Nasidi Adamu Yahaya
15 February 2008
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, has stated that one of the main challenges of his administration is to ensure that the Abuja Technology Village becomes a reality.
According to a statement from the office of the Media Assistant to the FCT Minister, Josephine Lohor, the Minister who disclosed this during an on-the spot assessment tour of the site located along the Airport road in Abuja, also promised that the project that has been on the drawing board for sometime will indeed take off as it would put Abuja and Nigeria on the path of a revolution in the world of technology.
Speaking immediately after the tour, Modibbo declared " I am highly excited because this is a project that has been on the drawing board and when we came in we accelerated it. The Abuja Technology Village is a project we are putting high premium on, under leadership of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua. We want to see that we accomplish so that it brings prosperity to our people. Right now, Government is developing basic infrastructure. If we continue to put in more energy for a couple of years, this project would indeed become a reality."
The Minister who insisted that he had to visit the site "to have a first feel because of the great importance I attach to the project" stated that though Government is funding infrastructure, private sector participation is a key success factor."
Speaking further on the financial aspect of the project, the FCT Minister stated that "we are getting the private sector involved. We released funds to the infrastructure contractors, Gilmor Engineering, on December 4, 2007 and before the end of 2008, hopefully we will get additional money for them independent from what is in the budget. I think by the time the work commences and you see the major boulevards, it would be a holistic community. This would be a town within a city because it would encompass necessary amenity within a town."
The Managing Director of the Abuja Technology village, Hauwa Yabani, on her part, assured that with the commitment shown by the FCT Minister, the project will definitely not end up as a white elephant project.
"We anticipate 4-year period for the development of infrastructure on the site and in terms of real estate development and the rest, we rely on the ability to attract investment. At the moment, we will provide infrastructure and hope it would go along with other developments.
"The Minister just declared his commitment towards this project. From this, it would hopefully translate to commitment from the Federal Government and when we have that, there is no basis that it could be a white elephant project. With the political will, participation from the private sector and a dynamic driving team, we would get it done", the Managing Director added.
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