By Tina George, Minna
Niger state governor, Abubakar Sani-Bello has reiterated his administration’s commitment to infrastructural development in the state with the completion of 150 projects in six years.
The governor spoke at the official commissioning of the dualized Broadcasting Road in Minna on Tuesday, noting that the development of critical infrastructure was cardinal to the economic development of the state.
“I made it clear at inception that one of our major areas of priority is infrastructural development across the state. We have kept to our commitment to this despite the daunting challenges from the paucity of funds to heightened insecurity.
“The development of critical infrastructure is cardinal to our economic regeneration policy as a state. For us to attract investments into the state economy, we need to have a good infrastructural system in place that guarantees access to the market and other factors of production.
“We have done so much in the areas of road rehabilitation and construction with over 40 of such civil engineering projects completed across the state.
“The government has also completed over 80 of mechanical and electrical projects such as electrification and installation of transformers in the rural areas, while over 30 projects in the public building sector, have been completed which includes the construction of fire service and Police stations among others,” Sani-Bello said.
Speaking about Broadcasting Road, the governor said that it is the fulfilment of another promise to the people in the state.
“This will ease traffic flow, open up new areas and afford people new opportunities. This is part of our resolve to create opportunities for Nigerlites to thrive and bring succour to the people.”
In his address, the Commissioner of Works, Mamman Musa said that the project is one of the numerous people-oriented projects initiated and awarded by the administration.
He stated that the administration had initiated 299 projects in the past six years, adding that 12 roads have been completed and put to use.
The Minna Broadcasting Road project contract was awarded to Messrs Soject Nig. Ltd at the initial cost of N1.2 billion but reviewed to the sum of N1.3 billion.
In a related development, the Contractor handling the Niger state New Secretariat, Nineties Ventures Limited has handed over the renovation project of the New Secretariat to the state Head of Service, Salamatu Abubakar.
The Head of Service while taking over the project said that the facelift and renovation of the State Secretariat would improve the working environment of the civil servants and would bring in accelerated results from the civil servants.
“The Niger state Secretariat is the fulcrum of the civil service and if you have a conducive and neat environment, it will make the civil servants put in their best.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Nineties Ventures Limited, Dr Mahmud Ajeigbe said that the project which was awarded at about N140 million involved renovating the buildings and giving them a facelift.