Ododo Tasked On Tourism, Ajaokuta Steel, Rail Line

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State, Hon Agnes Oziwere-Ojeba, has urged the state’s governor-elect, Ahmed Usman Ododo, to live up to his campaign promises by lifting the economic status of the state through viable projects.

Oziwere-Ojeba asked the governor-elect to hit the ground running on assumption of office in order to retain the enormous goodwill from the people which helped to propel him to victory in the election.

The APC chieftain, who made these comments in a congratulatory letter to Ododo which she personally signed, advised the governor to develop the tourism potential of the state, work towards realising the Ajaokuta Steel project and link the state capital Lokoja with Abuja by rail, among others.

The letter reads in part: “I write to congratulate you on your deserved victory as the governor-elect for Kogi State after a hard-fought battle. Your emergence is a reflection of the fact that the will of the people must prevail.”

She, however, admonished the governor-elect that the best way to thank Kogites for the mandate they gave to him is by delivering on his campaign promises, reminding him to see himself as representing all Kogites.

Oziwere-Ojeba noted that Governor Yahaya Bello has laid a solid foundation for Ododo to build on in the areas of security, health, education, agriculture and infrastructural renewal in his quest for the growth and development of Kogi State.

She, however, set an economic agenda for the incoming governor.

“I enjoin you to focus on the sustained development of our state in the areas of peace, security, as well as safety of lives and property that the state has enjoyed in the last eight years.

“As part of efforts to open up the state and create economic prosperity for citizens, as incoming Governor of Kogi State, do ensure your administration embarks on the construction of rail lines from Lokoja to Abuja within the lifespan of your administration by collaborating with the federal government and with your sheer determination to reposition Kogi State as the number one tourism destination in Nigeria, do ensure that the State Tourism Bureau quickly commences the regulation, licencing and grading of all tourism establishments in the state, a state that is a nexus to ten different states of the federation, a gateway to the south and north.

“I hope to see the moribund Ajaokuta Steel complex revived completely to make Kogi State the industrial hub of the country, considering the fact that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is hell-bent in reviving the complex abandoned by previous administrations,” she said.