Four weeks after abandoned federal projects in parts of Kogi State were reported in the media, the state government and federal authorities are reacting to the developments concerning some of the projects.
The Director-General of the National Board for Technology Incubation, Mohammed Jibrin, and Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology in Kogi State, Wemi Jones, provided some explanation to reporters in Lokoja, the state capital.
The technology incubation center in Lokoja Kogi State, a project conceptualized by the Federal Government to develop vocational, science, and technological skills for young people in the state, has been a shadow of itself with the roof already going off and a bushy environment, suggesting that it is abandoned.
The first explanation for its seeming abandonment from the Director-General of the National Board for Technology Incubation was linked to the COVID-19 leave which allows some federal officers to work from home.
Considering the need for the project to its citizens, the Kogi State government said it has reached an advanced stage to take over the facility from the Federal Government and put it to use.
For the abandoned UBEC Schools in Mopa Moru, Odu in Dekina Local Government Area, and the one in Yagba West, Kogi State Commissioner for Education Nsaid approval has been granted to the state to inherit and put them to use.
Residents have viewed the continuous abandonment of these facilities in parts of the state as a serious danger to the state government’s fight against crimes as these unutilized buildings could be used as hideouts for criminals aside from the economic waste it represents in the state.