By Muslimat Itopa
There’s something powerful about witnessing change in person,not from a press release, not through social media screenshots, but by travel, seeing, hearing, and touching.
A recent media tour composed of journalists and government officials through the West and Eastern Senatorial Districts of Kogi State served exactly that purpose.
The tour is to let coverage of government projects move from abstract claims to concrete presence.
The tour, which covered several communities and project sites, was not just a showcase of infrastructure but also an assessment of the government’s commitment to improving the lives of citizens in the region.
It started with the Mopa township road, where the Commissioner for Works, Engineer Mohamed Ahovi Yusuf said the present administration interventions on infrastructure has revived roads abandoned for decades, including the 1.2km Ileteju Mopa road which had been left unattended for over 20 years.
The project, he noted was constructed with a triple-layer system and solid drainage, now connects several communities previously cut off due to its dilapidated state.
According to the Commissioner the project will ease movement, open up trade, and strengthen connectivity within the area.
Speaking with News men during the tour, the Commissioner for Information and communication, Evangelist Kingsley Fanwo said the projects demonstrate the government’s determination to deliver dividends of democracy to the people at the grassroot and assured residents of sustainability and timely completion of other projects.
“The era of staying in our offices to tell you the government is doing well is over, it is about showcasing directly what the government is doing, Fanwo said.
He explained that the present administration’s concentration of projects in rural areas is to decentralize the benefit of government to the people at the grassroots.
A resident of Ileteju Mopa in Mopamuro Local Government Area, Daniel Tosin appreciated the governor for his laudable achievement in road infrastructure saying the Ileteju road has caused a lot of hardship to the resident noting that the people of the community will forever be grateful for reconstructing the road to end their years of sufferings
In the health sector, the commissioner for Information and Communication Evangelist Kingsley Fanwo while speaking with News men at the Primary Healthcare Center Ileteju in Mopa and Kabba said attention was drawn to primary Healthcare Centers under reconstruction to provide better facilities for women, children, and people of the area.
He said the present administration is concentrating efforts at ensuring that health facilities in the rural areas are capable of rendering quality health care services to the people.
He said since the assumption of office, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has remodeled over two hundred and fifty Primary health Centers across the 21 Local Government areas to ease the bondage of rushing patients from the rural areas to the township for treatment.
According to the commissioner there is one general hospital per local government saying the process of procurement is at an advanced stage.
The Supervisory Councilor of Health, Akogun Idowu while speaking at Ileteju Mopa noted that before the remodeling of the community Primary Healthcare, the people of the community usually die of treatable diseases and thanked the state governor for giving priority to the wellbeing of the people.
The team also inspected the ACRESAL Gully erosion control project site, where climate-smart initiatives are helping farmers to improve yields and adapt to changing weather patterns.
A resident of the community Sunday Martins said before the massive Gully erosion control site, farmers and residents have suffered untold hardship and praised the governor for making the people of the community a proud owner of their houses and farms.
At the Kogi State University, Kabba, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Kehinde Eniola took the team round completed projects like the Senate building, Faculty of Science building two hostels under reconstruction among others.
He appreciated Governor Ododo for consolidating the achievement of his predecessor saying the success story of the institution cannot be completed without mentioning the former Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello
At the Science Model Secondary School in Okebukun Kabba-Bunu, which is at an advanced stage. Commissioner for Education, Hon. Wemi Jones, said the facility is part of the administration’s commitment to consolidating and expanding the legacies of former Governor Yahaya Bello in the education sector.
On Tuesday 23 third ,Journalist and Government officials on a media tour to the Eastern part of the state defied the rain in Ankpa to inspect key developmental projects executed by the present administration.
In Ankpa the Commissioner For works Engineer Mohamed Ahovi Yusuf took the team round the erosion control and road construction in which the drainage is one by one meter height executed by the present administration handled by AcreSal and described the initiative as part of the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
The Chairman Ankpa Local Government Area who was represented by his vice earlier received the team at the Local Governments Secretariat expressed gratitude to the state Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo for giving Ankpa a face lift saying since the construction of the erosion in the area, farmers have continued to smile home at every harvest and residents no longer live in fear during rainy season.
At the Kogi State College of Education Ankpa, the Provost Professor Fashagba Paul Femi received the team and highlighted some of the key projects in the school to include basic amenities which has continued to provide a conducive learning and teaching environment for both the tertiary institutions and the secondary School.
The Commissioner for Information and Communication Evangelist Kingsley Fanwo said the tour would afford the public to have first-hand knowledge of the administration’s achievements in health, education, works, and housing, among others.
Fanwo said the present administration has moved away from armchair inspections to on-the-spot project assessments to ensure quality delivery saying the rural dwellers are now feeling the real impact of governance.
At the Prince Abubakar Audu University Anyigba, the team was received by the Vice Chancellor, Mrs Marietu Tenuche who explained that the projects, which include infrastructural upgrades, improved learning facilities, and other academic interventions, have gone a long way in boosting teaching, research, and community service in the institution.
Professor Tenuche, while addressing journalists at the university, explained that the foundation for training medical students has been firmly laid with the governor’s support.
She mentioned the ongoing construction of a multi-purpose medical students’ teaching laboratory, lecture halls, a library, consultants’ offices, and hostels.
“With the clinical complex already in place and the basic sciences and allied health programs running effectively, coupled with the ongoing infrastructural development, PAAU is now positioned to start producing medical doctors soon,” she stated.
She added that all programs at PAAU have attained full accreditation, positioning the institution as one of the fastest-growing universities in Nigeria.
Earlier, the Chief Medical Director of the PAAU Teaching Hospital, Dr. Ayo Anthony Oladele, commended Governor Ododo for sustaining the policies of his predecessor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, while expanding the institution’s capacity.
He revealed that the university’s Nursing and Biomedical Science (NBBS) program, now fully accredited, stands as a testament to the governor’s support, which includes the provision of office infrastructure, laboratories, and other essential facilities.
Beyond academics, the university community has also benefited from the construction of a 1.5km access road and the rehabilitation of the school clinic, further enhancing the learning environment for staff and students.
The media team, led by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Hon. Kingsley Fanwo, alongside the Commissioner for Works, Engr. Muhammed Yusuf, also visited Omala and Ankpa Local Government Areas. Projects inspected included the ongoing 10km Abejukolo township road in Omala, the 20km Olubojo-Ogaji gully erosion control project in Ankpa, and multiple interventions at the College of Education, Ankpa.
The media tour will continue with the Central Senatorial District next week Monday to be followed by the state capital in Lokoja.
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