind his philanthropic priorities. But he said he’s never running away from Microsoft.

“With respect to Microsoft, stepping down from the board in no way means stepping away from the company. Microsoft will always be an important of my life’s work and I will continue to be engaged with Satya and the technical leadership to help shape the vision and achieve the company’s ambitious goals. I feel more optimistic than ever about the progress the company is making and how it can continue to benefit the world,” he said.

Gates will still serve as technology advisor to Satya Nadella, who personally requested that in 2014 when Gates stepped down as the chairman of the Microsoft’s Board. Satya said he has learned a lot from Gates and looks forward to continuing learning.

“It’s been a tremendous honor and privilege to have worked with and learned from Bill over the years. Bill founded our company with a belief in the democratizing force of software and a passion to solve society’s most pressing challenges,” Satya said in a statement. “The Board has benefited from Bill’s leadership and vision. And Microsoft will continue to benefit from Bill’s ongoing technical passion and advice to drive our products and services forward. I am grateful for Bill’s friendship and look forward to continuing to work alongside him to realize our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”

Gates reiterates his commitment to ensure that Microsoft and Berkshire stay strong in the tech space, while he pursues philanthropy as his next priority.

“I am looking forward to this next phase as an opportunity to maintain the friendship and partnerships that have meant the most to me, continue to contribute to two companies of which I am incredibly proud, and effectively prioritize my commitment to addressing some of the world’s toughest challenges,” he said

Bill Gates is famously the second richest person in the world after Jeff Bezos, with a fortune worth $103.6 billion according to Forbes. The 65 years old has reportedly reduced his stake in Microsoft with $4.6 billion donations.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has doled out $100 million to combat coronavirus. The foundation appears eager to do more in its bid to solve problems, especially in developing countries.

As the Corona Virus continued it ravaging and devastating impact globally affecting every sector of human endeavours, Nigeria has continued her curtailment strategy on a very high note. As at the time of writing this piece, the Italian index case that came into the country has been said to have recovered fully and discharged from the health facility where he was hitherto held.  One Nigerian case that was suspected to have had contact with the Italian has tested negative.

To have kept a clean state from COVID 19 at a time drastic measures were being taken across the world to curtail its spread is an indication that Nigeria has learnt lessons from the Ebola outbreak and leveraged on the resilient system built at the time. The US has imposed travel restrictions on travellers coming in to the country from European Schengen countries. The restriction take effect from today.The country has also banned sports activities and public gathering. Scotland has recorded her first novel virus death. The UK has shifted her local and mayoral elections for one year. Canadian Prime Minister’s wife has tested positive to the globally declared pandemic. The whole world is making frantic efforts to delay the spread of the deadly virus which has been responsible for 5,374 deaths across the world with China still leading the charge as the country of origin of the deadly virus. In all of these frightening statistics, Nigeria has kept her calm and has not recorded any case of death from the virus.

Image : Eight badly hit country by COVID 19 (Source: Worldometer,2020)

In an earlier analysis of Nigeria’s effort at combating the virus, stakeholders and institutions were urged to assist government institutions not only in the fight against the virus but also the attendant fake news and misinformation using. One Nigerian that has stood up to this challenge is the former Vice President of Nigeria and the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the 2019 Presidential Election, Alh. Atiku Abubakar. A dissection of two of his press release made since the first case of the novel virus was discovered in Nigeria has shown that he was more patriotic and solution oriented than the average Nigerian opposition figure that he represented.

In the first release made available on February 28, 2020, a day after the index case was discovered, Atiku charged the APC-led government to call upon the experience of the nation’s battle with the wild Ebola Virus. He said “we must call upon our experience with the Wild Ebola Virus of which we were the first nation in the world to defeat the scourge in 2014.” He went further to advise against any attempt to blame and point fingers. He urged Nigeria to look for solutions rather than engage in a blame game. He preached firm and decisive  decisions as the country moved to curtail the scourge then. He waxed patriotic as he charged both individuals and government to work towards securing the nation from the rampaging virus. He concluded that “ the crisis is an opportunity to show that we are first and foremost Nigerians and that we have no other country but our dear fatherland, which we must work together to keep healthy and secure.”

The strategic importance of his statement was underscored by his party’s release few days after his own. On March 1, 2020, the main opposition party had called out the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration asking him to address the nation on efforts made to contain the virus. Nigerians berated the party for its unpatriotic stance on the issue despite noticeable successful attempts displayed by the government and its health institutions. The effort has yielded the present result where no single case of the virus is recorded in the country despite the high numbers of infections and deaths recorded  globally.

So, in another release made available to press men and personally signed by him, he has again urged the Federal Government to take every reasonable step to protect Nigerians from the scourge of Coronavirus by topping flights from countries where the virus has become more aggressive. He noted  that “Despite the commendable efforts of our patriotic health officials, it will be recalled that to date, we are yet to identify and or locate multiple passengers who flew in with the index case from Italy. They could be anywhere.” He then suggested that Nigeria “must, therefore, err on the side of caution”. He argued that “we cannot afford to broaden the possibility of future infections.”

Atiku then played a patriotic card when he said “I urge that every political and any other difference be put aside. On my part, I am first a Nigerian, and I am willing and ready to work with anybody, at anytime, at whatever cost, to ensure the safety of this country, which is the only country we have to call our home, and her peoples.” The strategic importance of this statement is glaring. The handlers of the former vice president portrayed him as a selfless national leader who is ready to make personal sacrifice for the nation to confront and conquer the new world health challenge. This shows a point of departure from his party’s stance on the way the COVID 19 issues  were handled by the APC government. In times like this, the nation desires a strong support and commitment from all stakeholders.