THE minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said he played a key role in securing the location of many public projects in his home town, Oro, Kwara State.
Mohammed stated this in an interview with newsmen at the 2023 Oro Day Celebrations, held in the town and witnessed by prominent sons and daughters of the community.
According to the minister, an average Oro man cannot boast of being successful until he constructs a personal building in the town and contribute to the town’s development.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), one of the major events of the celebration was the commissioning of an 80-bed Mother and Child Hospital, which the minister facilitated.
The hospital was built and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities by the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals.
Mohammed said he also facilitated the rehabilitation of township roads in Oro, which was awarded and funded by the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.
He said besides providing solar-powered street lights in the community, he equally attracted a 60mva, 132/33kV transmission substation to the town.
According to the minister, the project, with 5km turn-in turn-out Offa-Omu-Aran 132kV double circuit transmission lines, was awarded by the Federal government through the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
The NAN said the substation contract was awarded in the sum of N3 billion local content, and $8 million (about N6 billion) foreign exchange.
On whether he would not be accused of bringing development to only his town to the exclusion of others in the state, the minister said he had as well facilitated projects across the three senatorial zones.
The minister said he influenced the construction of a 40-bed Mother and Child hospital in Igbaja, a town within his local government area, by the SDGs office.
He added that he also facilitated the construction of schools in Ajase town and roads in the Isin local government area, as well as water and road projects in Oke-Ero local government.
He claimed to have attracted roads and water projects to Offa and Omu-Aran towns, while in Ilorin, the capital city, he facilitated the construction of classrooms and installation of internet facilities in schools.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.