FG approves N58.5bn for Kwara, Niger road projects

The sum of N58.488 billion contract was on Wednesday approved for the construction of Bida-Sachi-Nupeko road as well as the Nupeko-Patigi bridge across River Niger, linking Nupeko and Patigi in Niger and Kwara states.

The approval was given at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, while briefing State House correspondents alongside his Information and Culture and Communications and Digital Economy counterparts, Lai Mohammed, and Isa Pantami, said the project was also to facilitate connectivity from the South West to the North Central and the entire northern zone.

The former Governor of Lagos State explained that the project was first awarded in 2013 but terminated for non-performance. He said it was subsequently revaluated and awarded and would be completed in 30 months.

Also briefing the newsmen, Pantami said he informed council about Nigeria’s successful outing at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition that held last month in Dubai, United Arab Emirates where the nation emerged tops in the artificial intelligence category with 73 countries participating.

His words: “This is an annual event where exhibition and competitions are usually organised and conducted in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and it is the largest ICT event in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. This event is a very strategic one, it is an attempt to promote technology most importantly, countries attend to showcase their intellectual capacity, their start-ups, the potentials they have and the young innovators they are grooming.

“I led the Nigerian delegation and we went there with 10 start-ups, who were 10 young innovators that were selected through an open competition in which 168 persons participated after fulfilling all the requirements.

“We chose the best 10 out of them and we made sure each geo-political zone was represented. So six out of the 10 we took to Dubai were from the six geo-political zones of Nigeria while the remaining four were selected strictly based on their expertise.”The minister said the nation also did well with another robotic application, 24/7 medics, used to interface between doctors and their patients.