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Ondo State announces 30-year infrastructure development plan

Published

2 months ago

July 31, 2023

Ondo State government announced a 30-year development plan, “Ondo 2054’’ in Akure on Sunday.

Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Emmanuel Igbasan, said the plan, designed in collaboration with the UNDP, was for the infrastructural and socio-economic development of all parts of the state.

He said the state’s House of Assembly would legislate over the plan to give it legal backing.

“As a people, we must define a clear path for our progress.

“For a nation to experience progress and development, there must be a clear, strategic and sustainable trajectory, which provides the compass to guide and direct efforts and resources.

“The future we all desire depends on the vision we have; the strength of the foundation we lay and the efforts we make today.

“It is, therefore, against this realisation that the present administration, in compliance with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Law 2017, started the process of charting a clear path.

“The path will address our present day challenges and provide the highway for accelerated development for the next 30 years.

“The core objective of this exercise is to galvanise all citizens and friends of Ondo State to collectively set the policy direction that will optimise our efforts and harness our potentials.

“It is to define the future we want and to channel our energies to catalyse the socio-economic activities that will guarantee a shared prosperity for all, irrespective of the party in power,’’ he said.

Igbasan stressed that Ondo State needed the long-term development plan also for the adequate and accelerated exploration of the natural resources in its 18 local government areas.

“Our development and technical partner, the UNDP, assisted us in conducting the needs assessment throughout the 18 local government areas and trained our technical staff on system dynamics approach.

“Ondo State is ranked as the 7th biggest economy in Nigeria.

“It has tremendous potential to be the giant of Nigeria as the highest producer of cocoa; the largest deposit of bitumen and boasts of arable and fertile land with various vegetation.

“The state is blessed with gold, oil and gas, granite, silica and ceramics, but most essentially it is populated with about six million intelligent, honest and industrious people,’’ the commissioner said.

Igbasan said government would establish a steering committee with which residents and investors could liaise to actualise the project.

Related Topics:Ondo State Ondo State government

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LUTH denies late doctor worked 72-hour call duty

Published

1 hour ago

September 21, 2023

Alero Danjuma

The management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, has denied allegations that one of its house officers, Dr Michael Umoh, died after a 72-hour call.

This is contained in a statement issued by LUTH management team in Lagos on Thursday.

“LUTH management understands the fact that the family of Dr Umoh is presently mourning the death of their beloved son and requested the foreclosure of any media engagement regarding the death of their son. It is important for us as a management to make clarifications regarding the circumstances surrounding his death.

“Dr Umoh died on Sept 17 while in church with his parents. The management was informed, and the death was later confirmed by one of the Consultants in his unit (Neurosurgery).

“The death of Dr Umoh is unfortunate but the narrative of a 72 hours non-stop shift is false.

“The record from Neurosurgery unit shows that the last time he was on call was 13th and 14th September, 2023.

“He was not on call on the 15th, 16th and 17th (the day he died), contrary to the insinuations on social media. He was at home with his parents on Sept. 16 and Sept. 17,” the management said.

Prior to this time, the management said, he was on call on the Sept. 7 and Sept. 8.

”This shows that Dr Umoh was on call for a total number of four days in September, 2023.

“A delegation from LUTH visited the family on Wednesday to commiserate with the family and to get more details of the circumstances surrounding his death.

“The parents gave the details of what they thought must have contributed to his death but pleaded that the wish of the family be respected and that the narrative is not for public consumption,” it said.

The management described Dr Umoh as a hardworking and diligent house-officer, and a very promising young man.

It said he will be sorely missed by his friends and colleagues.

“May his soul rest in peace, and may the Almighty give the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss” LUTH said.

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Gov Sule charges real sector conference to proffer practical solutions to economy

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1 hour ago

September 21, 2023

Olakunle Adeniyi

Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has charged participants at the Nasarawa State University Keffi (NSUK) 1st International Real Sector Conference to proffer practical solutions to rejuvenate the economy.

He gave the charge on the first day of the two days conference on real sector productivity held at the University in Keffi Local Government Area of the state.

The theme of the conference is “Rejuvenating the sector productivity in Nigeria”.

Sule challenged participants to get real and proffer workable and practical solutions that would rejuvenate the real sector in Nigeria for optimal productivity which in turn would impact on the economy of the country positively.

“The question we should be asking ourselves here is that why are we not getting it right in the real sector in Nigeria?

“So let us proffer practical solutions so that we don’t just end up having an event and having all the communique and all that and then they end up in our offices. Let us ask ourselves what is that is possible and how do we contribute,” he said.

He said their recommendations should also be useful in shaping a better future for the real sector in Nigeria so that future Nigerians could build on that.

“So we must sit down and deliberate on what exactly is our problems in this sector. Are we ready to make sacrifices? And we must make sacrifices because that is the only way we can move forward.

“I want to assure you that in Nigeria we can change the narratives but it will take all of you here to convince the rest,” he said.

Prof. Suleiman Bala-Mohammed, Vice Chancellor, NSUK, commended the university’s Department of Business Administration for organizing the conference and urged the department to sustain it as it would be a platform for cross fertilisation of ideas and wider conversations on local and international issues.

He also urged participants to brainstorm and come up with policy recommendations on how to rejuvenate the real sector in Nigeria.

Mr John Mamman, Nasarawa State Commissioner for Education, however, told NAN that he expected the outcome of the conference would change the narratives because the real sector, according to him, is the driver of the economy.

“The manufacturing, construction, engineering and others are the real movers of the economy. Once we get it right from the drivers of the economy, other sectors will also be impacted positively,” he said.