Governor AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, last Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of his administration in grand style as he unveiled the Ilorin Master Plan and the 20,000-hectare Ilorin Smart City project. The governor also commissioned the 4.7km Yebumot-Adeta Roundabout and Adeta-Oloje roads, which he named after two elder statesmen from the capital city — retired Major General Mohammed Abdullahi Adangba and prominent scholar Sheikh Yahya Murtadha Agodi.
As Governor AbdulRasaq was commissioning projects in Ilorin, his deputy, Kayode Alabi was in the northern senatorial district of the state to commission the Jebba waterworks, ending the community’s longstanding thirst for state-owned clean water source.
At the banquet hall of Kwara State Government House Ilorin where dignitaries had gathered to witness the event, Governor AbdulRasaq said the idea of the project was to make the capital city habitable, eco-friendly, and compliant with the rules that govern urban planning.
His words: “Today, (Wednesday May 39) we are adding another cornerstone to the foundation laid over 48 years ago by the founding fathers of Kwara State, who designed the first master plan for Ilorin. But this is not so much about etching a foundation for the sake of it. This is about making our capital city habitable, compliant with the rules that govern urban planning in the age of climate crisis, and bequeathing a legacy for those coming after us.
“As of this morning, the United Nations World Population Prospects put Ilorin as the third most populous metro area in the entire northern Nigeria, preceded only by Kaduna and Kano in the ascending order. Ilorin, according to this data, has had a population growth rate of between 2.53% in 2020 and 3.3% in 2024.
“While the Ilorin City Master Plan has been designed to guide how we live sustainably for the next 40 years, the Smart City is our innovative response to the multidimensional challenges of urban living that now confront Ilorin, including congestion and the associated pressures it brings on the existing infrastructure. Designed to host 540,000 residents, the Smart City is a nine residential district city that is built in compliance with the United Nations prescriptions for urban living”. The governor further said that the first phase of the project covers 11,000 hectares with an estimated N1.72tr funding requirements from public private investments between this year and 2027.
Governor Abdulrazaq also launched a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station at Post Office area of Ilorin, adjudged by the Presidential CNG Initiative (PCNGi) as the first in the region.
He said: “The launching of this CNG station is the direct benefit of the fuel subsidy removal of last year. That policy shift meant a national decision to adopt a cleaner and cheaper energy source for a sustainable future.” He added that during the test run, at least 20 state government vehicles would be converted to CNG-powered engines.
The Governor, further flagged off the distribution of 16,000 textbooks across basic schools in the state.
He explained how the administration took Kwara out of the UBEC blacklist, paid the backlog of counterpart funds from 2013 to 2023, making Kwara up to date in that regard. He said the administration had fixed thousands of classrooms across the three senatorial districts, recruited 4,701 teachers, and implemented a tech-based programme that has improved learning outcomes in the state.
Director of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas initiative (PiCNG), Engr Michael Oluwagbemiga, commended the Governor for supporting the Presidential initiative right from the onset and his great understanding of the benefits in the adoption of gas.
Earlier,Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on the state Geographic Information Service (Kw-GiS) Abdulmutalib Shittu, spoke on the efforts of the Ilorin Master plan committee that was set up four years ago to provide a framework for the implementation, and vouched for the capacity of Dar Al-Handasah Consultant Ltd to deliver the project. Similarly,Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Segun Ogunsola, said the Ilorin City Master plan was necessitated by rising population, assuring the people that the project would take care of critical aspects such as tourism, healthcare, education, recreation, and flood control.
Also, Engr Sagaya, Consultant to the project, in his goodwill message, commended the Governor for embarking on a master plan that will enhance the physical development and environmental beauty of Ilorin City. He recalled the discussion he once had with AbdulRazaq on the need to have a new Ilorin master plan to meet the status of a modern town. Shagaya however urged the government to take maximum advantage the state now has to generate power, to partner with investors towards generating power supply for the residents and ultimately for the Ilorin Master Plan, and Smart City project.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Demola Akinyemi, Ilorin
Quelle/Source: Vanguard, 01.06.2024
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