By Soni Daniel, Editor, Northern Region
As the 2027 elections draw nearer, the federal and Kogi state governments on Sunday showed to journalists key projects, which they have undertaken in the state in a bid to elicit the support and goodwill of the electorate.
The projects were shown to members of the Presidential Media team and Renewed Hope Ambassadors, who are on tour of the state to verify the work being undertaken with the support of the federal government.
The inspection team led by the Special Adviser to Mr. President on Public Communication, Mr. Sunday Dare, was taken to both federal and state projects and facilities, including roads, healthcare, education and electricity.
The Kogi State Works Commissioner, Abdulsalami Ozigi, took the team through the Abuja-Lokoja-Okene-Auchi Highway, Lokoja-Benin highway and the 20-kilometre Okene Bypass linking Auchi, Benin and the southern corridor.
With one kilometre already completed, the bypass will connect directly to the Obajana Junction Flyover to tweak regional integration.
Abdulsalami Ozigi explained that work on the roads had taken a positive outlook following alarm raised by the state government nad the subsequent visit by the Works Minister, Eng. David Umahi.
Ozigi admitted that work had progressed steadily following the alarm and praised the attention being given to the road by the federal authorities.
The team visited the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, where the authorities led by the Director of Physical Planning, Dr. Mohammed Audu, disclosed that the student population had risen from 240 students in 2020 to 6,000 in 2026.
According to him, the university now has nine faculties and a College of Medical Sciences offering programmes in Medicine, Nursing, Medical Laboratory Science, Physiotherapy, Radiography and Anatomy.
The team was also shown the work being done by the Energy Commission of Nigeria, which has established a renewable energy centre in the university to help groom students on renewable energy and promote the use of same across the country.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President, O’tega Ogra, said the facility is meant to equip young Nigerians with the needed practical skills in renewable energy technologies and support the country’s energy transition.
O’tega Ogra said: “President Bola Tinubu has made it clear that renewable energy will form an important part of Nigeria’s energy mix up to 2050. We cannot continue relying solely on petrol and diesel”.
The media team also inspected the upgraded Primary Healthcare Centre in Obuburu in Adavi LGA, where the Executive Director of the Kogi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Muazu Musa, said the facility is among 88 primary healthcare centres revitalised under the World Bank-supported IMPACT project, in addition to 70 upgraded by the state government and others supported by development partners.
He said the hospital now provides specialist services that previously required referrals outside the state and houses Kogi’s only Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) facility.
The Kogi State Health Commissioner, Dr. Abdulazeez Adeiza, enumerated the facilities being provided by the hospital to include MRI and CT scanners, renal dialysis services and Nigeria’s only hospital-based hyperbaric oxygen treatment chamber.
Dr. Adeiza said medical student hostels and staff accommodation had been completed ahead of clinical training, while solar powered infrastructure is being installed to reduce dependence on the national grid.
The PMT also visited the GYB Model Science Secondary School, Nagazi, which is outstanding in terms of equipment and training of students for academic excellence.
According to the principal of the institution, the school with 1700 students has 18 modern classrooms, fully equipped science laboratories, an ICT laboratory, a digital library, 326-seat Computer-Based Test (CBT) centre, an administrative block, multipurpose and examination halls, sporting facilities, staff offices, a borehole, modern sanitation facilities, internal roads, security infrastructure and landscaped grounds.
Speaking at the road inspection project, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, Abdullahi Tanko Yakasai, described the Lokoja-Benin highway as one of Nigeria’s busiest transport corridors because of Kogi’s strategic location linking several regions of the country.
Yakasai said: “We must commend the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, for driving the delivery of these critical road projects. The four legacy highway projects initiated by the President are designed to improve connectivity across the country and are being delivered with durable concrete pavement technology”.
