• Due process must be followed, says govt
• Beneficiaries at free training, laud empowerment programme
Residents of Sagamu have chided the Ogun State government for allegedly stopping an ongoing Federal Government road project approved under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The Paddy-Arikawe Oye Igbimo Road reconstruction, awarded by the Presidency to Minim and Tonye Nigeria Limited and facilitated by Senator Gbenga Daniel, was abruptly halted by the Ogun State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure.
But in a letter signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Yusuf L.O., the contractor was directed to suspend operations immediately on the grounds that “necessary permit/clearance was not obtained from the state government before commencement.”
The letter further said that the Presidency’s action “negates the normal due process that ought to be followed before commencing work on a state government road.”
However, the decision has sparked outrage in Sagamu, where residents accused the state government of “pettiness and insensitivity.”
But speaking on the development, a media aide to the former governor, Steve Oluyide, said that in recent times, five of Daniel’s federal government interventions had been stopped by the state based on flimsy excuses.
Reacting, Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, said that the essence is for those handling the roads to submit their documents and adequately brief the state government before embarking on any project in the state.
Akinmade said that the aim is for the government to know the kilometres of the road the intervention is going to take and for it to have prior knowledge of such a project.
In another development, beneficiaries of the ongoing free training on repair and marketing of digital tools have described the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun’s youth empowerment initiatives as timely, helpful and fulfilling.
One of the beneficiaries, Uduakobong Akpan, in a media chat at Ogun TechHub, Kobape Road, Abeokuta, during one of their hands-on training sessions, expressed deep satisfaction on the quality of the sessions and tutors, as well as the environment which, according to him, was conducive for learning, adding that the facilities helped him for the knowledge he acquired seamlessly on phones and laptops repairs.
Akpan said the training was so unique and expensive due to the high level of sophisticated training gadgets given to them.
Such gadgets, Akpan claimed, he had not seen before.
Another beneficiary, Ibukunoluwa Ayodeji, stated that the free training was an eye-opener for him as he had imagined repair of laptops and ICT gadgets was cumbersome, but with the quality training sessions at Ogun TechHub, his dream of becoming a tech engineer was actualised as he could now work in any tech company as well as set up his own tech outfit.
Also appreciating the Ogun State government on behalf of other beneficiaries, Timilehin Ajisebutu noted that the youth empowerment initiatives of Dapo Abiodun would reduce unemployment in Nigeria.
